Crash - whose fault.

[apollo179]

First post. After a recent incident i was curious if anybody could enlighten me re the rights and wrongs of the following incident. Wallingford in south london cycling overtaking on the inside along a long line of slow / non moving traffic. Out of the blue a near side (passenger) door opens and innevetably i hit the door. I luckily am unscathed and get up to exchange accusatory remarks with the passenger. The car passenger door is badly damaged , bent right back into also damaging the n/s front wing. The car after a brief period drives off without the driver emerging. The passenger volunteers to straighten my front wheel which has been bent out of alignment. After cycling a short way i am aware of a problem with my front brakes rubbing. It turns out that the collision has bent my forks back to the extent that the passenger naturally realligned the wheel back to front but due to the damage looking visibly correct but as a consequence of the brake callipers now being backwards of the forks the cable was pulling causing them to rub. I tried realigning the front wheel to its "correct" original alignment but it was so far back the wheel almost hit the frame and riding it would have been impossible as the wheel would constantly be hitting the pedals. I reversed the wheel to its new polarity and cycled home with front brake cable detached. Other than the lack of front brake it cycled surprisingly well - almost like the impact had created an exact mirror image of the forks but going in the other direction.
Curious how the driver did not even get out of the car after half his car (Mercedes if i remember correctly) had been wiped out (i was going quite fast).
Purely for adademic purposes - legally whose at fault.

 

[wiggydiggy]

The drivers, legally responsible for the passengers in his vehicle and ensuring they alight safely. The fact he didnt get out, and drove off, gives reason to suspect something fishy about them.....

 

[supercooper]

I might be wrong but to the best of my knowledge it is illegal to undertake so although the passenger should not have opened the door , You should not have been passing on the left unless you was in a cycle lane then its a different ball game

 

[abo]

Gotta be the door-opener surely, if they'd checked then they'd have seen you coming?

As for the driver not getting out, could be no insurance, nicked car etc. etc. Did you get any details?

As an aside, when I open a car door I check what's coming, pop the door and then pause a moment before opening and getting out. If I've missed seeing someone coming for whatever reason then it'll give them a clue a door is going to open and prepare them. I've always done this since I started driving, not sure why entirely. Good idea, or am I being a nob?

 

[Bicycle]

The drivers, legally responsible for the passengers in his vehicle and ensuring they alight safely. The fact he didnt get out, and drove off, gives reason to suspect something fishy about them.....

That's a big noise when you're in the car and it's likely the door wouldn't have closed properly (or at all).

I'm with wiggydiggy on this.

A driver who leaves the scene in those circumstances might have a good reason not to want to be at the scene.

It's good that you weren't hurt.

 

[abo]

The drivers, legally responsible for the passengers in his vehicle and ensuring they alight safely. The fact he didnt get out, and drove off, gives reason to suspect something fishy about them.....

Duh, good point, the driver is responsible for the passenger...

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

The drivers, legally responsible for the passengers in his vehicle and ensuring they alight safely. The fact he didnt get out, and drove off, gives reason to suspect something fishy about them.....

Could be uninsured.

 

[apollo179]

Abo - no i didnt get any details. The car stayed at the scene for maybe 2 minutes while i spoke to the passenger, if i had wanted to get reg number etc i had ample opportunity. The passenger seemed unfazed by the whole thing and adopted a pokerfaced defensive attitude from the start saying that he had looked before opening the door and that they (the car) had indicated that they were parking and that didnt i look where i was going , implication being that i was at fault. Tbh given my lucky escape and the damage to the car i was inclined to leave the scene myself. But the mystery remains - why the driver didnt do what any normal person would have done and gone sobbing to see the damage to his pride and joy. Presumably some good reason for speedy exit to take presedance over any other considerations.

 

[gavroche]

the passenger is responsible as he should exercise good care and attention before opening the door.
It is perfectly legal to filter past cars when in slow moving traffic so you were ok to do it.
The driver is not responsible for his passengers if they are over 14 years old.
Hope this clears it for you.

 

[dellzeqq]

we're guessing.

for my money you were riding foolishly - if you're so close to the left hand side of a car, and travelling at such a speed that you damage the car, let alone your bike, then you stand to get splattered. Get yourself 3rd party insurance, because next time you're going to need it.

but, as others say, it's an odd thing that the driver departed.

 

[gavroche]

Drug dealers?

 

[Globalti]

....or stolen car.

 

[Alien8]

The drivers, legally responsible for the passengers in his vehicle and ensuring they alight safely. The fact he didnt get out, and drove off, gives reason to suspect something fishy about them.....

What makes you think that - assuming the passengers weren't kids?

 

[HLaB]

I might be wrong but to the best of my knowledge it is illegal to undertake so although the passenger should not have opened the door , You should not have been passing on the left unless you was in a cycle lane then its a different ball game

Its not illegal to undertake although it should be done with caution and isn't advisable. The driver is ultimately responsible but the cyclist feels the pain :-(

 

[Wankelschrauben]

I might be wrong but to the best of my knowledge it is illegal to undertake so although the passenger should not have opened the door , You should not have been passing on the left unless you was in a cycle lane then its a different ball game

What a load of crap.