Help! Knocked off bike...

Annie_Fanny

Hi there

I was knocked off my bike last night when a passenger in a car opened the rear door and I went into it. A police woman at the scene got the details of the driver and gave them to me saying "incase you want to claim". Can I claim? I have never been in this situation before. I have taken a day off work as I have pain in my knee and back.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks

Annie

lisyloo

You can only claim if someone else was at fault.
I don't want to be judgemental on scant facts, but it isn't clear whether that is the case here.

If you wanted to claim there several ways to proceed.

1) See if you have legal cover on your home insurance. This will be a good way to do it if you can because it won't cost you anything.
2) Pay for your own solicitor.
3) Find one who will do it on a "no win no fee" basis, but I believe there can be downsides to this.

These are listed in order of preference 1) being the best.

I am not an expert but if you can post some more details about the incident then I'm sure fellow posters will be able to give you some more advice on whether it's likely to be seen as your fault or theirs.

i.e. was the car stationary, was it parked?
were you passing a parked car, or one that was stationary in traffic etc.
Why do you think they were negligent etc.

The police waoman was being helpful but it doesn't necessarily mean you have a case.

ftbworried

Yeah, since the rear passenger will not have had a mirror to look in before they opened the door and if you were 'overtaking' the car on the inside then maybe it may not be their fault. Plus, did you have lights/reflective gear on?

One thing to bear in mind if you do wish to claim, what if it turns out to be your fault? Car drivers must have insurance to drive on the road but bicycle riders don't...what about the damage to the drivers car? If it turns out that you are at fault you wont have insurance to cover this cost! So, unless you are SURE it wasn't your fault it may be best just to lie low.

Markyt

Annie_Fanny wrote:

Hi there

I was knocked off my bike last night when a passenger in a car opened the rear door and I went into it. A police woman at the scene got the details of the driver and gave them to me saying "incase you want to claim". Can I claim? I have never been in this situation before. I have taken a day off work as I have pain in my knee and back.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks

Annie

Yes, you can claim. This happened to a friend of mine whose motorbike was damaged the same way. The driver was prosecuted for an offence which equates to 'not being in control of the passenger' (I can't remember the legal jargon). Even though the passenger opened the door, it is the drivers responsibility to make sure it is safe for them to exit. Speak to a solicitor asap.

lisyloo

what about the damage to the drivers car?

It is probably unlikely that the cyclist (assuming bicycle not motorbike) damaged a metal car.
If you are a homeowner then you should be covered for 3rd party liability if negligent.
However I would like to see some facts first before we go down too many tangeants.

So, who was moving, who was parked, who was stationary?
What werre the respective positions?
Overtaking on the outside or inside?
How close?
How fast?
How long after the car stopped did you hit it/
Was it day/night?
Did you have appropriate lights and clothing?

These are all relevant factors to whose fault it was.

Annie_Fanny

Thanks for your replies so far.

To explain further...

I was cycling with the following:
A helmet
Lights on front and rear
Reflective bands on right leg and right arm

I was cycling in rush hour to the left of the lane. A passenger opened the rear left door which I collided with. The car was either moving slowly or even stationary in traffic.

When I was laying on the pavement and my bike in the road. Passerbys came to my aid and called an ambulance. The people in the car pulled over and got out they explained that they were very sorry as their young son had felt ill and opened the door to be sick. A passerby got the people to write down their details and registration. They were very apologetic.

Is this enough detail?

Lorian

ftbworried wrote:

Car drivers must have insurance to drive on the road but bicycle riders don't...what about the damage to the drivers car? If it turns out that you are at fault you wont have insurance to cover this cost!

You making some assumptions here. I'm a cyclist and I have £2M Third party liability insurance.

The first thing the OP needs to do is visit casualty or their doctor to acertain if any lasting physical damage has been done. Then visit the local bike shop to see if any damage has been doen to the bike.

Even if the OP had no lights on there could still be case to make a claim, as not having lights would be reated as contributory negligence[1]. At then end of the day the OP does no need Legal protection to make a claim. This is an Insurance claim against the other party, not a civil case.

It's difficult to envisage any circumstance under which a car door being opened and hitting a cyclist could be seen as anyone's fault except the one doing the opening, unless the cyclist was somewhere they were not supposed to be, like on the pavement[1].

[1]IANAL.

lisyloo

Is this enough detail?

I'm not sure whether cyclists are allowed to "undertake" on the left unless it's a seperate lane or a cycle lane.
I will try and check it out.

They were very apologetic.

This is only natural.
Nobody intended for you to be hurt and I'm sure that they are very sorry it happened.
This doesn't mean they are legally at fault.
Plus I think you will find their attitude will change (or at least their insurance companies) very substantially if you try and claim.
Insurance companies are a business and try to minimise claims as much as possible.

lisyloo

It's difficult to envisage any circumstance under which a car door being opened and hitting a cyclist could be seen as anyone's fault except the one doing the opening

I can envisage many.
I see cyclists speeding and going through red lights all the time, undertaking cars where they cannot be seen (come to Bath).

I am a cyclist by the way so I am not anit-cyclist but I see bad behaviour from cyclists quite a lot.

Anyway I would like to help the OP, so off to investigate "undertaking" and not talking about hypothetical scenarios.

Annie_Fanny

lisyloo wrote:

I'm not sure whether cyclists are allowed to "undertake" on the left unless it's a seperate lane or a cycle lane.

Lisyloo out of interest, what position do you maintain on the road as a cyclist?

This is turning into an interesting debate.

Again thanks for replies so far.

lisyloo

Lisyloo out of interest, what position do you maintain on the road as a cyclist?

Definitely on the right.
and to be honest I avoid roads and use off-road as much as possible (like the canal path).
Someone could of course open the door on the right, but as most vehicles are right hand drive in this country you are much more likely to be seen by the driver.
I am also a motorcyclist and have been on two police course and hope to do my advanced test next year.

My approach when motorcyling is to implement advanced riding techniques.
That means anticipating everything stupid that everyone else might do (like opening a door for exmaple) and riding in a gear, speed and position that would allow me to do something about it i.e. slow enough, far enough away to allow me to stop or accelerate out of trouble.

I don't actually care whose right or wrong.
I just don't want to be in hospital.

BTW - Undertaking on the left is not illegal.

You might well have a case.
You can only claim for your losses e.g. if you got paid for the day off (as sick) then you won't have anything to claim for that so you would just be looking a compensation for the injuries.
I would personally wait for a bit and see what the extent of your injuries are before proceeding.
I hope there is nothing serious but sometimes injuries can be more long lasting than they first appear.
If you settle too early and then have more serious problems from your injuries then you may have settled for too little.
I think you have 3 years in which to make a claim so there really is no rush.
I would see how things go for a few weeks.