it’s the speed he was riding at that I think wasn’t massively brainy.
And hindsight is a wonderful think, hopefully the cyclist will learn from this experience as well*, but it’s the other guy that will be getting the fine (hopefully) and telling off. Hopefully some good will come of this too, if nothing else it’s a decent reminder to everyone what can happen when someone makes a poor decision or isn’t paying enough attention on the roads, no matter what vehicle you’re using.
This is a subtle problem though isn’t it? you might not be blaming the cyclist for not anticipating that someone could do something that they’re not allowed to do, (and that there is a specific offence to cover the doing of), but there’s still the expectation on them to do so, and to some non-cycling folk they will latch onto any way it can be twisted and interpret it as being the cyclists fault.
resisted urge to reply with “walking into a dark alley at night could also be considered as not massively brainy, but it doesn’t make you to blame if you get mugged or worse” because I don’t get the impression you were actually trying to blame the cyclist.
ah bum, resistance is futile 🙁
* I did, as kid I got doored, and I now forever have it etched in my mind to the point that now I can count at least another half dozen times I would have been doored had my previous experience not meant that I was far enough out to avoid it, or being cautious enough to stop in time.