"when the car door was thrown open"...no claims advert (who's fault)?

[thomas]

Just listening to the radio, and the advert was for no win no fee compensation for cyclist who have been knocked off by a car door opening.

Now, I don't mean to be harsh, but a car door is about a meter long. Surely they should of overtaken a little further out and therefore not really deserve compensation.

edit:

I'm pretty sure the advert is for a parked car which makes things different to through traffic, etc.

Okay, I've left what I posted, but it comes across a bit harsh. The advert annoys me. I don't really think that it's always the cyclist's fault just the advert seems to suggest that going past a parked car close is always acceptable (in my mind).

 

[marinyork]

It is an offence to open a car door into someone. The highway code tells people to specifically look out for cyclists when opening car doors.

Although someone should aways be vigilent of doors and cycle further out ultimately it is the door opener's fault and they have a right to have compensation sought against them.

That said, claims companies, grrrr.

 

[betty swollocks]

Sorry thomas: that's rather a silly observation - with respect.

What if there was a car overtaking too closely, forcing you in?
What if the road was narrowed by parked cars on the other side?
What if you were following a cycle lane which led you alongside parked cars?
What if you were dodging a pothole?
What if, what if what if ............

Blaming the victim?

 

[boydj]

I think I could use these guys. I was taken out by a car that was passing me rolling up to a red light. I was in lane 4, of 5, passing stationary cars on my left (out of the door zone) when the door was thrown open by the passenger as they passed. At this point he still had several yards to go before stopping. So, no 'contributory negligence' on my part on this one.

 

[magnatom]

When did this happen boydj? Are you ok?

 

[thomas]

Sorry thomas: that's rather a silly observation - with respect.

What if there was a car overtaking too closely, forcing you in?
What if the road was narrowed by parked cars on the other side?
What if you were following a cycle lane which led you alongside parked cars?
What if you were dodging a pothole?
What if, what if what if ............

Blaming the victim?

I'm not saying there aren't times when it wouldn't be the person's fault. It just annoys me that the advert almost makes it acceptable to overtake cars closely.

As for the first point, that's completely different to going into a car door.

It is an offence to open a car door into someone. The highway code tells people to specifically look out for cyclists when opening car doors.

The highway code also says:

Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should

• not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake

I know I'm nit picking, but the advert always annoys me when I hear it and it's a slow afternoon .

 

[boydj]

When did this happen boydj? Are you ok?

It's a while ago now, Mags - last year, I think. Skinned knee and a bruised arm where it caught the corner of the door. No damage to the bike that needed more than some minor adjustments to fix. Got the driver's details and a couple of other drivers gave me their details - but decided not to claim anything.

 

[MrRidley]

Happened to me last august, driver admitted full responsibility and gave me a couple of hundred there and then, but looking back i should have claimed him.

 

[hackbike 666]

Sorry thomas: that's rather a silly observation - with respect.

What if there was a car overtaking too closely, forcing you in?
What if the road was narrowed by parked cars on the other side?
What if you were following a cycle lane which led you alongside parked cars?
What if you were dodging a pothole?
What if, what if what if ............

Blaming the victim?

The first sensible post on this thread at last.

 

[marinyork]

I'm not saying there aren't times when it wouldn't be the person's fault. It just annoys me that the advert almost makes it acceptable to overtake cars closely.

As for the first point, that's completely different to going into a car door.
The highway code also says:

Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should

• not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake

I know I'm nit picking, but the advert always annoys me when I hear it and it's a slow afternoon .

This is a nonsense. If you're talking about overtaking parked cars then cars routinely squeeze past much closer than cyclists do. A cyclist can cycle much further out than a car pass and still have a nasty injury. In the event of a claim of a car v car you're not seriously telling me the door opener would win. The company would see law broken and go for the max (which might not be all that much as a car is more likely to get a small dent unless you're doing things formula 1 safety car style).

I don't like claims companies making money out of this sort of thing but you can't argue with the logic of it in terms of interpreting the law. Strangely it might add to awareness about not dooring cyclists, although I'd hate it to lead to yet another witch hunt against cyclists as insurance claimers.

 

[thomas]

I don't like claims companies making money out of this sort of thing but you can't argue with the logic of it in terms of interpreting the law. Strangely it might add to awareness about not dooring cyclists, although I'd hate it to lead to yet another witch hunt against cyclists as insurance claimers.

I don't disagree that people should look before opening there door. I don't even begrudge people getting compensation when they're hit by a door. The advert just annoys me as it gives the impression that bad cycling (eg, cycling too close to doors) is acceptable and the correct thing to do...and worst case, you'll get a few grand compensation.

Maybe I can across a little harsh in my first post.

 

[marinyork]

That's the general formula for these sort of businesses though ! They would go out of business if we put a stop to that.

Actually on the topic of adverts there do seem to be a lot more films and ads thesedays that have bikes in them somewhere.

 

[hackbike 666]

Why quote all this highway code stuff when you know full well some of those morons threw the rule book out of the window as soon as they passed their test.

 

[marinyork]

Only quoting it as people are talking of claims. If claims are being talked about presumably there hasn't been any problems tracking them down. In which case the people can yeah, but, no but, yeah, but, no but as much as they want but it will be how the highway code is interpreted in that particular case that'll settle it.

 

[hackbike 666]

Sorry wasn't trying to be funny there but it does seem some people out there just ignore the rules.I had a crappy commute today.Sunday driving crap.Even had a cop step in front of me at Bank to stop a car for some reason.White van A Team driving crap as well.