Equinox

I was riding on the shoulder on a fairly busy village street. I unintentionally (of course) hit a stone which shot out to the side just as car was passing me and it dinged the door. It did make a loud noise, and the driver pulled over in front of me, slightly cutting me off. I stopped, and he got out and he was upset. There was a very small chip in the paint. I apologized, and assured him that it was completely unintentional and simply bad luck. He wanted my information because he wanted me to be responsible for the repair. I declined because from my perspective, it was just "one of those things". He got upset and was going to call the police. I thought it was ridiculous and I wasn't going to wait for the cops on a busy holiday weekend. I gave him my name and phone number, but I haven't heard from him yet. What should I do?

LowCel 

If a vehicle in front of you throws a rock up from the road and it hits your vehicle they are not responsible. If it comes off of the vehicle (such as a dump truck) then they are responsible. As far as I know we go by the same rules. How are we responsible for a rock being on the road?

enjoi07

Does he chase down every truck that kicks up a rock at his windshield? It's just "one of those things".

unterhausen

I hope you gave him the wrong number. I recently had a claim against my car insurance because someone gave someone my insurance policy number. Very annoying.

thump55

I think you truly passed up what could have been a great moment when the cop showed up and put him in his place.

While you were waiting for the police, I would have shoved a few pebbles in my mouth and spit them out one at a time as hard as possible...all the while winking at him.

Equinox

Oh, good. I was sweating this out. I felt bad, but what the hell. I had no control over the situation and I certainly did not intend to ding his car. Wrong place at the wrong time. The roads are dangerous and things happen. He was able to pin me because I was on a bike.

Bah Humbug

I can't imagine pursuing someone for every little rock ding.

Silvercivic27

I wouldn't pay him. I'd tell him to contact his auto insurance company and let them handle it. I wouldn't give him false information. I'd give him my office number, not my cell phone number so it won't be as bad if he tries to make my life a living hell by calling in the middle of the night, etc. These dings can be expensive to repair. I just paid about $450 to fix a door ding in my wife's van.

Standalone 

It would be nice if people weren't so high strung about the cosmetic appearance of their cars.



Or their bikes...

coasting 

Forget about it. Sounds to me like the driver is a total jackass. I did the exact same thing once with a white van that was passing me. He didn't stop but I didn't hang around either. I took off down a narrow road.

Equinox

With all due respect, I don't have a lot of faith in the police. When I was bitten by an unrestrained dog, his advice was for me not to ride on that road anymore. How about advising to owner to either restrain his dog or have it taken away?

contango 

Ignore him. If a stone chip flies up off the road and hits the car it's something you get to deal with, whether it causes a stone chip or shatters the windscreen. If the car in front flicks up a stone chip you don't expect them to stop and give you their details so they can pay for the repairs.

Depending on where you live you could even point out that the fact the stone hit him suggests he was passing you too close.

WhyFi

You're not going to hear from him again. He's going to contact his insurance agent, his insurance agent will tell him that you're not liable. If he should contact you anyway, to try and squeeze the deductible out of you, feel free to tell him to get bent.*


(* IANAL)

coasting 

They always go for the easy target.

RPK79

He should proudly wear that mark on his vehicle as proof of hard use.

coasting 

Would it be difficult to rig up a catapult onto my handlebars and carry a few pebbles?

contango 

I remember a while back I'd taken the MTB out on a nearby trail and along the way got the tyres well packed with mud. Then I cycled along a gravel trail to get back to the road, and shortly after that took in a fast descent on the road. Without pedalling my speed got up to somewhere around 35mph.

A few cars were passing a little close and hanging a little close behind me but it didn't take very many clumps of mud with small stones in them to fly off my wheels at random angles before they decided to give me a bit more space. Had one hit a car it would be nothing more than a lesson not to drive too close to another road user, simple as that.

WhyFi

fify

tagaproject6

This is why we pay stupid amounts for insurance. For crap that is intentional and not.

LowCel 

I am very anal about my vehicles and my bikes. With that said, I also realize that crap happens and sometimes it's really nobody's fault.

WhyFi

Yeah, there's a difference between being anal and being unrealistic about the wear and tear of typical use.

MegaTom

Eff him.

wheelreason

I used to be able to ping the old Cannondales (they were going to die young anyway). Counterintuitively, it was easier with the rear wheel, and the "You think I could do that on purpose" much more credible. Those large nuts you saw sometimes, were the best, a large piece of construction gravel with DaVinciesque proportions a close second. Sometimes, I'd hit my own stay though......

kraftwerk 

Ha Ha driver is a ******! with his logic I am owed about 3 windshields...

nudave2005

AHahahaaha, dumb motorist. You should've turned the tables on him - if a rock spit up from his car tires and hit you on your bike, would he be held liable. I'd love to hear his answer.