I got knocked off in Chorlton on the way home last night when this bloke opened a car door into the bike lane and I went straight over the top of it and into the middle of the road.

I’m not sure if I should report the accident to the police.

Bike and clothing are fine…small scuff on saddle and glove but hardly anything.

I’m quite sore today…shoulder, hand and wrist are a bit painful but I have full movement and am in work

The guy was genuinely very sorry, gave me all his details and said if I get home and find any damage I could call him and he’d sort me out. He was foreign and his card is for his own (UK) painting and decorating business. He looked like he’d just been doing that as well. When I said I should report it to the police, he said he would prefer not to get the insurance involved and would sort me out with cash (then went and got his business card). He seemed genuine and apologised so much I started feeling sorry for him by the end.

Everyone in the office is telling me to report it to the police and to cause an incident like this with a car door is an offence, but there is nothing to claim and I don’t want to get this bloke done. I suppose the problem would be if my wrist gets worse and I need to take time off.

What do u all think?

Well, it might be an ‘offence’ but he didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident. Ignore everyone else, including us on here, and do what YOU feel is right.

No witnesses? His word against yours? Bar being interviewed I cna’t see it going far.

Unless you *really* want to ruin his day then I’d accept his apology, get money for any damage and, assuming you have nothing more than a bruise or two, move on.

He seems to have done all the right things (bar the initial not looking thing).

If he’d got out shouting at you for scratching his paintwork then maybe it would be worth taking it further. But he didn’t.

I wouldn’t, the guy made a mistake and offered to make it up to you. Plenty of others would have blamed you and not even apologised.

There may be reasons why it’s a good idea to report it but it doesn’t sound like any lasting harm has been done…

Have him deported.

Yes report it. They only keep a record and give you a crime number it doesn’t automatically escalate from there. Explain that you thought it was a genuine accident and you just want the matter logged for insurance purposes.

Whether you involve the insurance company is a different issue but if some time down the line you do decide to and haven’t logged the accident with the police then dealing with the insurance company might prove more difficult.

[edit]
This is based on experience of two accidents where the car driver claimed they would sort out the costs no problem. In both cases once they had a chance to collect their thoughts they decided that they would rather not pay for any of the damage they had caused and I had to revert to claiming off of their insurance.

Just make sure you are 100% ok first. Thats the main thing.
once you’ve settle down abit you’ll have a better idea of whether you can be bothered or not.

I got knocked off my bike in January in what sounds like pretty much identical circumstances.. local tradesman etc. Nice bloke, drove me home in his van.. offered to pay for any damage etc.

I just chalked it up as a genuine accident and let it go..

Also, unless its reported it isn’t logged so the road won’t get recognised as a danger point. Bike lanes shouldn’t put you in the door zone.

3 weeks ago, a car pulled out of a junction and hit the bike clear from under me.
Pringled rear wheel and cracked seatstay.
Driver was full of appologies and gave me his car details too.
A bystander had called police. So when the arrived they too took details off him.
When I gave his details to my insurance – he had given me wrong details!

Lucky the police had turned up after all.

Hows the paint inside your house? Call him that youre supposed to paint the entire house and now your wrist is sore to do that 😆 …hey free paint and still works out cheaper than his insurance premium to go up 😛

Kidding aside your judgment call mate, for me. If there is nothing to claim and i can see it as an honest mistake i let it go.. But then again thats just me 😉

Check and double check the bike, and work out how much the damage is going to cost to repair and make sure that you haven’t sustained any other injuries.

A similar thing happened to me going down to the start of a road race, women opens a car door and knocked me off, she was very upset about it and totally apologetic, she accepted full responsibility and gave me her contact details to repair the damage.

When I saw her a week later to give her the bill (Zipp wheel, STI lever, forks, bars and tape, new skin suit etc. soon adds up)it was a different matter you could see the colour drain from her face, suddenly it was my fault and she wouldn’t pay that much.

Luckily I had witnesses and eventually got the money without going to court but it took a lot more hassle than I would have liked, if the incident was reported at the beginning then it would have been dealt with by the insurance co.

So in my opinion, report it.

Car-dooring’s not really an ‘accident’ is it? Surely it’s negligence or carelessness on part of the car-doorer? You were there to be seen, had they looked. It could have killed or crippled you.

I don’t have a strong position on the reporting issue, but I am concerned that confusing ‘accidents’ with incidents caused by human error is another way of saying casualties are inevitable, when they’re not.

Similar to my recent accident. Didn’t see the point in involving cops or insurance. Guy paid up next day.
Get the bike checked over by a pro though…

On second thoughts, report it so it is logged and in the stats. The authorities aren’t able to address a problem they don’t know about. Also possible is they car-doorer doesn’t have insurance or has had other issues.

Surely it’s negligence or carelessness.. which causes an accident. Nobody did anything on purpose.

get yourself checked out as well and the bike, if all good, as other suggest let it go… there are few genuine people who mean well unlike some others who think cyclists have been spawned by some evil troglodyte

Nobody did anything on purpose.

True, but not relevant. Incidents like this would usually be caused by an an act of omission (failing to look), rather than an act of commission. They are foreseeable, and preventable by taking reasonable care.

Accidents happen. You can’t prevent them afterwards 😉

I see your troll Dez. Shall remain calm.

@op glad you’re OK.

Could of been settled over a beer or two.

Opening a car door to the danger of others….is a specific offence.

AND

You have an injury and all personal injury accidents should be reported to the police.

But you are driving this so do what you are happy with…. Good Luck

mattjg – Member

Car-dooring’s not really an ‘accident’ is it? Surely it’s negligence or carelessness on part of the car-doorer?

Actually there is case law that puts some of the burden of responsibility onto the road user passing the parked vehicle.

I would ask him to replace any damage to clothing and bike and move on.

Actually there is case law that puts some of the burden of responsibility onto the road user passing the parked vehicle.

That’s reasonable of course. To take an extreme example, it’s would be unfair to blame a driver if it was dark and a cyclist didn’t have lights.

Report it. He might have a habit of doing just that.

Take him to court and turn up looking like this

But do get your wrist checked out sometime wrist fractures take time to develop and show up on xrays

I’d at least report it and have something on record should things deteriorate.

Slightly different circumstances I appreciate but I was knocked off my bike at a roundabout. At the time the woman seemed very reasonable, gave me a lift home, gave me her phone number asked me to call about any damage etc.

I didn’t think I was too badly hurt but as the day went on my shoulder just seized up and I ended up in hospital with it and needed months of physio – this was in 2007 and its still not 100% and never will be.

I called the woman to explain the situation, got her husband instead who basically threatened to come round and smash my face in if I pursued the matter.

The police did end up involved but would have been happy to just to keep a note of the incident without getting too involved if they hadn’t needed to.

If you’re not injured then don’t make an injury claim or kick up a fuss but always best to record it now then wish you had later.

Cheers

Danny B

I don’t want to sound negative, but the cause of the incident is twofold – Firstly the driver opened the door without properly looking, secondly, the OP must have been in the door openning zone as he passed the vehicle.

After many years of commuting I have had a few close calls, but when passing any vehicles, make sure I give them a wide berth and keep well out of the door zone, it has saved me on a few occassions when doors have been opened without looking as i past, my shouting gave the drivers a fright, but I was outside the openning area.

The driver seems to have been quite decent, and you should get him to pay for any damage, do this quickly, so that if he suddenly gets difficult, you can then report. He may be working illegally, so would not want authorities to be involed.

Keep well away from parked cars……

Lesson learned by the OP, give parked cars a wide berth.

As pretty much everyone has said, report the Police, but no further action required at this stage. Get yourself down to the docs to get checked out and the bike to a good LBS for a thorough check.
If you and the bike are ok, leave it be.
If the bike is damaged get in touch with the bloke and take it from there….
I wouldn’t go taking him to the cleaners etc unless he turns into a moron.

There was a similar incident to this in the news recently, in which the cyclist tragically died.

Apparently the police could not press driving charges as the driver was parked. So they opted for manslaughter and it was totally rejected by the court.

Appears there is a gap in the law.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20725496

I would at least report it, even though it is unlikely to go anywhere, in case you need to seek compensation in the future for your injuiries, as injuries can take time to manifest themselves.

Appears there is a gap in the law.

Could be that’s developing. There was a case discussed here recently where a driver that had parked and left a van, that someone else then collided with, was convicted.

He may be working illegally, so would not want authorities to be involed.

Really???

And maybe the OP was part of a crack commando unit sent to prison by a military court for a crime he didn’t commit. He then promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Chorlton underground. Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a soldier of fortune, terrorising painters and decorators. But there’s no evidence of that either

irelanst – Member

He may be working illegally, so would not want authorities to be involed.

Really???

And maybe the OP was part of a crack commando unit sent to prison by a military court for a crime he didn’t commit. He then promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Chorlton underground. Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a soldier of fortune, terrorising painters and decorators. But there’s no evidence of that either

No, no evidence, no evidence he will pay up either. Heard and seen enough stories to bear it in mind though.

Cheers for the advice and views.

To reiterate, I’m not looking to profit from this or get the guy nicked. Surprisingly, no damage to my kit or bike.

BUT I will report it to the cops to get it logged in case the sore bits get sorerer and/or there is some damage to the bike that I didn’t notice last night. It’s my old P7 hack bike with Kona project 2 forks, weighs a ton but came off better than the door of his Peugeot.

Thanks again.

Yes – definitely report it. Any incident like this should be reported to the police, even if it does not go any further.
Make sure you keep all the details of car/driver and the incident (perhaps write it all down for future reference) – injuries may clear up, but if they don’t or they recur you’ve got 3 years to make a PI claim
(Sorry to hear you got taken out like that. Live in Chorlton too – reasonably wide roads into town but door opening is my big fear!!)