Chipped stone hits car window - who is liable??

[regthellama]

Hello and sorry if this in the wrong section, but...
I was cycling through a private car park with a public right of way when a stone pinged from my tyre and hit a car window, completely smashing it. I wasn't going quickly and was obviously not being negligent. Who is liable for this though? Would the owner's insurance pay up without charging excess?
Thanks for your help.

 

[ColinJ]

I have had a few near misses after causing stones to fly off and hit cars and asked myself the same question. I think that it should be treated like any other accident where nobody was to blame.

 

[Cameronmu917772]

Call Gavin for auto glass herd he is pretty good
It will be there insurance I'm sure. A lot of policy's come with wind screen cover bees days

*these days lol

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I suppose it's the same as a car driving down a road having it's screen smashed by another passing car.
The owners insurance pays up (if they have windscreen cover) and they pay an excess. It's an occupational hazard.

 

[Profpointy]

The long answer is that to claim against someone else for tort, you have to establish all 3 things

1) duty of care
yes - cyclist does have duty of care to people around not to damage them or their stuff.

2) failure or negligence in that duty - hooning around doing doughnuts kicking up stones - probably
Pootling around sensibly but catching a chipping - probably not - so "no blame, no claim"

if there were "strict liabilty" which is established by statute for certain inherently dangerous things, then burden of proving negligence is removed - but that wouldn't apply here - but would be "a good thing" if it applied to cars - sadly doesn't

3) proximity - meaning proving the harm followed fairly directly - so broken window - yes

 

[Globalti]

Invite the driver to sue you then get on with your life. They won't.

 

[uclown2002]

Call Gavin for auto glass herd he is pretty good
It will be there insurance I'm sure. A lot of policy's come with wind screen cover bees days

*these days lol

Why not edit out the other errors while you're at it?

 

[welsh dragon]

It's no one's fault. No one can be blamed. If the car owner has windscreen cover then his insurance company will pay for the damage. If he doesnt, he will have to claim off his insurance company. It may ne seen as a fault claim. Check with his insurance company

 

[raleighnut]

I was quite shocked when my bike did it, went with a hell of a ping straight into a car windscreen. With this one though would I be right in thinking it was a side window as it shattered cos most windscreens are laminated nowadays so would just crack whereas side windows are merely toughened so shatter. Would then windscreen insurance cover it.

 

[vickster]

British cycling member? You have third party cover. You could call them for advice

 

[Cycleops]

Most drivers will have windscreen insurance included with their policy so not an issue for most.

 

[Banjo]

This isnt your fault. You did nothing wrong. If anything the surface of the path is to blame.
I have to admire your honesty, I think I may have kept pedalling.

 

[Brandane]

Over the years I've had about 4 windscreens smashed (2 were within a few weeks of each other) by stones thrown up by other vehicles. Repairs were down to me, end of story.

The driver of the vehicle that threw the stone up can hardly be blamed, and neither can the roads authority. It's just one of those things that happens.

Most fully comprehensive insurance policies will cover the costs anyway, apart from an excess of about £80 in my case.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I wasn't going quickly and was obviously not being negligent.

That is the crux of it, the car owner would have to prove that you were negligent in your manner of riding to have a claim against you.

You could not reasonably have known that a particular little stone would be at the very position which, when struck by one of your tyres at a given angle, would be propelled towards the window.

Don't beat yourelf up about this, let the driver's insurance handle it. If anything, you've done the driver enough of a favour by corroborating his claim to his insurers as genuine. They may not have taken his word for it and been reluctant to pay.

You're clearly an honest person with a conscience but you have no legal obligation to pay for this damage, accidents do happen.

GC

 

[welsh dragon]

What would the driver do if he was driving along the road and a stone from another vehicle hit his window? Its the same thing.