Had a passenger of a taxi open the door right in front of me yesterday evening, sent flying and ended up in hospital. Got all the driver’s details with police in attendance, so got a ref number too. Bike is a bit messed up (front wheel, brake lever and shifter definitely) so will be getting it inspected. Home insurance legal line said to definitely go through insurer due to the personal injury.

Anyone know of a good solicitor/co that covers the Cardiff area?

Were you not riding too close if someone opened a door on you?

FunkyDunc – Member
Were you not riding too close if someone opened a door on you?

Surely if it was stopped and essentially parked you can ride as close as you like

Might be worth contacting CTC or British Cycling for their recommendations even if you’re not a member?

Hope you get well soon.

so you are claiming from the passenger that opened the door then

Surely if it was stopped and essentially parked you can ride as close as you like

You can always ride as close as you like, whether it’s wise to is a different matter. Passing a taxi that’s stopped I always look to see if there is anyone in the back

so you are claiming from the passenger that opened the door then

it is always the drivers responsibility.

“A driver has the responsibility to ensure that it is safe for passengers to exit a vehicle and should give instructions when it is safe to do so.”

http://www.slatergordon.co.uk/media-centre/blog/2015/06/cycling-law-is-car-dooring-a-criminal-offence/

Was a taxi in a stationary line of traffic, I was cycling along the cycle lane on the left hand side when the passenger just opened the door as i was level with the rear wheel of the taxi. 3 lane road in the city centre and all 3 lanes were full so it was the safest place to be.

Will check out the CTC/BC pages.

Rule 239 of the Highway Code states that motorists “MUST ensure you do not hit anyone when you open your door. Check for Cyclists or other traffic.” The Highway Code serves as guidance only, and non compliance with a rule of the Highway Code is not an offence. However, s.42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence to open “any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person.”

http://www.cyclistsdefencefund.org.uk/the-law-for-cyclists-hit-by-vehicle-doors

Yes, it’s sensible to be at least a door’s width away from a parked/stopped car. But it’s a criminal offence to hit someone when you open your car door.

But then ‘we’ spend money building painting cycle lanes like this:

so it’s easy to see why cyclists ride close to parked cars. Particularly as if you ignore a lane like that you tend to get abuse or punishment passes from drivers who think you’re just being awkward.

The good news is that we do then spend some more money telling people not to use the infrastructure paint that’s just been put down:

Anyway, OP, try British Cycling’s legal people Leigh Day. I’ve had reason to use them and they were very good.

edit – someone already posted above

Funkydunc has form for roadie-hating IIRC.

Was a taxi in a stationary line of traffic, I was cycling along the cycle lane on the left hand side when the passenger just opened the door as i was level with the rear wheel of the taxi. 3 lane road in the city centre and all 3 lanes were full so it was the safest place to be.

Will check out the CTC/BC pages.

The passenger has certainly committed an offence, whether the taxi driver is also liable for not ensuring a safe exit from the vehicle is another matter. Hopefully you have the passenger details, but I would go for the taxi’s insurance in the first instance.

Either way, it’s obvious that there is no fault on your part in these circumstances.

I had the exact same thing happen to me, fortunately it was the front seat passenger of a private car who did it.

I was on my mtb that day so did an epic unintentional rolling stoppie into the open door, bounced off of it with my shoulder and landed on my feet next to the passenger who was half out of the car and shitting himself.

‘Good job I’ve got disc brakes, eh? You might want to look next time’

Win, and a sore shoulder the next day.

No fault on the part of the cyclist, but a reminder/warning to all that when you can’t avoid being in the dooring zone, it’s vital to ride really defensively. You can’t stop someone opening a door right on top of you but you can give yourself the best chance of avoiding a serious crash and/or minimising the consequences.

I basically crawl past queues. I’m still going faster than them…

Funkydunc has form for roadie-hating IIR

Yep I even hate myself whilst riding a road bike, Chakaping knows me better than I know myself.

ctc incident helpline 0844 736 8452

there is also a charge of maliciously opening a vehicle door as to cause injury

Either way, it’s obvious that there is no fault on your part in these circumstances.

Disagree.

After every accident/near-miss you should always consider what you could’ve done differently. When you are a vulnerable road user there’s no point been dead, right…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/11784553/Cyclist-knocked-into-path-of-oncoming-taxi-by-car-door.html

there is also a charge of maliciously opening a vehicle door as to cause injury

I think that’s muddying the waters a bit. There’s no suggestion from the OP that this was a malicious attack, but just a bit of carelessness by the passenger.

Yep I even hate myself whilst riding a road bike, Chakaping knows me better than I know myself.

Wasn’t you who posted a rant about roadies riding two abreast or something like that a while ago?

What about 4 abreast and swerving to avoid potholes in the road?

You would think if your carbon wheel is going to shatter into a million pieces by riding on the road you maybe should be out on tougher wheels

Not roadworthy your honor?

swerving to avoid potholes in the road?

There’s a reason riding through potholes is a bad idea.

Kate Vanloo followed your advice a few weeks ago. Now her three children are without a mother.

Mother-of-three Kate Vanloo, 52, was cycling on a country lane in Warwickshire with a friend when she came off her bike and was hit by a car.
She was thrown onto the road and into the path of a car when she cycled into a water-filled pothole,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12092547/Cyclist-killed-after-being-thrown-into-road-by-a-pothole-that-was-filled-in-days-later.html

Funkydunc has form for roadie-hating IIRC.

I’m not a roadie. The commuter bike is a hybrid with secondhand mtb bits bolted on (Deore brakes, XT drivetrain, Saint pedals) 🙂 I even ride in baggies and my helmet has a peak!

After every accident/near-miss you should always consider what you could’ve done differently. When you are a vulnerable road user there’s no point been dead, right…

Agreed, that’s why my route is different each way to avoid most of the trouble spots. Where this happened is the lesser of two options, the other involves crossing two very busy roundabouts. Will look into any more alternatives for when I get back on the bike. Was prepared for a door opening, covered the brakes and knew there was room to swerve onto the pavement, but I was right next to the door when it opened.

Just got off the phone with Leigh Day who will call me back later. If they can’t help I’ll try the CTC helpline.

Sorry to hear you’re hurt OP. As mentioned above – CTC and BC best people to contact.

Problem with UK cycling infrastructure is it frequently puts cyclists in danger – as you’ve found out. Riding primary or filtering to avoid this risk, brings it’s own downsides e.g. abuse.

Maybe once you’ve made contact with the legal people, you can also explore options to make the council accountable for putting in infrastructure which put you at risk?

Personally I’ve given up assuming anything when cycling – whether it’s carelessness or deliberate, I just assume something’s going to happen which is going to put me at risk, and ride accordingly.

Chakaping – no get your facts right

I’m just in the camp of it not always the other persons fault, yes they probably were stupid opening the door without looking, but was op stupid not leaving more gap knowing someone was in the back of a stationary taxi. To me that means taxi is either going to pull out, because that’s what taxis do, or the person might be about to get out.

In days gone by it would have been an accident from which both parties learn a valuable lesson, now the priority is getting compensation.

where did I advise her?

Convenience of forum using best picks to reinforce your own argument shocker.

How is this not the councils fault if the road is in poor condition.

You would think if your carbon wheel is going to shatter into a million pieces by riding on the road you maybe should be out on tougher wheels

Don’t be stupid – that’s just setting up an argument for the sake of it, and not in the slightest bit helpful to the OP!

Oh, and FunkyDunc, unless you’re a trained cycling instructor, please can you give over on passing judgment on the OP! The guy just got hurt from riding in the provided infrastructure!

no get your facts right

What bit was wrong?

Wasn’t you who posted a rant about roadies riding two abreast or something like that a while ago?

That bit.

OP are you a member of the AA ? Feel for you had a guy jump out of his truck cab and nearly push me under a bus

Cyclists ride a doors width from parked cars to ensure maximum abuse from other road users for riding in the middle of the road

but was op stupid not leaving more gap knowing someone was in the back of a stationary taxi. To me that means taxi is either going to pull out, because that’s what taxis do, or the person might be about to get out.

the way I’m reading it the cyclist was in a cycle lane on the LEFT hand side of the road. The taxi was to his right in a stationary line of traffic. I’m assuming it was narrow cycle only lane rather than a bus/taxi/bike lane so the OP could not leave any more of a gap, other than getting off the bike and pushing it along the pavement 😕

Wasn’t you who posted a rant about roadies riding two abreast or something like that a while ago?

[quote]That bit.[/quote]Not you? Looks like your user name has been hacked then 🙂
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/road-cycling-big-groups

I got doored by a car once. Head down in the dark it had just started snowing. Felt like a **** as I usually check for occupants in parked cars. The op’s case seems to be a stationary car in traffic so a very different prospect. In my case I just had bruises and the driver was very apologetic then he tried to slam the door shut and it creaked and bounced back open so I got on my bike and left quick!

From a legal point of view, it’s covered in the link above

“In civil cases, the question has been raised of whether cyclists should anticipate that a car door may be opened in their path. This was considered in the case of John Burridge v Airwork Ltd (2004) where the Claimant cyclist was knocked into the road by a mini-bus door. He was then struck by another vehicle, causing him serious injury. The Defendant argued that the Claimant should have anticipated that the driver might open his door to get out after he had pulled over.

At first instance the court made no finding of contributory negligence. In the Court of Appeal, May LJ accepted that it was foreseeable that the driver might get out of his vehicle on the offside and that the Claimant had an opportunity to take avoiding action but was not at fault for failing to do so. The arguments advance by the Defendant infer that any cyclist injured when a vehicle door had been opened in their path had been guilty of contributory negligence. It was the view of May LJ that this placed too high a standard on cyclists. “

From a practical point of view, cycling far enough into the road to avoid opening doors brings it’s own hazards, because most motorists are ignorant about a cyclist reasons for not cycling as close to the left as possible.

It entirely depends on the circumstances whether it’s the right thing to do.

Not proud of myself for doing this…
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/road-cycling-big-groups

I think what the case law in Horatio’s post shows is essentially that the judge considered it similar to, say, riding or driving past a side road.

If I’m travelling along a road and someone doesn’t bother to look and pulls out in front of me, there may be actions I could have taken to avoid this (and as someone who doesn’t like having accidents, I take these actions as far as is reasonably practicable), but it would still be their fault for failing to check that the road was clear.

Similarly, if someone opens a door in front of you, they should have checked that the road was clear before opening it. I always ride far enough away from parked cars to allow for doors (I’m not going to rely on being able to see occupants), and if I see a car idling I assume a door will open, however when filtering past traffic all you can do is slow down a bit to mitigate the situation – as was the case once for me in London when a taxi passenger alighted from the OUTSIDE LANE of stationary traffic and caught the edge of my handlebar, bouncing me and my bike off another car (in the inside lane) and putting a huge scrape down the other car. The taxi driver was responsible, however drove off without exchanging details – he had unlocked the door and told the passengers it was safe to get out. Despite exchanging details with the other driver I’m not sure how this panned out – we did get the number of the cab as it was stuck in traffic a couple of hundred metres down the road.

The taxi driver was responsible, however drove off without exchanging details – he had unlocked the door and told the passengers it was safe to get out.

That’s the bit I would wonder about. I would expect that the driver should be responsible to ensure that it’s OK to open the door, more so with a taxi.

I know there’s been the odd occasion where I’ve turned and looked when dropping the other half off to suggest when it’s safe to get out as you get more a view from the drivers side. The wing mirror would be adjusted for the driver, so the passenger is a bit scuppered there as well.

philxx1975 – Member
What about 4 abreast and swerving to avoid potholes in the road?

You would think if your carbon wheel is going to shatter into a million pieces by riding on the road you maybe should be out on tougher wheels

Not roadworthy your honor?

Are you being purposefully obtuse? Knowingly riding/driving into a visible pothole if it can be safely avoided is just common sense. I’d swerve to avoid potholes and thus damage to my car; Why should a bike not do the same?