Cyclist Killed By 'car-Dooring'

[Booldawg]

The defendent was found not guilty of manslaughter. He acted with undue care and attention - surely there must be some charge?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20725496

[Goonermatt]

baldric, I think sp means that when the door was opened, the driver wouldn't have been looking through the window and therefore the tint is immaterial.

This is true if he opened the door and looked behind him through the open door, but if he had looked in his wing mirror he would have been looking through the tint.

Geddit?

[Baldric]

The limit for tinting is 25% for the windscreen and 30% for the front side windows.

[Charity]

'He had had the windows of his car coated with a dark plastic film which reduced visibility in and out of the car TO 17%, the Old Bailey heard.'

[TWR]

A lot of Cyclists are unaware whats going on ahead of them due to listening to the music on their head sets. "Due care and attention"!!!! on who's behalf?

[jno]

yep... only 17% visibility - can that be legal?

[Baldric]

gm, the phrase "who admitted opening his door without using his mirror" kind of gave me a clue what happened, so yeh. I do geddit!
I think it was the 'opening of the door' that caused the accident, rather than the door 'being open' which I suggest would have been noticed and avoided.

[hc4361]

It WAS a cycle lane.

The offence is 'drunk in charge' when you have the keys to the vehicle but the engine is not running.

[sir.prize]

''He had only opened his car door a little to see if anyone was coming.''

Without the tinted window he would have been able to use his wing mirror.

In my book the tint contributed to the accident. In other words - clear visibility was obstructed. Isn't that an offence?

[Goonermatt]

baldric, which is what sp was saying about the tint not being a factor. It seems that the driver not only didn't look in his mirror, but flung his door open far enough to knock the cyclist off without looking behind through the open door first, which seems a bit foolish when you are parked in a bus lane.

"Mr Aydogdu, 32, of Hindhead, Surrey, said he had only opened his car door a little to see if anyone was coming."

Clearly he didn't.

[Booldawg]

witnesses on the bus seemed to disagree with Mr Aydogdu's statement of how cautiously he opened the door.

The defendent only lives about 5 miles from me. Will give him a wide berth.

[TWR]

If your honest, how many have opened their car's door without looking what's coming from behind? there will be many. how many have pulled out in front of a bike? there will be a lot.

[sir.prize]

As an aside - what is the purpose of tinted windows? Not only to prevent sunshine dazzle surely . . . .

[tamborine]

What's wrong with the rear view mirror. Isnt it compulsory to check it ? Methinks he got off lightly.

[Goonermatt]

TWR, if I'm honest, I'd always look behind me if I were parked in a bus lane. Not to look for cyclists, but so that the bus doesn't tear my door off.

It appears that this bloke clearly didn't look. Apart from that he didn't see the cyclist, the bus must have been close enough behind the cyclist to have made him not open the door - if he had seen it.

Booldawg, do you know the road in question?

[Bazile]

Very sad indeed .

One of the things that scares me with cyclists is when they overtake on the inside in a queque of traffic . ( the lane in question being next to the kerb )

Your'e usually looking on the offside and would not expect them to come up the inside , so a slight move to the left ( still inside your lane ) could easily cause a collision ) .

I'm amazed when i see cyclists risking their lives , doing the aforementioned .

[hc4361]

sir.prize - isn't the purpose to give police reason to stop and search? That's according to one man who keeps getting stopped by police, anyway.

[Baldric]

Parked his car 'next to a bus lane' suggests a lay-by as mentioned by jth, rather than in a bus lane

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20732883

[sp1814]

Goonermatt summed up what I meant precisely - however, but now thinking about the wing mirror...the tint would have had a bearing on the accident (if indeed he looked in it).

I have occasionally toyed with the idea of getting a bike or moped to get me to work in Kings Cross. A moped would reduce my door-to-door journey to about 10 minutes, but stories like this scare me off.

London traffic and bikes/mopeds are not a good fit.

[Booldawg]

I cycled from Waterloo to Euston earlier this year. Cycling in London isnt something I'd want to do on a daily basis.

[Lana55]

He had had the windows of his car coated with a dark plastic film which reduced visibility in and out of the car **** to **** 17%, the Old Bailey heard.