Exit driveway and hit cyclist on path

I know someone who was driving out of an estate onto a main road.
Traffic was stopped & he was edging out.
Cyclist came flying up the road & straight into the side of his car.
Cyclist was to blame.

icebergiceberg

bubblypop wrote: »

I know someone who was driving out of an estate onto a main road.
Traffic was stopped & he was edging out.
Cyclist came flying up the road & straight into the side of his car.
Cyclist was to blame.

When you say the cyclist was to blame, what do you mean?
Did it go to court?

fatherted1969

Unfortunately only one person is insured in this scenario and that's the driver so I can't see any way in which it's not going to cost the driver

icebergiceberg

icebergiceberg wrote: »

When you say the cyclist was to blame, what do you mean?
Did it go to court?

It was investigated, found no fault with the driver, cyclist at fault
Didn't go to court

4ensic15

bubblypop wrote: »

It was investigated, found no fault with the driver, cyclist at fault
Didn't go to court

Who investigated?

shaunr68

Reading through the thread the thing that strikes me, no pun intended, is the potentially dangerous situation for pedestrians exiting their property and walking onto the pavement with cyclists hurtling past. If it's risky to edge a car out slowly then it must be downright dangerous to walk out onto the footpath.

It's a footpath. You should be able to walk out, on foot, with just a casual glance to make sure you don't bump into another pedestrian. Wheeled traffic belongs on the road.

El Tarangu

icebergiceberg wrote: »

Do motorists win any cases where a cyclist has been in a collision with them?

It's rare, but it does occasionally happen - a cyclist from a few years ago got a driving ban for breaking a light and crashing into a car.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/injured-cyclist-gets-driving-ban-for-breaking-red-light-26661405.html

radia

bubblypop wrote: »

I know someone who was driving out of an estate onto a main road.
Traffic was stopped & he was edging out.
Cyclist came flying up the road & straight into the side of his car.
Cyclist was to blame.

Traffic clearly wasn't stopped. Cyclists are traffic.
While I fully agree that not all cyclists are law abiding, just as not all motorists are, this looks like another example of why there are so many "Sorry mate, I didn't see you" type clashes between motorists and cyclists: When looking to see if a road is clear, drivers' focus is on looking for cars; cyclists simply aren't in their mind. And as this video famously demonstrated, it's really easy not to see what you're not looking for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4

wtlltw

^ but that can be said about all road users.
No matter if you're walking, cycling or driving you should be aware of the danger around you.

The amount of pedestrians that walk across roads without looking left / right is pretty crazy. Saw a women walk out on College green without taking any notice of the lights or all the pedestrians waiting for the green man. Screech of brakes and she was an inch of being sent across the car bonnet. Really scary stuff that can be avoided if people act responsible for their own actions.

Pinch Flat

I'm a regular cyclist. I generally abhor cyclists on the paths, but can see scenarios where it would arise, particularly with young children or the elderly who feel unsafe cycling on some roads - they can be intimidating. I think this is the general air of the legislation and the powers of discretion that a Garda has when confronted by cyclists on the pavement - I've never been stopped in the 6 years myself and my son have being cycling.

The only scenario where I will cycle on a footpath is with my 9 year old son when going to school or to GAA training at the weekend. There's a bike lane for most of the way, but our estate has no bike lane. we do use the road occasionally, but there's been a few near misses with cars coming too close. It's recently been designated as a 30 kph zone, but this is largely ignored by motorists.

I would suspect in the scenario outlined by the OP that a car that blindly proceeds out of the driveway and into us while cycling on the path, the driver would be liable - not that I'd want to be in that situation, as we'd more than likely come off worse.

In fact, it almost happened to me a few recently in my estate - large tree partially obscuring the driveway. We saw & heard the car, it was reversing, but waited - given the look on the drivers face, she as surprised to see us and acknowledged us with a wave.

I would still think that the car owes a higher duty of care to more vulnerable road users and unless there was a blatant case of negligence on the cyclists part when injured, it would be difficult to defend the OP's position.

Muahahaha

billie227 wrote: »

Yeah it's illegal to cycle on footpaths, frankly cyclists shouldn't be going that speed on such a potentially dangerous spot anyway

Not necessarily, there are lots of cycle tracks mounted on footpaths. The Old Airport Road outside Dublin airport has kilometres of them, shared footpaths designated for both cyclists and pedestrians.

GM228

ectoraige wrote: »

My understanding of it is that, basically, it's illegal to cycle on the footpath. However, there are no sanctions for children so even if charges were brought and a conviction obtained, there's no punishment to then be handed down.
So in effect, a blind eye is turned to children on footpaths, but adults do risk prosecution.

It's not that there's no punishment to be handed down, or a blind eye taken, charges can't be brought and a conviction can't be obtained as children under the age of 12 can't be charged with an offence in the first place (there are exceptions for some serious offences).

4ensic15

They should bring in the Swiss system here. Anyone breaking a law is automatically liable for any accident. Park illegally, get hit by another road user. Tough, you pay.

Pinch Flat

4ensic15 wrote: »

They should bring in the Swiss system here. Anyone breaking a law is automatically liable for any accident. Park illegally, get hit by another road user. Tough, you pay.

Most European countries have the concept of strict liability when it comes to road accidents. Ireland, the Uk and one other (I can't remember) don't have it.

trixychic

4ensic15 wrote: »

They should bring in the Swiss system here. Anyone breaking a law is automatically liable for any accident. Park illegally, get hit by another road user. Tough, you pay.

I really like that idea.