What else could I have done?

[wilkotom]

Well, here's a quick update. Received a letter from the Met advising that the copper driving the vehicle whose door took me out received an "absolute discharge" on a charge of driving without due care & intention. Am I wrong to be surprised?? Thought not

That still means that he went to a court and was found guilty though. It may well be that the magistrate thought that any punishment he'd received internal to the police force was sufficient. Might be worth getting hold of the sentencing remarks if you know when and where he was tried.

 

[stephenb]

Ah thanks. I'd thought this meant he'd been cleared of any wrong doing so am a slightly happier bunny (sorry) now. I do know the court so will see what I can find.

 

[Custom24]

Well, here's a quick update. Received a letter from the Met advising that the copper driving the vehicle whose door took me out received an "absolute discharge" on a charge of driving without due care & intention. Am I wrong to be surprised?? Thought not

The driver? What about the passenger who opened the door?

 

[glenn forger]

It's the driver's responsibility.

 

[Colin B]

The driver? What about the passenger who opened the door?

Driver is responsible for his passengers used to be front only but I'm sure they changed it some time ago

 

[glenn forger]

I think you';re right:

http://ukcyclerules.com/2011/01/18/the-laws-of-car-doors/

 

[Colin B]

I take responsibility for all passengers in my car always have done , but there again I don't swing the door open I prefer to crack it slightly and wait a second or two . Might sound pointless , but If I have by some chance missed a cyclist in a blind spot he's hopefully spotted the door and even better passed in the seconds I paused .If you hit a door I've opened you seriously were too close lol

 

[young Ed]

Thanks all for the good comments - I've been a CTC member for ages so after a bit of thought put a call in to their legal line. I'm not after the jackpot, but I do want the police at least to acknowledge that the fault was theirs. I didn't get badge numbers or anything, guess I wasn't thinking too clearly afterwards but hopefully it will be in the incident report. Take care out there!

defo report
as already said, everything to do with the police has to be logged so a simple car with the minimum of 2 officers just patrolling or even a foot officer patrolling the streets is logged on a computer system so contact police check to see if officer has reported incident and if not open a case and get refrence number and ask for details of officers in said van at said time and identify exactly which officer opened door

also take careful notes of exactly how much time off work you have missed and take bike to LBS to get it checked over and take records of dates and costs for this and if you have to take a taxi or bus or the train etc because you can't walk or ride get a receipt for this and then file all this and claim for it in court
Cheers Ed

 

[uclown2002]

defo report
as already said, everything to do with the police has to be logged so a simple car with the minimum of 2 officers just patrolling or even a foot officer patrolling the streets is logged on a computer system so contact police check to see if officer has reported incident and if not open a case and get refrence number and ask for details of officers in said van at said time and identify exactly which officer opened door

also take careful notes of exactly how much time off work you have missed and take bike to LBS to get it checked over and take records of dates and costs for this and if you have to take a taxi or bus or the train etc because you can't walk or ride get a receipt for this and then file all this and claim for it in court
Cheers Ed

Top advice Ed
Oh read post #30.

 

[Custom24]

I think you';re right:

http://ukcyclerules.com/2011/01/18/the-laws-of-car-doors/

That article is a bit ambiguous as to whether the driver, passenger, or both would be liable. I guess it's not automatic, and is on a case by case basis?

 

[Cuchilo]

That article is a bit ambiguous as to whether the driver, passenger, or both would be liable. I guess it's not automatic, and is on a case by case basis?

Nope . Impeding a public highway is the charge . I guess the PO got off as he was accused of the wrong offence . Smart buggers those people that know the law !
I had someone drive into my car and I watched him do it through the gap in my door as I was looking to see if the road was safe to open the door . Wing mirror had been taken off by another twat before hand .
The fault was mine as I had opened my door according to the law . The fact that he swerved into me to miss an oncoming car that he should have given way to was never questioned .