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?

Still ,at the poster calling the cyclist a "moron". For cycling along the road minding his own business. Plus the op asking about "the rights and wrongs". I despair.

Demelzap
It is NOT advisable for a cyclist to cycle as close to the pavement as they can at all. Especially in certain situations such as a narrow road or where there are obstructions at the side of the road.
In some circumstances a cyclist should take the centre of the lane or "primary position" as it is called.
In fact the "door zone" is a well known danger to cyclists and many will give parked cars a wide berth to avoid exactly this situation. However the responsibility still lies with the occupants of the car to look before they open the door.

Stupid question OP.

Just hope if the bike is damaged the cyclist is not like Dh and his friends. Their bikes are horribly expensive - have blocked out how much Dh spent on his road bike...

Do people not read any more?
The child was a girl
she is not the OP's dd

Do all cars now have child locks?

Barinatxe
How can there possibly be a case against the cyclist in these circumstances. As far as I know a drivers insurance covers the actions of a passenger as well as the driver so the claim is against the drivers insurance.
You would also be surprised at how many cyclists do have insurance.

If the child was in the passenger seat, right next to the driver, and the car was parked, then either

1. The bike was on the pavement, not the road.
2. OP was parked a foot or more away from the kerb.
3. OP parked against the flow of traffic and the child didn't see the cyclist right in front of them, cycling towards them.

Can you clarify OP as it's clear as mud.

OP has already clarified.

Child was in the rear seat behind the driver. This was mistakenly called the ''passenger'' seat.

I thibk the child was behind the driver seat. Op has a confusing use of the term passenger seat.

Where does it say that? I can't see it!! Sorry!

So child was in rear seat behind OP and opened door without checking. They could have been killed! Glad everyone is OK.

She thanks topsy so i assume tops is correct

Blimey!

This started off as a clear "who's to blame" and has ended up in a very convoluted state.

To me the only thing Blueiris didn't make clear was whether the door was opened onto the pavement (primarily cyclist's fault, I would have thought, but also some fault attached to the door-opener - if you aren't careful you can send a toddler, blind person - anyone really - flying, so you should always check) or onto the road - totally driver's responsibility.

Blueiris cleared the confusion up, I thought, but it seems I was wrong.

Ok, in my world passenger seat is next to the driver in the front. The seats behind are the rear passenger seats, off side and near side.

If you've pulled up to the kerb why would a passenger of any age get out on the road side? Really stupid and crap attitude towards the cyclist - more concerned about the long-term effect on the dc of being sworn at than the fact the cyclist could have been killed

OP have you reported this to your insurer yet? There's usually a window to do so and if the cyclist was hurt you should call 101. Have you swapped details?

I'm not a cyclist but a runner and a car door has been opened on me before. I wasn't hurt but I'm very wary of this situation now!

Why was the moron cycling so close to your car anyway

Because if you dare take up any more room arsehole drivers yell at you to "get over".

I was "doored", when i did get back on the bike i was wary, and left an extra foot between me and parked cars. The abuse i got was unbelievable.

Think about where in the road you'd need to be to be beyond the reach of a car door.

And mechanically, if you're closer the door isn't accelerating as fast when it hits you, and does less damage.

My 3 year old was also hit by a passenger flinging a car door open and into him. He was walking to school on the pavement, and didn't get so much as an apology.

Have you checked the cyclist is ok since the dooring incident?

Terrible thing to happen to the poor cyclist.

Still confused as the OP keeps correcting people and saying the child was definitely in the passenger seat.

Also, if they were in the back, why were they getting out on the road side instead of the pavement side? You wouldn't want an adult passenger to do that, let alone a child. I don't get it.

Happy pinning

The child was in the offside rear passenger seat hth

happypoobum

OP's use of passenger seat means in the back

I agree with you about passengers getting out road-side

This thread pisses me off. Don't bleat about being sued. Feel glad you didn't kill the cyclist

Simple facts are as the driver you are responsible to third parties for the actions of all passengers, child or not. You could theoretically then sue the passenger yourself but that's highly unlikely in reality.

Cyclist behaviour is irrelevant in the liability issue. You cannot injure someone with your car door. If the cyclist was doing something wrong, that might reduce any damages paid out if 'contributory negligence' was found but it does not negate your liability.

OP I'm quite shocked by your cold uncaring attitude towards the person nearly killed by your car. Some empathy is in order.

Dh is an avid yet careful cyclist. He has been knocked off 3 times all due to the moronic careless behaviour of drivers. All 3 drivers admitted they were at fault at the scene. Thank god cuts and bruises so far but he was really shaken up by each incident.

One driver agreed to pay for the damage to Dh bike and kit. When Dh sent him the bill he started whining so Dh said money in my account by end of the day or I press charges, go through insurers and sue you for personal injury as I am quite entitled to do. Money paid.

Very unfortunate, I think a lot of children wouldn't look carefully for a cyclist who may be approaching quite fast. Children under 8 ish also find it very difficult to judge speed so they may have thought the cyclist was moving much slower. I would get them to check with you in future.

Parents around us park on the edge of the pavement on the school run and open car doors without looking and often into my pre schooler who is difficult to see given her height. I lean over and push the doors very carefully shut. Except the time the new AUDI opened the door straight into my buggy, DS was actually in the sling as I had been using it transport a donations for the PTA, we kept going, the scratch was impressive.

It's not the cyclists fault. It's not the child's fault. It's the adult drivers fault.

Every morning when I drop off my DC, my 11yo is sitting in the pavement side. Every morning I say "Get out in the pavement side" because it's my responsibility to make sure she's safe. I'm not even thinking about cyclists I'm thinking about her being run over.

I'm glad the little girl concerned is fine (and the cyclist of course!)