Knocked off your bike by a hit and run driver? Understanding your rights and making a claim.

If you’ve been injured by a hit and run driver, the first and most important consideration is obviously your health and immediate safety. It goes without saying that you should seek medical help as soon as possible.

Helpful evidence and steps that will assist with any future investigations or claims, include:

• recording the hit and run driver’s vehicle registration number and vehicle description;
• taking photos of the scene of the collision and any injuries/damage to property sustained;
• gathering contact information from witnesses;
• seeing if there is any private or council CCTV, private doorbell footage etc.;
• reporting the incident to the police.

Given that we cyclists are rightly identified as vulnerable road users under the Highway Code, our vulnerability should be considered by other road users who have the potential to do more harm i.e. drivers of motor vehicles. This is consistent with the hierarchy of road users which was included in the Highway Code in 2022. This does not take away from our responsibility to behave lawfully and sensibly, but it oftens helps us to succeed with a claim for injuries caused by a motor vehicle.

As a cyclist who has been injured in a road traffic collision, you have the right to bring a claim for compensation. There are two key principles it is worth understanding should you be considering a claim, namely:

When a cyclist is injured as a consequence of a hit and run collision, and the driver is never traced, a claim can be brought through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). The MIB Untraced Drivers’ Agreement sets out how compensation claims can be submitted where the driver is untraced.

If a driver does not stop at the scene of a collision, but is then later identified, then a claim can be made against their motor insurer. If the driver is also uninsured, then the MIB Uninsured Drivers’ Agreement exists to provide compensation to the injured cyclist.

Should you lose someone close to you in a hit and run collision, the same rules apply as with any other road traffic collision claim. However, the claim will be brought by a personal representative – either the Administrator of the deceased’s estate where no Will is in place, or the Executor if there is – and the damages will be calculated differently.

You can find out more about claiming for a fatal accident here >

A claim for an injury caused in a hit and run will generally be assessed in the same way as any road traffic accident claim, wherein compensation provides for pain, suffering, loss of amenity (general damages) as well as financial losses or damage to property (special damages).

You can find out more about personal injury compensation here >

Where the cyclist is killed and a fatal claim is made, compensation is calculated differently as it takes into account things like a statutory bereavement award as well as the dependency on the deceased person for finances and services.

You can find out more about fatal accident compensation here >

Yes, the police will always be involved in any hit and run case, even if it seems to be a minor one. There is a criminal offence of failing to stop and report an accident which would usually be the starting point for any proceedings, and the penalty for the driver involved will entirely depend on the severity of the injury they have caused. In many of the cases we see, drivers are charged with causing death by dangerous driving or causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

You can find out more about the potential offences and sentences via the links here:

• Failing to stop/report a road accident
• Causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving
• Causing serious injury by dangerous driving
• Causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving
• Causing death by dangerous driving

The first and most likely impact upon a claim is that if the hit and run driver is traced by the police it is no longer an MIB claim and can be brought against the driver’s motor insurer instead.

The prosecution of a hit and run driver is helpful when bringing a compensation claim, as criminal prosecutions need to meet a higher standard of proof than a civil claim, being ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ as opposed to ‘on the balance of probabilities’. It essentially means that if a driver has been successfully prosecuted, it’s highly likely they’d be found liable in a civil claim for damages.

However, if the hit and run driver is not traced by the police and there is no conviction, it doesn’t mean the police investigation is not useful or that a claim can’t take place. Any evidence gathered through a police investigation, successful or not, could be crucial in establishing liability i.e. who caused the collision.

To a certain extent, as cyclists out on the road, we have no choice but to entrust our safety to the safety, legality and competence of the motorists around us. In my view, hit and run drivers commit one of the worst possible motoring offences and breaches of trust when they drive away from the scene of an road traffic collision, particularly when the victim is a vulnerable road user.