Car door crash

Mark_Hewitt

leosayer wrote: »

What speed is that?

My point is that if the road is suitably narrow and the door flinger opener person is suitably determined to open their door swiftly, there is no speed at which it is safe to travel. Even someone on foot travelling at 2mph could be knocked aside.

Mark_Hewitt

pulliptears wrote: »

If I see someone's car door even slightly open I slow and give them a very wide berth indeed.

Might have been my Dad or driving instructor that said when driving down a street with parked cars, look to see if there's anyone sitting in the drivers seat, if there is, they might open a door at any moment.

jase1

This sounds like a nice juicy scam in the making in all honesty.

Sit around on a tight side street, wait for cars to pass and swing the door open.

Nice pile of claims at minimal cost.

leosayer

Let us know how it goes. In the absence of independent evidence I fear it may end up at 50/50 or even worse for you.

Both you and the other driver should be asking what you could have done to avoid it. Luckily no-one was hurt, it could have been very nasty for you.

Contemplates

Thanks leosayer....I've been thinking what did I do wrong, but I checked for a space in traffic before getting in, and was 90% in the car with the door nearly shut. I really can't see what else I could've done to avoid it?

What is the next step after informing my insurance? I was considering contacting Crash or Helphire..... Anyone have any experience?

Mark_Hewitt

Contemplates wrote: »

Thanks leosayer....I've been thinking what did I do wrong, but I checked for a space in traffic before getting in, and was 90% in the car with the door nearly shut. I really can't see what else I could've done to avoid it?

Aside from not deciding to leave home at that moment, nothing. It's one of those things. However the other driver could make up any old rubbish to make it look like your fault

jase1

Incidentally I am not suggesting in any way that what you did was wrong, just that the law is questionable on this one if it states that the moving vehicle is always to blame.

You do need a witness though if possible.

daveyjp

"What is the next step after informing my insurance? I was considering contacting Crash or Helphire..... "

Be very careful with accident management companies, especially in a case which you may not win. Your insurance company will probably put you in touch with one straight away, just tread carefully, they are only in it to maximise their income at someone elses expense.

Understand exactly what is being offered before agreeing, get them to send any documents to you before agreeing to anything and understand your liabilities if it all goes pear shaped.

My wife was offered a credit hire car - one of the clauses was that if we agreed to the car over the phone, but when it was delivered refused to accept the terms of hire she would be charged for the time in delivering the car and IIRC one days hire. This was in a letter we received two days after the car was offered to us!

DirectDebacle

Contemplates wrote: »

Thanks leosayer....I've been thinking what did I do wrong, but I checked for a space in traffic before getting in, and was 90% in the car with the door nearly shut. I really can't see what else I could've done to avoid it?

What is the next step after informing my insurance? I was considering contacting Crash or Helphire..... Anyone have any experience?

Analysis may help you in showing who may have been at fault.

When you checked for a gap in the traffic did you have a clear and unobstructed view of the oncoming vehicle. How far did you estimate it was from you and aproximate speed it was travelling at.

You say it stopped 3 car lengths after impact. Overall stopping distance for this is 20mph.

How long would it have taken for you to open the car door, get in and have the door nearly closed? 3 seconds?

If the driver of the other vehicle saw you only at the point you had your hand on the handle to open the door then @ 20mph the vehicle would have been 3sec (87.9ft) from point of impact.

An observant driver would have seen you open the door (1 sec) and in that time have travelled 29.3ft. That leaves 58.6 ft overall stopping distance and the driver should have been able to stop within that distance or slow down sufficiently to ensure no collision occurred.

These are only assumptions based on the basic information . By adjusting speed/distance/time and taking into account any other relevant factors that may have been present, will tell you and the insurer, whether the other driver had sufficient time to stop.

Contemplates

Quick update.... Insurance got back to me and accident investigator calling in tom.

Insurance stated that if my car shows damage to front wing, ie the door has doubled back... The majority of liability is with other driver. If not, it's with me. They explained by saying if door doubled back, she hit my door, whereas if I opened door I would've hit the side of her car?