Insurance question - people opening doors into your car?

mattyprice4004

mattyprice4004

mattyprice4004

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Just wondering, as last night I was driving through Liverpool and some bint in a Land Rover decided to open her door literally as I was just about to pass her.

She realised JUST in time, and shut it very quickly, if I hadn't have owned the horn she'd probably have no door and I'd have a very broken bumper!

What would happen in the case of insurance regarding this? It's happened too many times now! Scary stuff. :o
 
Not sure but seeing as they have a mirror showing them whats coming behind them they should be at fault, its impossible to tell if someone is going to open thier door and the road are not big enough to give enough room.
 
If the driver of another car opens their door into traffic without checking, not leaving enough time for another driver to avoid it leading to a collision, they will be at fault. I'm not sure how you could think it would be any different.
 
Difficult one this, I've read that from an insurance point of view it all hinges on whether the moving vehicle can prove that the door was opened as they were driving by therefore had no time to react against the argument that the door was already open and therefore the driver of the moving vehicle should have taken appropriate action.
 
IAmATeaf said:
Difficult one this, I've read that from an insurance point of view it all hinges on whether the moving vehicle can prove that the door was opened as they were driving by therefore had no time to react against the argument that the door was already open and therefore the driver of the moving vehicle should have taken appropriate action.
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I had a similar incident a few years back, some silly sod opened the door of his 05 Fiesta into the side of my trucks trailer, it tore the door off and did quite a bit of twisting to the shell!

despite my view to the contrary, I was deemed at fault for not leaving enough room as I passed the Fiesta.

The Fact my vehicle filled the lane I was in and I had oncoming traffic (the Fiesta was parked on the edge of the pavement, actually off the road) seemed to mean little.

Bah.
 
can't have been that close if you had time to "own" the horn and for her to react.
 
Only a guess but I expect it would come down to. If door hits bumper your fault. If door hits side of vehicle there fault.

Also agree it can't of been close at all.
 
I'm sure the highway code states you are meant to give a parked vehicle enough space to open doors when passing them, so whenever you hit the door, you are in the wrong, as R420LA6X2/4MNA was found to be.
 
RastaManBob said:
That's rarely possible though...
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If there is not space due to oncoming vehicles, you are meant to wait till there is space or someone lets you through. Nobody seems to really do this though, I've even been overtaken whilst waiting for oncoming traffic to clear due to wanting to leave a sensible amount of space. :/
 
A lot of residential areas have cars parked up the length of the road. It is impractical in this instance to be aware of whether there is somebody in each and every car or not... Let alone if they intend to exit it.

I can certainly appreciate that if you head towards a car when it is clear that somebody intends to enter or exit the vehicle then you should stop if not able to pass with adequate room. Instances where it is impossible to do this though... Well short of waiting forever I don't s'pose there is any alternative other than to "precede with care".
 
I think essentially if the other party contests then it'll go 50-50, 50-50 seems to be the default these days as it seems insurance companies can no be bothered to fight. :(
 
jr1104 said:
What about the roads where you would have to be driving on the pavement to leave enough room. Is that a bit of a grey area?
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then it would be sensible to drive at a speed where you are more likely to spot a potential hazard rather than just react when the **** hits the fan.
 
Morba said:
then it would be sensible to drive at a speed where you are more likely to spot a potential hazard rather than just react when the **** hits the fan.
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So no more than 2-3 mph then, as they could quite conceivably open a door inches in front of your car?
 
This happened to me last year. Driving the bosses Transit, a parked truck opened his door into my path and it smashed right through the windscreen. Funnily enough the truck door had only a small dent in its corner, the van needed over £1k of work (including a door with respray). His insurance paid everything as I was "not at fault".

I was already alongside him when he opened the door and I don't think I even managed to get on the brakes at all. I don't see how it could not be deemed the other drivers fault as if he had looked before opening then the accident just wouldn't have happened.
 
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