to think that if you cycle up a road on the left hand side of cars, you can't blame the passenger if you get a door in your face

[amispartacus]

It looks like the cyclist was on the inside. No cycle lane but there is one coming up. The cars are queued. Passenger door is open. Cyclist is on the ground.

I cycle a lot. I don't go past cars on the inside. You are vulnerable. If you have to overtake queuing cars, do it on the outside. Then go to the cycle lane.

The person was the transport secretary.

"Filtering on the left hand side should only be done when the traffic is completely stationary and the cyclist is confident that it will remain so until they are safely past the vehicle."

The cyclist was wrong

Eh? The traffic was stationary, and if the cyclist hadn't been doored it would have remained stationary until he was past the car. Did you watch the video?

"Filtering on the left hand side should only be done when the traffic is completely stationary and the cyclist is confident that it will remain so until they are safely past the vehicle."
That shows to me the cyclist is NOT in the wrong. He believed the cars were all stationary and therefore was filtering past them. His belief that the traffic was stationary is backed up by the fact that Grayling chose that moment to get himself out of a presumably stationary and not moving vehicle.

rightsofwomen The legislation relevant to the offence committed by the passenger has already been linked to above by shovetheholly:

"No person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person."

The passenger was wrong.

The passenger was wrong

Is it legal for a cyclist to come up the left hand side of stationary traffic - when there is no cycle lane?

The Cycle Law website states:

"Whilst neither the law, nor the Highway Code definitively state whether or not filtering by cyclists is legal, it can be inferred from the text of the Highway Code that it is acceptable practice, for example:"

imo passenger totally at fault as he could have prevented it by checking.

i say this as someone who thinks the majority of cyclists are twats and dangerous

What's the law on cycling on the inside?

Cycle lanes on roads are never on the right hand side of traffic are they.

Lawyer here: nothing wrong with cycling on the inside. They will not escape liability for opening a door without looking it is entirely the passengers fault.

When I took my cycling proficiency test over 40 years ago we were told emphatically NEVER to cycle on the left hand side of queuing traffic because drivers are blind to a cyclist and if they turn left suddenly or open a door we were liable to serious injury.

We were told to keep in the queue with the other traffic.

And also from that website

Clearly there are dangers surrounding the practice of filtering by cyclists and there is as yet little guidance from the courts as to what is expected of cyclists in this regard.

What does seem reasonably certain is that in the event of a collision, the success of a claim for damages would depend on the manner in which each party was driving or riding. Where a cyclist was riding in an unsafe manner it is likely that they will be held at least partly responsible for the accident, despite the Highway Code placing a duty on drivers to look out for riders who may be filtering through traffic.

It would be highly beneficial for some definitive legal and practical guidance to be produced in this area because as it stands, the uncertainty surrounding the practice of filtering only causes confusion.

You are vulnerable as a cyclist. I've nearly been hit by a car door and it would have been my fault as I was speeding far too fast past parked cars. It's very easy NOT to see a fast moving cyclist.

Someone elsewhere has mentioned the Dutch method of getting out of cars so you can see what's coming behind you.

Cycle lanes on roads are never on the right hand side of traffic are they

But cycle lanes are designated lanes. Like bus lanes.

Is it legal for a cyclist to come up the left hand side of stationary traffic - when there is no cycle lane?

Yes. It's perfectly legal.

But cycle lanes are designated lanes. Like bus lanes

Depends on the cycle lane. Many have a broken rather than solid lane.

Passengers fault, however, we have no proof he didn't check before opening the door - the cyclist could have been in his blind spot at that point. I've nearly had an accident when I started to pull into another lane on the motorway and a car had been in my blind spot. Scared the shit out of me

I know that cycling on the inside of traffic is legal but it pisses me off sometimes. I always give a massive amount of room when overtaking cyclists but some of them squeeze through on the inside with millimeters between them and my car.

I've driven a lot in London, too scared to cycle.

I'm arbitrating purely on the ground of common sense, not the law.

The clip doesn't really show the cyclist's speed, possibly if he was going very fast some blame attaches to him, as the passenger would only be able to see people once they were almost alongside the car. However, that aside, I don't see what else he could reasonably have done to avoid this. I don't agree that cycling on the pavement or overtaking cars on the right are options he should have taken.

This is almost certainly entirely the passengers fault. If the cyclist was going slow enough to be spotted, he didn't look. He could also have warned an out-of-sight cyclist by cracking open the door and pausing it before opening fully. (Admittedly I'm assuming he didn't, video doesn't make clear.)

However I would reverse my verdict if were proven the cyclist was going so fast he could not reasonably be seen by a passenger glancing over his shoulder, and wouldn't have been able to stop warned the door was about to open.

I don't think the passenger was wrong to get out of a car not fully at the kerb, this happens all the time with taxis. No reason why passengers in private cars shouldn't also take advantage of a pause in traffic to get out, they just need to do so with awareness of two-wheel vehicles that may be filtering between four-wheelers.

If you are going to hop out of a car in a queue of traffic you need to check it is safe and look.

If you pull up to the pavement and open the door, you still need to look, because you could get a pedestrian, mobility scooter, skateboard etc.

Having said that, if the he did look and the cyclist was moving pretty fast, then it harder to say - it is bound to happen sometime as it is too hard to safeguard against.

Obviously it is best to park in a safe place, and then get out. But that is not possible with London taxis and the way they work.

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986
No. 1078 PART IVF Regulation 105

Opening of doors

105. No person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person.

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/105/made

Given we all hold the Dutch up as paragons of cycling perfection, let's see how they are taught to open car doors shall we?

Cyclist was in the right. The traffic was stationary and some fucking. Unity smashed a door into him!

Traffic does not have to be stationary either to filter through. The only requirement when filtering is that you do so safely. There is no indication that what he wasn't filtering safely, only that the idiot got out when he shouldn't have done without looking.

However, as a cyclist I assume no one has see me and everyone is out to kill me.

As a driver, I am vigilant for cyclists but still get a bit of a shock sometimes when one appears 'out of no where'.

Before cycle lanes were "invented", cyclists would always cycle nearest to the kerb. Cars etc. would overtake the cyclists leaving them nearest to the kerb. Cycle lanes are nearly all next to the kerb. It is a reasonable supposition that cyclists will be cycling next to the kerb, when the other traffic is stationary or moving slower than it is. The only time a cyclist would move away from the kerb on a straight road when not turning would be to overtake PARKED vehicles. I wouldn't have gone to the right hand side of a lane of traffic that could start moving at any time, that would leave me in an incredibly vulnerable position if it did start moving again! To say nothing of traffic coming in the other direction.

The cyclist in this incident might have been going fast (perhaps he's a courier?) but that does not put him in the wrong - Grayling's car was NOT parked, there was no indication that it would be parking, he basically stepped out of a car that was still in traffic that could have moved at any point. Grayling was in the wrong for not checking for cyclists - yes the cyclist could possibly have been more careful (looking out for twats) but from the video it looked like the door opened into the side of him or he would have hit the open door, rather than the door knocking him off the bike the way it did - which says Grayling didn't even check.

And the road traffic act

If a person rides a cycle on a road without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, he is guilty of an offence

And where in this case did he fall foul of that?

I have personally almost been knocked for six on a regular basis when crossing a the cycling lane outside Waterloo station in London. Pedestrians have the right of way here but MANY cyclists completely ignore that and just fly on through. Also on riverside walks where cyclists and pedestrians have equal right of way, cyclists ding their bells imperiously and expect me to move over immediately, totally, so they can fly though. I do not drive, I walk and use public transport where need be. I am sick and tired of the attitude of entitlement of cyclists. I would ban them from busy London roads and streets- they are not safe (look at the stats) and neither are pedestrians.

And where in this case did he fall foul of that

Due care and attention. Cycling up the inside is not taking due care.

Nor is opening the door.

I don't think the cyclist was going especially fast.

If you look at the first couple of seconds, the cyclist filming stays equidistant with the one in front. The filming cyclist is not exactly racing along (but nor is he creeping along slowly).