bicycle on bicycle accident

Recently I just got into an accident, the other party ia an 80 years old man. I was riding on the side walk and was approaching an intersection. The street was pretty small and due to the fact that there is a wall and road sign at the turn (imagine L shape) it's not possible to see anything that could be coming from the intersection. As I approach and about to cross the other party suddenly came out from my right side. I manage to make a quick turn and avoid a head on collision but our bike slightly collide nevertheless. I almost fell of onto the road full of traffic but manage to regain balance at the end. But the other party was on the ground when I turn back to see if he is OK. Luckily there was a clinic nearby they came out, called the police/ ambulance and took care of the old man. The ambulance told me there seems to be no serious injuries but to make sure they took him to hospital and I remain at the scene to report the situation to police officers. I've been Japan for 11 months as a technical intern training and would be flying home next month. I did report this to the person in charge of me at my company and he says for now its ok. Just wonder what action should I take after this and how serious this is?

The 80 yrs old man might ask you to pay for the medical expenses incurred. If you deny, then he might take an court action but I don't think so. He fis just all off on the ground. I suppose from the situation, he might scratched apart of his body and skin but is relatively minor injury.
If you have a chance to talk to him, you may ask him to pay off for the medical expenses, possibily up tp 10,000 Yen max, I'm not sure but will not to be so high.

The pedestrians are alway first priority on the road. You must be careful as you ride on bicycle. On the intersection, off you bicycle and walk, when you have checked nothing coming toward you, then get on bicycle again and go.

Have you told the police your name/address and your company's contact information? Did you get the old man's contact information? If it ever turns into anything, they will surely let you know.

From the way it sounds, it might have been handled as a a case of the other guy not paying enough attention to the intersection and any traffic coming. It depends on which street had the right of way. With bicycle-to-bicycle accidents, of course both have the duty to pay attention. Maybe no fault found on your part at all - you tried to avoid collision, and you did not flee the scene or anything like that either.

If you are concerned, you "could" try to contact the police in that area to find out what happened, or maybe get your company to contact them (I don't know how fluent you are in Japanese)?

Thanks for the reply. On my defense the other party was also riding bicycle. There was also a stop sign from the road he appear from but i doubt he stopped. Just hope he is ok and nothing serious will happen. The police did say he was in the wrong too, but if he ask me to pay for medical bills would 50:50 be a far split since in this case both are to blame

I told the police officer on scene my address and the company address as well. Also the phone number of the person who is in charge of me at my workplace.

But I did not receive any info about the party at all.

Yes, I understood that it was bicycle-to-bicycle. If there was a stop sign on HIS side, then he just might have taken it upon himself to pay the medical bills, as it was most likely his lack of attention.

I hope he is okay too - maybe contact the police box (was it in your neighborhood?) to ask how he is?

It gets your blood pressure up when things like this happen, doesn't it.

When did it happen? within 1-2 weeks?

It really does get my blood pressure up.

This happen a few days ago Saturday July 16th

wait another 7 - 10 days. If nothing happen, you will be alright. He is alright too.

If he was at fault by not stopping at a stop sign, then you do not need to pay his medical expenses.

If he was at fault by not stopping at a stop sign, then you do not need to pay his medical expenses.

That's now how it works.

If you were told it was a 50/50 responsibility by the police, then once the old man has contacted his insurance company, that company may contact you either directly or through your work (or insurance company if you've got one) to discuss and you may be asked to pay up to 50% of his bills, because you were 50% at fault. If you had gotten hurt and claimed anything from him, he would also be responsible for your 50%.

If he acknowledged at any point his mistake ("I didn't stop at the sign"), you could bring the bill you get directly to him and ask him to pay his own bill since he admitted fault (but actually paying is at his discretion and he can refuse). Or he may just pay and not say anything if he felt it was his fault.

Anyway, it's complicated, but as others have said, wait a few days. If you don't have any contact within a week or so, you can just forget it and move on.

I think bicycle is recognized as same as car, according to the law.
the responsibility of 0:100 will occur, only when you stopped and another was running. in your case, since both were running, the responsibility ratio never becomes 0:100.

I don't think the above statement is correct.

If you get hit while in motion (bicycle/bike/car) and if it can be proved that the other party clearly disobeyed traffic rules, the responsibility ratio can be 0:100. If there are not witnesses and the other party is honest, he will own up to his mistake and tell police the truth.

You could go to court to defend your position if you don't agree with the police report, but being really honest here, the word of a foreigner is definitely no match to that of an honorable japanese elder.

Just continue showing that you're genuinely concerned and not running away, then try to discuss in private with him about how to split the cost.

Does not matter if stationary or not. If you fail to stop at a stop sign and hit another car/bike, you are 100% at fault. Breaking a law makes you 100% at fault.

Thanks for all the reply. Today my company will contact the police on my behalf and get an update on the situation.

I will keep the post update once I get more information.

Does not matter if stationary or not. If you fail to stop at a stop sign and hit another car/bike, you are 100% at fault.

And again, that is not how it works in Japan.

If you get hit while in motion (bicycle/bike/car) and if it can be proved that the other party clearly disobeyed traffic rules, the responsibility ratio can be 0:100.

You'll never see 0/100 unless the other party was at a complete stop.

Perhaps in theory, but never in practice. Basically, even if the other party admits fault, you'll never get more than 5/95 according to our insurance company, after my husband had an accident where the other driver just completely failed to look, and he couldn't swerve or stop in time. He was given 10/90, so we just took the bill to the other driver and asked her to pay since she admitted fault directly, which she did.

Even if you run a stop light and hit another car, the other driver may have some fault. My mother had this happen here, police concluded that while she did run the stop sign (she was yelling at the kids in the back seat lol), she realized and stopped before the other driver hit her, and therefore the other driver had had plenty of time to see her but didn't, so he must not have been paying enough attention and therefore he was at fault too.

Right or wrong, that's the system.

Thanks for the explanation on the system. It is indeed a weird system.

to hakata14 and "me", you understand that my post is correct.

and also one more tip: if you get the 0:100 ratio, you will have another problem. your insurance company never helps you, if you don't buy an option, which covers the lawyer's expense. the company may help (support) you, only when there is a possibility that the company may pay money, instead of you.

in the OP's case, the OP clearly has a fault of 前方不注意.

It is indeed a weird system.

It's definitely different! And gets confusing when it comes to the insurance getting into it. For my husband's accident I don't remember exactly, but because he was 10% at fault, he had to pay 10% of HER car bill... but as she admitted fault, when he got the bill he just took it to her and asked her to pay them, and she agreed.

But for her... since she was 90% at fault, does that mean she had to pay 90% of my husband's bill? Or maybe her insurance did? I'm still not sure how it all works!

car to car accident
A:B=90:10. A has higher fault.
the damage of A is 1,000,000 yen.
the damage of B is 500,000 yen.
payment to A side : from insurance company of B = 1000000 X 0.1= 100,000 yen.
if A joins 車両保険, insurance company of A pay 900,000 yen.(no payment by A.)
if A doesn't join 車両保険, A has to pay 900,000 yen to repair A's car.

payment to B side: from insurance company of A = 500,000 X 0.9 = 450,000 yen.
if B joins 車両保険, insurance company of B pay the rest (50,000 yen) (no payment by B)
if B doesn't join 車両保険, B has to pay 50,000 yen to repair B's car.