Car Door Injury Compensation 

You could be able to claim car door injury compensation if you’ve been hit by a car door while cycling. If a car door is opened while a cyclist is moving past, the impact has the potential to cause quite serious injuries to the cyclist in question.  

The term for being hit by a car door while cycling is known as ‘dooring’ and it is sadly far more common than you might think. Between 2011 to 2015 in the UK, there were roughly eight people killed and 3,108 people injured in accidents that involved car doors. 2,099 of the people impacted by dooring during this period were cyclists.

Dooring is a common issue and far more wide-reaching than a lot of people would think. While it is more common in busy, residential areas, this sort of accident can happen anywhere, even in less densely populated areas. If you’ve been injured by dooring, you could be able to claim compensation as a result.  

Contact us today on 0800 342 3206 or through our online form. 

Potential Injuries 

While this article is specifically about cyclists who are injured by dooring, you could be injured if you are operating a motorised vehicle, such as a moped, or if you are walking. Therefore, you could still enquire about claiming compensation if you have been injured by dooring in these circumstances.  

The most common injuries caused by dooring include:  

• Broken or fractured bones.  
• Lacerations of the body.  
• Sprained wrists or ankles.  
• Head trauma.  
• Loss of teeth.  
• Injuries caused by your body being caught in the wheels of your bike/moped etc.  
• Crushing injuries caused by your bike/moped falling on you.  

You could also be injuries quite severely if you are hit by another vehicle while lying on the floor after a dooring incident has occurred. If you’ve been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you could be able to claim compensation as a result.  

Car Door Injury Compensation: Expectations Of Safety 

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations of 1986, section 105, states that ‘No person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person.’ Therefore, based on these regulations it is the duty of the car driver to look out for approaching cyclists, walkers or other vehicles before they open their car door.  

If a cyclist is injured when a car door is opened into their path then they could be able to claim for the injury that they sustain in the accident. The claim will be brought against the insurance of the driver, even if it was a passenger in the car who caused the accident to occur.  

The defendant in the case may try to reduce the amount of compensation being awarded to the cyclist by suggesting that they were cycling too close to the parked vehicle. If it is successfully argued that the cyclist obstructed the vehicle by cycling too close to the doors then there could be a reduction in the amount of compensation that is awarded or the case could be dismissed entirely. 

Car Door Injury Compensation 

The amount of car door injury compensation that you can claim will depend upon the specific details of your injuries. This amount of compensation is calculated by looking at two specific categories: general damages and special damages. After a personal injury accident, you normally have three years to make a claim for compensation. If a child was injured in the accident, a claim can be made on their behalf until their eighteenth birthday. After they turn eighteen, they then have three years to make a claim on their own behalf. Therefore, you should make a personal injury claim as soon as possible.

Contact Jefferies 

At first, we will need some initial details about the specifics of your injuries and how this has impacted your life. Contact us today on 0800 342 3206 or through our online form to get started. A member of our team will quickly be in touch to discuss your case.