DC knocked over a cyclist

[blueirishues]

The situation was that I pulled up and dc opened the car door, a cyclist went into it and over the top. My door is damaged and cyclist shouting all sorts about going to sue what are the rights and wrongs here?

I'm guessing op was parked against the flow of traffic?!

Gosh, I am mystified ...

You're driving

You park.

Child happens to be sitting nearest the road.

Child opens door!

How are you confused OP?

If you look at your diagram, how did the passenger door (next to you) open onto the road?

I came off my bike by this a couple of months ago. I was in bike lane riding alongside traffic jam. I was going fairly slow because I know passengers have a a habit of 'I'll just jump out here'. Swerved and came off. I'm so much more aware of this now I'm a cyclist. I wish more drivers were. As others have said, it can be and has been lethal.

You are seriously going to have to understand what happened and be able to verbalise it as the insurance is going to want to know.

We have no idea what side of the road you were on, what hand drive your car is, what seat dc was sat in, where the bike was positioned. In your diagram it is impossible for dc to be sat in the passenger seat.

"Child happens to be sitting nearest the road."

Ok, but that's not apparent from your pic (imo).

I think it is totally clear. I don't get the confusion, not after the OP's latest updates.

The OP pulled over to the left and parked. The child was in the back seat directly behind the driver's seat. That was the door she flung open. The back seat of a car IS a passenger seat, and the doors to it are passenger doors!

OP the passenger seat usually refers to the front passenger seat.

Do mean the rear seat behind the driver?

I believe The rear seat behind the passenger seat is sometimes referred to as the golden seat, as it is statistically the safest position in an accident, and so the best seat for a child to travel in.

Children should always exit a vehicle on the pavement side. If this isn't possible the driver should get out and open the door for them when it's safe.

Thank you Topsey! Anyway it isn't that important. Horrible thing to happen but a salutary lesson and it could have been far worse.

I think OP needs to use some clear, standardised terminology.

Car parked in layby, pointing in the same direction as flow of traffic.

Child opens rear offside door into traffic, causing cyclist to collide with said door..

I'm confused too. So the child was sitting in the seat next to you rather than behind you? But that would have either meant she was sitting on the pavement side, or if you're not in the UK and the car is left hand drive then the cyclist was on the wrong side of the road??

Cross post. So the child was sitting in the seat behind you. That makes sense now.

The "passenger seat" is the front left seat of a car. The rear seats are the rear seats!

"Child happens to be sitting nearest the road."

So not in the passenger seat!

Right
A) Not the cyclist's fault. How could it possibly be his fault? He was just cycling along the road.
B) Why were you letting a child get out into the road?
C) Passenger door to me denotes the passenger side of the car. Child was on driver's side rear.

A car could easily have been coming past,did neither of you look? Obviously not I guess, but why not?!

"The back seat of a car IS a passenger seat, and the doors to it are passenger doors!"

No, a car has two sides, the driver's side aka off side, which is the right-hand side, and the passenger side aka near side, which is the left-hand side.

A car also (obviously) has a front and rear.

In the absence of further elucidation, the 'passenger' seat means the FRONT of the car, on the NEAR side.

www.drivingtesttips.biz/nearside-offside.html

Hope you are OK. I gave one of my dc friends a lift to school and she terrified the life out of me by flinging her door open and jumping out (on the road side) before I'd even got the handbrake on - she was about 11. Thankfully, no cyclists and no cars either as someone would have been hurt if there had been - she just didn't look and I wasn't expecting it as it was always something I'd drummed into my lot.

You will have to take the insurance hit on this one but be thankful no one was badly hurt and the child will (hopefully) stop and think in future!

OP. It sounds like you allowed a 9 year child to open a car door into a flow of traffic. The consequences could have been very tragic.

It's not the child's fault.
It's not the cyclist's fault.

If I was the child's mother I would be very angry with you for putting my child at risk.

Oh and she was sat behind me and I fully expected her to scoot over and get on on the pavement side as that's what my dc would have done as I'd always taught them to do that.

This thread had made me think... I don't drive but my dc are often in other people's cars. They know to look before opening the doors, regardless of road or pavement side, but I have no idea if they look for bikes or just cars and pedestrians. I'll be asking them when they get home.

I'm struggling to understand how you think the cyclist could have been even slightly at fault. They should be cycling as close to the pavement as they can, not giving parked cars a wide berth on the offchance some thoughtless person opens their door.

A friend of mine was seriously injured in this way. She had to have so much time off work she nearly lost her job.

Blue...contact your insurers...you are generally obliged to do so. Do not admit any liability, that's for insurance company (and cyclist's) to establish.

As pps have said your are rarely held liable for child's carelessness. Yes there are guidelines and advice about opening into traffic but there are also guidelines for road users, cyclists included, about hazard perception and allowing safe space... in both driver and cyclists awareness courses I have attended it is always recommended to allow "door width" between you and stationary vehicles where possible...

Do not admit any liability, that's for insurance company (and cyclist's) to establish.

OP please don't take this advice. Do not drag this out for the poor cyclist. You've admitted the mistake, you know its your fault. Just put the victim out of their misery and make their claim as easy as possible.

When you report to the police and your insurance, do not say the child opened the passenger door.
The passenger door is the other front seat that us not the driver.
Child was in the back seat, behind the driver and opened the door onto the road.
You'll get yourself in bother for not giving the correct details of an accident.