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Use Of Mirrors Before Opening Door
15 Answers
Is there a traffic regulation about opening a car door without checking the driving mirror and if so what is it. It seems to be illegal according to the Ministry of Transport Driving Manual. A friend of mine has had his door and window damaged like this and is being ignored by his insurance company. I think it is an open and shut case myself. The other driver just opened his door without checking while parked while being legally passed. Any help anyone. I know what I would do.
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We need to distinguish both between criminal law and civil law and between specific and general laws.
Starting with criminal law:
The are surprisingly few specific laws relating to driving a motor vehicle. For example, there is no law that says you must drive on the left-hand-side of the road. If the police see you driving on the right, they (together with the CPS) must decide whether you have broken a 'general' law, through (for example) 'dangerous driving', 'driving without due care and attention' or 'driving without due consideration for other road users'. [So the driver of a milk-float, using the right-hand side of the road to make his deliveries on a well-lit deserted road at 5am, would not be breaking any laws].
There is definitely no 'specific' law requiring a driver to look in his mirror before opening the car's door. Further, most laws relating to driving don't apply once the vehicle is stationary and the engine is switched off. If the driver had caused injury or death to a cyclist or motorcyclist through opening his door, a charge of manslaughter or assault might follow. In the circumstances you refer to, a charge of 'criminal damage' might be appropriate as the Criminal Damage Act 1971 regards 'reckless' actions (as well as 'intentional' ones) as falling within the scope of the Act.
Moving on to civil law:
Whenever one person suffers loss or damage through the negligence of another person, he/she is entitled to demand compensation and (if necessary) to seek such compensation through the civil courts. Your friend has such a right to compensation if he can show that the other driver was negligent. However it needs to be remembered that good driving practice dictates that drivers overtaking parked vehicles should, wherever possible, pass wide enough to allow for the possibility of a door suddenly being opened (and that, as part of routine hazard awareness, drivers should be looking to see whether there are occupants of parked vehicles who might make such errors). A court might rule that the driver of the parked vehicle was only partly to blame for the accident.
Chris
Starting with criminal law:
The are surprisingly few specific laws relating to driving a motor vehicle. For example, there is no law that says you must drive on the left-hand-side of the road. If the police see you driving on the right, they (together with the CPS) must decide whether you have broken a 'general' law, through (for example) 'dangerous driving', 'driving without due care and attention' or 'driving without due consideration for other road users'. [So the driver of a milk-float, using the right-hand side of the road to make his deliveries on a well-lit deserted road at 5am, would not be breaking any laws].
There is definitely no 'specific' law requiring a driver to look in his mirror before opening the car's door. Further, most laws relating to driving don't apply once the vehicle is stationary and the engine is switched off. If the driver had caused injury or death to a cyclist or motorcyclist through opening his door, a charge of manslaughter or assault might follow. In the circumstances you refer to, a charge of 'criminal damage' might be appropriate as the Criminal Damage Act 1971 regards 'reckless' actions (as well as 'intentional' ones) as falling within the scope of the Act.
Moving on to civil law:
Whenever one person suffers loss or damage through the negligence of another person, he/she is entitled to demand compensation and (if necessary) to seek such compensation through the civil courts. Your friend has such a right to compensation if he can show that the other driver was negligent. However it needs to be remembered that good driving practice dictates that drivers overtaking parked vehicles should, wherever possible, pass wide enough to allow for the possibility of a door suddenly being opened (and that, as part of routine hazard awareness, drivers should be looking to see whether there are occupants of parked vehicles who might make such errors). A court might rule that the driver of the parked vehicle was only partly to blame for the accident.
Chris
It's patent negligence. No proof of an actual offence is necessary. Nearest I can find instantly is s 3 of the current Road Traffic Act "driving without reasonable consideration for other road users" but that might be met with the nice argument that, notwithstanding how, for drink/drive offences someone is still driving, not merely in charge, even though they are stationary, a person parked is not "driving".
But if the MOT Driving Manual is against the practice, that's more than enough, just as breach of the Highway Code may be cited in civil and in criminal proceedings as proof of negligence or bad driving; there is no need for the breach to amount to an offence.
But if the MOT Driving Manual is against the practice, that's more than enough, just as breach of the Highway Code may be cited in civil and in criminal proceedings as proof of negligence or bad driving; there is no need for the breach to amount to an offence.
Helo
lo Baldric. I would have called the police particularly as the passenger had a small abrasion caused by her window being smashed and the door damaged. He was on holiday in the wilds of North Scotland and decided to just not cause a problem and leave it to the insurance companies. However he didn't and I think he is stuck. Thank you also from elsewhere with all the legal advice.
lo Baldric. I would have called the police particularly as the passenger had a small abrasion caused by her window being smashed and the door damaged. He was on holiday in the wilds of North Scotland and decided to just not cause a problem and leave it to the insurance companies. However he didn't and I think he is stuck. Thank you also from elsewhere with all the legal advice.
Your friend is not stuck, the insurers are. Has your friend got the bill for repairs? This is negligence (and an offence too, as it happens). The fact that the driver is , or was, untraceable doesn't really come into it. They'd be untraceable if they'd written the car, parked in the street, off, by driving an HGV carelessly and hadn't stopped, at 4 in the morning! What we the insurers say then ? It would be ridiculous if the insurers could plead that as a defence. The only question is whether there's an excess of more than the damage, which would make claiming pointless, plus some possible question of no claims bonus
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