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?

check this out if the cuclist did have time to swerve or stop the op would be wel lin her rights to not pay or admit liability (possibly couldeven sue to on damage of the car dont fall for it no doubt hell have neck pain as well

"
Today 13:13Topseyt

2rebecca, are you being deliberately obtuse?"
That's not fair it really is not clear. The op has alluded and agreed but never actually said. Plus her general use of "passenger door" which most of us agree is at the front!

This happened to my son (on a bright day when he was cycling sensibly with bright clothes) aged 11. I was right behind him.

He was flung across the road and so badly bruised that the Dr sent him to A&E for an Xray.

And the driver's reaction (when I said in a distressed manner "look what you've done to my son!" He demanded my insurance details and called me a fucking cunt.

Absolute nutter. If he had been apologetic it would have been a lot less traumatic. As it was, the police were involved and both my sons were incredibly upset.

Glad the OP

Do cyclists not also practise this?

What, over the centre line? No, and nor should car drivers!
If you mean riding far enough away to allow for an opening door, not all the time. It's the door-opener's responsibility. It may not be possible for the cyclist to be that far out from the cars.

The fact the cyclist could have swerved & didn't

Yep, risked death to prove a point! What are you basing this on?

They should all have insurance!

I do. For my cars and motorbikes. Should pedestrians have insurance? I've been knocked off when a pedestrian ran into me. Funnily enough, they got a bit ranty and shouty (was it you?) but calmed down when I pointed out I had a camera on my bike.

What happens when a cyclist causes an accident?? FUCK ALL, everyone blames the driver.

What is this based on? The Daily Mail?

It is vanishingly unlikely that the cyclist would have time to swerve or stop to avoid the car door.

It would take a car 3 metres to stop if travelling at 10 miles per hour further for a bike (source, BRAKE), swerving would be even more difficult as the cyclist would be pulling out into traffic.

It isn't up to the Op anyway. If she has any common sense, she will have passed it all on to her insurer who will pay up without examining any of this nonsense as it would be a total waste of time.

rule 67
look well ahead for obstructions in the road, such as drains, pot-holes and parked vehicles so that you do not have to swerve suddenly to avoid them. Leave plenty of room when passing parked vehicles and watch out for doors being opened or pedestrians stepping into your path

rule 67, you SHOULD

rule 239, you MUST

There's a difference.

wettunwindee When something similar-ish happened to me, I even got reimbursed for the cost of transport to work for the time I was unable to cycle. That was on top of helmet, jacket, gloves, shorts, bike and 3 days off work. About £6k

If it (I hope never) happens to me, my costs will be about £900 for the bike: plus (say) £300 to replace clothing + helmet + gloves etc; if I land on my iPhone which is kept in my rear pocket, that's ~£600 if broken. My Garmin was £300+. If I was unable to drive I'd need £120 worth of taxis a day until I could... And I am pretty low-end spec.

If it was my OH, bike is £6000 for the frame alone, plus best part of £1000 for the wheels; plus all the other bits I mentioned for me (kit, phone, garmin etc). Plus the potential cost of alternative commuting method (a season ticket to where he works is about £4500/yr, as a guide).

The fact the cyclist could have swerved & didn't
yeah, I bet that bastard DELIBERATELY rode straight into the car door! Yeah that sounds totally likely.

A 6k bike for commuting

Radiator for you.

At least the driver and van driver that ploughed into DH were apologetic (though couldn't really have been otherwise they were obviously glaringly at fault).

Dh had cuts and bruises but was upset and shaken even without being abused. He is a lawyer but chose not to sue just insisted they reimbursed his damaged kit which I thought decent of him. Luckily for them he wasnt on his posh bike and it was his clothes that were damaged rather than the bike or the bill would have been similar to shotsfired DH.

whatsthecomingoverthehill A 6k bike for commuting shock

You should have heard my call to the insurance company this week. We have a contents policy with unlimited cover for possessions in the home, including bikes; and an already-generous limit for bikes away from the home. There was a long silence when I said how many bikes were in the house to start with; and also how much extra cover we'd need for the "away from home"

"check this out if the cuclist did have time to swerve or stop the op would be wel lin her rights to not pay or admit liability (possibly couldeven sue to on damage of the car dont fall for it no doubt hell have neck pain as well"

????

it's ILLEGAL to open, allow to be opened, or caused to open, a door into the path of someone in the road.

It's strict liability.

The cyclist doesn't have a case to answer for.

Many cyclists will cycle near the edge of the road because if they cycle in the middle people get angry for preventing them overtaking.

That's why it is the sole responsibiltiy of the motorist NOT to allow their car doors to be opened into their path.

Someone did this to me when I was much younger. I sued them and I won, no question. They wrecked my bike and I couldn't work for 2 weeks because my face was smashed up (I worked in front of house at the time). I can't remember how much compensation I got but it was about £1000

You're very lucky they weren't hurt.

This is an offence under s105 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

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

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.

This is true and I am aware of someone having been in court for it last year. (Not my case but in the same court on the same day).

You need a child lock. If the cyclist had hurt himself seriously then you would def have been liable.

"You should have heard my call to the insurance company this week." We've had the same, i told them there were three bikes then we had to list them. After giving the price for the first she said "is that for all three?".

savage uk i always look when opening the door however i also make sure to leave enough space when overtaking parked cars when cycling like the highway code tells me i should

For what it's worth, even in The Netherlands this is a common accident, despite both cyclists and drivers taught to be aware. Happened to a teacher of mine when I was a teenager. He was in hospital for two weeks with severe cuts in his neck. He nearly bled out before they got him to hospital.

I've lived in Ireland for over a decade now and am too terrified to cycle here, but OH commutes by bike. He too was doored about eight years ago. His arm and shoulder still aren't quite right. The woman was parked on double yellow lines outside an off license. Her door knocked OH onto the road where oncoming traffic just about managed to stop in time.

Yep, bluegreenyellow, it is good advice, because car drivers (and passengers) don't always do what they should.

But that doesn't mean the cyclist is in any way responsible, or diminishes the responsibility of the car occupant.

It isn't helped by drivers getting frustrated at cyclists who do leave a proper gap, or road designers doing things like the attached.

@ShotsFired - I think your husband's been telling you porkies.

There are very, very few frames for £6k. People who have them keep them for racing, not commuting. They would be uncomfortable and ill-suited to the job, ignoring the price tag. You certainly wouldn't have £1,000 wheels on a 6 grand frame. double, triple or quadruple that perhaps.

Your DC in the wrong. They should have looked before opening the door. The poor cyclist - it's one the most unpredictable hazards cyclists have to deal with - car travellers opening doors without looking - it can send the cyclist hurtling out into traffic. It's happened to me & one of the reasons I gave up cycling: car drivers & passengers seem to be deliberately blind about cyclists.

whatsthat

Yes, ridiculous placement of cycle lane!

Cat

DH says, along with this, it's pedestrians stepping out without looking

.... although that's more predictable

checkthisout you're a prize moron at the very least, but to be honest a few pages back there seemed to be quite a significant amount in this thread who were either deliberately misunderstanding the OP or who were giving appallingly stupid advice.

OP has admitted fault and to be honest, I'd have gone mental too - most likely from the shock and upset of being knocked off my bike by a stupid child not looking what they were doing. I would love to see one person, when vulnerable on a bike in comparison to cars, not be upset and angry if they're knocked off their bike or hurt by a motorist.

My OH has been knocked off his bike in similar circumstances - a woman pulling into parking bays alongside a designated cycle lane in the road, who then didn't look and opened her door straight onto him. Thankfully he was only bruised and shaken but it could have been much nastier.

For those posters being dickish about how cyclists are clearly to blame as can be seen in this article, the consequences if there'd been heavy traffic flow that the cyclist fell into could have been much nastier.

Cyclist killed by falling under wheels of a bus, when driver opened door without looking