Got hit on the driver side by a cyclist.

Captain_F

Hey. 
I'm new here and I never thought this day would come as a cyclist came out of nowhere from the side road and hit me dead on at the driver side door and made some dent and broke the wing mirror. 

I believe that it's not my fault, as he should have stopped at the junction for any car that might pass on his left or right sides. As I had right of way and he didn't, he clearly didn't follow the signs and the law of the road and just tried to continue through. I would like to know if this is my fault or the cyclist fault, even though I had right of way on the road. 

I appreciate all the support here, thank you in advance. 

RBN20

Unfortunately it isn’t quite as clear cut when cyclists are involved. Your insurer would class them as a Vulnerable Road User, so they would have to do further investigations to see if there was any liability on your side at all, whereas if it was another car they would likely be able to try and deal with it as a non fault claim. 

The other issue with cyclists is that they often don’t have insurance, so it can be very difficult to recover costs from them, so the claim could well be against your policy, regardless of liability. As an insurer would class a claim as a ‘fault’ claim based on whether costs are recovered or not. 

You will need to let your insurer know anyway, and they would be able to advise you of the steps they would look to be taking for you 

Nearlyold

Based on your version of events if you were on the left hand side of the road and the cyclist come out of the side road crossing the right hand lane at speed, failed to see you then went straight into the side of your car then it was his fault. He and witnesses might see it differently of course - how does the cyclist see it, did he say anything? If you haven't got his details and there are no witnesses then whose fault it is some what academic unless you can trace him. Have you reported the incident to the police if you've not exchanged details?

Sandtree

So he was turning right out of the side road at a T junction or was he going straight ahead at a cross roads? Road markings, parked cars, road position etc will all play a part. As RBN20 says, because they're peddle powered its more complex than if it were another motor vehicle; the same rules apply to all road users but because car -v- cyclist will only ever have one winner in a collision a greater duty of care is expected from a car driver.

fred246

I think it's very hard to damage a door mirror by crashing a bicycle into a car. The front wheel would hit first. Wrong height for door mirror. Door mirrors are normally damaged by cyclists on purpose as a response to idiotic driving.

Weighty1

fred246 said:

I think it's very hard to damage a door mirror by crashing a bicycle into a car. The front wheel would hit first. Wrong height for door mirror. Door mirrors are normally damaged by cyclists on purpose as a response to idiotic driving.

That sounds a bit accusatory.  Did you ever think the cyclist themselves hit the mirror and damaged it AFTER the wheel first hit the door?

PRAISETHESUN

fred246 said:

I think it's very hard to damage a door mirror by crashing a bicycle into a car. The front wheel would hit first. Wrong height for door mirror. Door mirrors are normally damaged by cyclists on purpose as a response to idiotic driving.

Having been hit by a car whilst cycling (driver of the car involved was found at fault) you'd be surprised how much damage a person on a bike can do to a car - wing mirrors in particular are surprisingly flimsy (and hurt like hell) so it doesn't take much to completely wreck them.

It does sound from OP's version of events that the cyclist is in the wrong if they failed to give way when they were supposed to - it can get a bit more tricky however if they were in a bike lane or there are other circumstances surrounding the accident that OP hasn't stated. You'd be best getting in touch with your insurance company and letting them handle it - that's why you pay them after all! 

fred246

Car door mirrors are very flimsy which is why angry cyclists like to remove them. I have no idea what happened. It's just these threads often change as more details are revealed.

JamoLew

Indeed and people end up looking sillier and sillier/
OP - can you post a Google Street View (GSV) of the location and a better description of the events.
Time of day/night. weather, traffic volume,parked vehicles, traffic lights etc etc

Captain_F

Thank you guys for all your reply, I got the picture on here now of the road as I was driving straight ahead and the cyclist came so fast from my right side of the road. I hope this is enough to give you an idea. 

Norman_Castle

No visible markings suggesting you should stop or give way. Road to the right has a give way line across it which applies to cyclists. Is the road to the left no entry except cycles on a cycle lane?

Was the cyclist injured and if so do the police have an opinion?

Can you copy and paste the http for the google maps image.