Person opens door while your going past

Lawless2k12

This may have been asked before but I couldn't find it no matter what I typed as random door things started to come up from my car door wont open to I hit someone in a car park.

So what I wanted to know was who's at fault in this situation: You're pulled up on the side of a road, parked towards oncoming traffic on the right hand side. Your passenger opens the door to get out but a motorbike coming from behind slams into the door and injures your passenger. The biker was overtaking a car which had stopped outside a bar to drop people off and as he overtook, the car door opened?

Also, who's at fault in general situations when someone swings the door open in front of you and you can't really help but take it off for them?

guttenberg

GENERALLY speaking the driver is responsible, you should anticipate that people may walk out between parked cars to cross the road/doors of parked cars may open etc. It's just one of the many hazards you can encounter everyday!

areyawell

The person who opens the car door without looking.

colm_mcm

Are you parked in a paking space, or on the wrong side of the road and stopped?

Wexfordian

You are probably going to get both sides of this argued. In theory you should always leave a doors width when passing a parked car. Not always doable, but in this case as the guy was overtaking, he had the option to stay put. Also for a motorbike to be that far over the stopped vehicle (either yours or the other) must have been well out in the road. Conversely you shouldn't really be parked against the traffic, and the passenger was probably negligent for not looking, so I'd guess a certain amount of blame will be apportioned each way, probably more leaning against the moving vehicle.

sf80

The biker for their own safety should leave room for a fool opening a door without looking. That does not attribute any blame whatsoever to the biker if you open the door when it is not safe to do so and cause an accident.

Pedro K

Somebody opened a door into somebody else's path of travel without looking. The person who opened the door is at fault and should accept it and stop looking for a way out.

kirving

The passenger should be responsible. I know that the law says that you must be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear, but that's kind of unreasonable since a door can open at 3+ft into a lane in under a second, with no warning.

As a cyclist, I'm always afraid of it people opening doors into my path so I give stopped cars a wide berth, but as a passenger, I always glance in the mirror before getting out.

Lawless2k12

Just to clarify, I was not the actual driver just said it for simplicity. And it was parked outside a house along the road (residential parking). Its a very narrow road and the car letting people off was taking up a good 2 thirds of driving space so the bike just cut up the middle just as the passenger was getting out. It was quite dark also and she had opened the door and was just getting out so several seconds had passed when she first went to open the door. She was hit over the door onto the bonnet as she had been half out of the car when the bike hit her. Biker was fairly okay with just a few bumps and bruises nothing serious.

goz83

It really depends on how long the door was open, so it's a hard one to prove. If the door was open more than 5 seconds (for example) the biker should have seen it and avoided it. In my opinion, if the passenger had enough time to exit the vehicle and end up going over the door onto the bonnet, then the biker is at fault here, as that's more than enough time to see the door in the way. My guess is that the bikers attention was on the other car, that had stopped.

Supergurrier

Was the biker badly hurt ?

Lawless2k12

Well that's what I would have thought but it's an iffy one tbh... Although it is a 50km zone as its practically in town so I would have thought he'd be able to stop but it was nightish time so it was pitch dark out. He could have seen the gap to the right, accelerated for it and only seen the door at the last second but I suppose that brings up the whole drive at a speed to stop in the space you see clear... it is a bit dodgy I admit

Lawless2k12

Supergurrier wrote: »

Was the biker badly hurt ?

No he had no more than bumps and bruises. The door pretty much just bent backwards so he wasn't met with much force. The passenger on the other hand has broken bones in her back and is awaiting to be told whether she needs to be operated on or not in hospital

daenerysstormborn3

Liability probably end up 50/50.

Biker may not have been badly hurt but I'd say there was some expensive damage to his bike. Regardless of the speed, what may look like light damage on a bike can end up costing a lot to fix.

MetzgerMeister

It is totally the fault of whoever opens the door in my opinion.

This happened to a teacher in my primary school years ago. He cycled to work every day and one morning when he was passing the Garda station, a Garda opened the door of her car without looking. The teacher hit the door, came out over the door and hit his head on the ground. Unfortunately he died from his injuries.

The Garda took full responsibility for her actions and owned up to not looking before opening the door.

colm_mcm

non drivers are often terrible for doing this.

Lawless2k12

Well ya the bike was pretty much ruined (Have a feeling is was some kind of newish honda) but tbh personal injury is a bigger importance than some stupid machine. The vehicles were irrelevant imo. At least they can be replaced tomorrow.

I just think its dodgy as she had the door open a few seconds but it's hard to say exactly how long as no one was really concentrating on timing the amount of time the door was open Plus the gap he tore up through was quite narrow and not many would expect anything to go up through it

langdang

She'll look the next time!

Mech1

Sounds to me that the door was not opened into anyones path. Then the passenger got out. Then the biker came into the wrong lane while overtaking a stopped car. Then the biker hit a pedestrian and also damaged a car door.

colm_mcm

Any security cameras in the pub I wonder?

Wishbone Ash

Even though the passenger opened the door, the driver of the vehicle is responsible.

I was hospitalised following being "doored" by a passenger exiting a car in standstill traffic. (I was on a cycle lane). The Gardai concentrated their investigations on the driver and I dealt with him alone as I was advised by them that the driver of a vehicle is responsible for all aspects pertaining to his vehicle.

(PS AFAIK it's illegal to park on the opposite side of a two way road during lighting up hours).

Cedrus

The passenger does not have the benefit of mirrors and is not responsible for the safe stopping of the car, despite them being a principal protagonist I can't see any legal responsibility being attached to them.

If the driver of the car stopped in an unsafe manner (suddenly, on a bad section or position of the road, and it's not clear if this is the case) then they are responsible at least in part and the passenger could certainly claim against them. They are ultimately responsible for their vehicle and it's passengers.

If the biker passed in an unsafe manner or at speed then they are responsible at least in part.

Our man in Havana

Parking on the wrong side of the road is stupid. Except a nice claim from the injured party.

RustyNut

Very easy for the biker to make the argument that he could stop within the distance he could see to be clear then bang door opens right in the middle of his stopping distance. Hope everyone is ok in the end.

Del2005

Did the car have hazard lights on? Not that they count for much but most road users won't squeeze past if they see them.

While the biker may be slightly to blame, IMO the driver is more responsible for parking in a dangerous position and allowing passengers unload while unsafe to do so. Depending on the road there may have been plenty of room for the bike to pass. Most bikers are well aware of the risks of doors opening or cars turning across their path with no warning, but as with all road users there are a few muppets who take risks.


270kg + of bike and rider has a lot of kinetic energy even at low speed, especially against a door,I hope the passenger isn't too badly injured.

the_syco

Lawless2k12 wrote: »

You're pulled up on the side of a road, parked towards oncoming traffic on the right hand side.

I can see the motorcyclist getting a nice lump sum. Hope they're okay; what could look like a few bumps could be very bad internally. Hope they get themselves checked out!

goz83

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

It is totally the fault of whoever opens the door in my opinion.

I would totally agree with you if the door was opened and the bike collided with the door. However, the door was opened and the passenger had time to exit the car before being struck by the bike with enough force to launch her over the door and onto the bonnet. Technically the passenger, who was then arguably a pedestrian was struck. I get out of my car quickly when I park (checking it's safe to open door) but it still takes several seconds from door open to body out of car.

99% of the time, I would say open door is the fault of whoever opened door and the responsibilty of the driver, but this wasn't just an open door situation. The passenger had time to get out of the car. Besides, how long is long enough? If I open the boot of the Zafira in a carpark and i'm taking the kids buggy out, I wouldn't expect to be blamed if some clown cycling, or riding by whacks their head off the corner of the boot.

goz83

Del2005 wrote: »

Did the car have hazard lights on? Not that they count for much but most road users won't squeeze past if they see them.

While the biker may be slightly to blame, IMO the driver is more responsible for parking in a dangerous position and allowing passengers unload while unsafe to do so. Depending on the road there may have been plenty of room for the bike to pass. Most bikers are well aware of the risks of doors opening or cars turning across their path with no warning, but as with all road users there are a few muppets who take risks.
QUOTE]

I haven't seen anything to say that the driver was parked dangerously. It does say that the driver parked on the other side of the road, which I wouldn't say is dangerous at all if properly parked. There was also mention of the road being narrow.

Topper Harley

I normally would say that the person opening the door is at fault but this doesn't sound like the usual sudden opening without looking when a bike/car/cyclist is almost upon them.

It sounds to me as if the car was parked in a parking space on the side of the road and the passenger had already exited the car.

It would seem the biker was concentrating on the car he was overtaking/looking for oncoming traffic. With this and, because of the darkness, the low visibility of the parked car, I'd be inclined to think the biker just didn't notice the open door until it was too late.

Lawless2k12

To the people mentioning dangerously parking the car and it being illegal to park against traffic in lighting up hours: It was around 9pm, pretty much pitch black apart from a few street lights. It's one of those narrow little roads with a few dozen houses on either side but there's a little pub at the corner about 50 metres from where the other car had stopped to drop people off. All the residents park on either side of the road outside their houses as there are no driveways. Makes the road about the width of 1 and a half cars.



I suppose it would be somewhat like that but it's a flat road, less cars would be parked on it and the houses have small little gardens in the front with railings guarding them. Then there's a footpath on either side. Depending on what direction they come from the residents tend to just pull up right outside their house be it with or against traffic...

EDIT: It's not a one way just so people know before they say I didn't clarify it

Our man in Havana

I would clean up there if I was a traffic warden. Rubs hands with glee.