How To Claim For A Cycling Injury If Hit By A Car Door

In order for you to claim for a cycling injury if you have been hit by a car door, you must show that another road user’s negligent actions resulted in the harm you suffered in the collision. To demonstrate this, your claim must meet the following eligibility requirements:

You Were Owed a Duty of Care

Everyone who uses the road must travel in a way that avoids causing harm, while also following both the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. This duty of care includes taking reasonable care when exiting a vehicle by checking side mirrors and looking over one’s shoulder to ensure the roadway is clear. When you claim with Advice’s support, we will explain these legal obligations clearly and assess your situation with full attention to the details.

This Duty Was Breached

A breach means that the other road user failed to meet their legal responsibility. Breaches commonly occur when a driver quickly swings their door open after parking parallel to a designated cycle lane, or when someone exits a vehicle at the roadside without checking their blind spots or side mirrors for approaching riders. Our solicitors specialise in mapping out the sequence of events that might lead to a dooring incident and work quickly to secure the evidence needed to prove a breach.

The Breach Led to Your Injuries

Whether you suffered a fractured collarbone or road rash from being struck by the door, you must be able to show that the breach of duty directly caused your cycling injuries. Our team works to ensure that your final settlement covers any physical or psychological harm resulting from the breach.

Get in touch with our solicitors today to learn in minutes how to claim for a cycling injury if hit by a car door. They’re on hand to answer any questions you might have and offer free advice.

Who Is At Fault For A Cyclist And Vehicle Dooring Injury?

In the majority of cyclist dooring claims, motor vehicle occupants are at fault for a cyclist and vehicle dooring injury. Under Rule 239 of the Highway Code, drivers and passengers must ensure they do not hit anyone when opening a door. They can do this by using the opposite hand to open the door, a technique that naturally forces them to turn their head and look over their shoulder for oncoming traffic. By checking their surroundings first, motorists and passengers can prevent collisions with passing riders or pedestrians.

If you have been hurt because someone failed to look before opening their door, you do not have to figure out the details on your own. Contact our advisory team for more information and get the dedicated support you deserve.

What If I Was Partially Responsible For A Dooring Accident?

Even if you were partially responsible for a dooring accident, you could still be eligible to seek compensation. However, your claim may be assessed on the basis of split liability.

This means in practice that although you would still be eligible for compensation, the award would be reduced based on your level of responsibility. For example, if the investigation determined that you were 25% liable for the accident, then your compensation would be adjusted to reflect this same percentage.

Get in touch with our advisory team today if you think you were partially responsible for the accident, as we can help advise on the best course of action.

Common Injuries Sustained By Cyclists Hit By Car Doors

Common injuries from dooring accidents can range from lacerations or bruising to severe, life-changing trauma such as brain damage.

Some injuries that are commonly sustained by cyclists hit by car doors can include:

Facial injuries such as Le Fort fractures, or broken teeth from direct impact
Head and brain injuries, especially if an unhelmeted head strikes the door or road as a result of the impact
Spinal cord injuries
Soft tissue injuries
Bone fractures

These aren’t the only injuries that can be sustained from cyclist dooring accidents, so to discuss your own experience, please contact our advisors today. They will attentively listen, offer support and advise whether your claim is strong. If so, they can then connect you with one of our specialist solicitors.

How Much Compensation Can Be Claimed For Cycling Dooring Injuries?

How much compensation you could claim for cycling dooring injuries will depend on the type of harm sustained, how severe the accident was and the impact that your injuries have had on your daily life. At Advice, our solicitors value your pain, suffering and any reduction in your quality of life under a head of claim called general damages. To ensure accuracy in these calculations, they often use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document covers a wide variety of injury categories, severities and corresponding guideline brackets of compensation.

We’ve taken some figures from the JCG for the table below, but please note that they are not a guarantee of compensation. The top entry has not been sourced from this publication.

Compensation If You Were Hit By A Car Door

Multiple Very Severe Injuries + Special Damages: up to £1,000,000+. Compensation that can be awarded for various severe injuries and financial losses, including lost income, bicycle repairs, and specialist orthopaedic care.
Paralysis – Tetraplegia: £428,850 to £533,720. The injured person will require assistance with bodily functions and will have suffered a sensory impact and a reduced ability to communicate.
Brain Damage – Moderately Severe: £289,420 to £372,570. The injured person will suffer a severe level of disablement, with a substantial dependence on others for care and assistance.
Back Injury – Severe (i): £120,340 to £212,670. Cases involving serious damage to the spinal cord and nerve root damage causing severe pain and disability.
Neck Injury – Severe (ii): £86,860 to £172,970. Injuries involving severe fractures or damage to discs in the cervical vertebrae.
Foot Injuries – Severe: £55,450 to £92,520. Fractures to both feet or heels with a large restriction on mobility.
Arm Injuries – Permanent and Substantial Disablement: £51,750 to £79,080. Severe fractures to one or both forearms where there is a large level of residual disability.
Leg Injuries – Severe (iii) Serious: £51,790 to £72,440. Compound or comminuted fractures or injuries to ligaments or joints causing instability.
Hand Injuries – Severe Fractures to Fingers: Up to £48,540. These injuries may require partial amputations or result in deformity or impairment of hand function.
Ankle Injuries – Moderate: £18,150 to £35,130. Fractures or ligamentous tears which cause less serious disabilities.

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Can A Cyclist Hit By A Door Claim Compensation For Financial Losses?

Yes, a cyclist hit by a door can claim compensation for financial losses directly linked to their injuries. These costs fall under special damages, and our solicitors can help you recover a variety of expenses, such as:

Loss of earnings if your injuries after being hit by a car door have left you out of work
Medical costs such as prescriptions or orthopaedic surgery to restore shoulder movement or repair a fracture suffered in the collision
Rehabilitative support to regain strength or counselling to manage travel-related anxiety
Professional care or gratuitous help from family or friends, if your cycling injuries limit your independence
The cost of repairing or replacing damaged bicycle frames or riding gear

To claim for these costs, you will need evidence, usually including payslips, bank statements, receipts or invoices.

Get in touch with our team today for more information about how to claim for a cycling injury if hit by a car door.

What Is The Process Of Claiming For A Cycling Injury If Hit By A Car Door?

The process of claiming for a cycling injury if hit by a car door involves getting appropriate medical care, gathering evidence that supports your claim, and seeking legal advice. Taking the right steps early in the process can make a huge difference to the outcome of your claim, which is why we’ve created a streamlined process below to support your legal position whilst prioritising your welfare:

Seek Urgent Medical Help

Following a dooring collision, it is essential to prioritise your physical health. This ensures that impact injuries, such as a fracture or dislocation, are assessed and treated immediately. Taking this action also creates an official medical record that our solicitors can use as evidence.

Gather Evidence About The Dooring Accident

Once it is safe for you to do so, you can begin recording details about how the accident happened. Evidence gathered near the time of the accident is easier to preserve and can be more reliable in your claim.

The evidence needed will include the driver’s details, such as their insurer, address, and registration details. You can also take photographs of any visible injuries, bicycle damage, and the vehicle’s position. Here at Advice, we can also help you obtain eyewitness statements and CCTV footage showing the dooring incident unfold.

Make An Official Record Of The Incident

You should ensure to report the accident to your local police force, as this official record can help establish the sequence of events that led to you being injured by a car door. Legally, if anyone was injured in an accident involving a car, it must be reported to the police.

Keep A Personal Diary

It can be really useful to keep a personal record of how your accident continues to impact your daily life. We would suggest keeping notes about your daily pain levels, copies of receipts for any expenses, and any time taken off work during your recovery.

Speak To A Personal Injury Solicitor

Getting in touch with a specialist solicitor at Advice can help clarify your options. We can assess your case, explain the legal process, and use our deep knowledge of road traffic laws to help you build a well-supported claim for compensation.

Make Sure You’re Within The Time Limits

Compensation claims are typically subject to a strict time limit of 3 years from the date of the accident. This time limit is established under the Limitation Act 1980, and missing this deadline could mean that you’re prevented from seeking compensation altogether, even if you have a valid claim.

This is why it’s important to get legal advice early in the process to ensure that your claim is started within the limitation period. Get in touch with our advisory team today if you’d like any more information about what steps are beneficial to take to support your claim.

Claiming For Cycling Injuries After Being Hit By A Door With Advice

At Advice, our solicitors have years of experience helping claimants understand how to claim for a cycling injury if hit by a car door. With specialist knowledge and training, we offer a comprehensive service designed to support both your physical rehabilitation and emotional recovery from the moment you get in touch.

Below, we discuss why choosing our solicitors for your cycling dooring accident can be invaluable, and discuss how a No Win No Fee claim could benefit you:

Why Choose Advice’s Expert Cycling Injury Solicitors?

When you choose our expert cycling injury solicitors, you benefit from a dedicated service that understands the nuances of dooring collisions and bicycle-specific road laws. Our solicitors take a holistic approach by putting you in touch with rehabilitative support, gathering vital evidence on your behalf and handling all legal complexities on your behalf to ensure that you can remain fully focused on your recovery.

If you work with Advice’s expert solicitors, we will:

Break down specific road regulations and your legal rights as a cyclist into straightforward terms, so you see exactly how the law holds vehicle occupants accountable for opening doors into your path.
Connect you with rehabilitation therapists to help rebuild your strength, movement, and confidence so you can safely return to your riding routine.
Obtain footage from the scene of the dooring incident, including helmet-cam recordings or dashcam footage.
Value the damage to your bicycle, helmet, and kit, and calculate your missed wages and the long-term cost of any ongoing care needs.
Arrange clinical evaluations with independent medical experts, ensuring any collarbone fractures, shoulder trauma, or lacerations you sustained in the collision are fully documented.

No Win No Fee Claims For Cyclist Hit By Car Doors

At Advice, our solicitors believe that everyone should have affordable access to justice. This is why our services are offered on a No Win No Fee basis, which uses a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement.

This means in practice that our clients have nothing to pay upfront in service fees for one of our expert solicitors to take their claim on. In addition to this, our claimants aren’t faced with ongoing service fees whilst their claim is progressing, and most crucially, our clients have nothing to pay towards the work of our solicitors if their claim is unsuccessful.

If however their claim is won, then a preagreed percentage would be taken out of their compensation. This is our solicitors’ success fee, and it is capped under law to ensure that claimants receive the majority of their compensation. Again, this is discussed before the claim commences to ensure that our clients are fully informed before deciding to continue with a claim.

Contact Our Solicitors To Make A Claim

To learn more about how to claim for a cycling injury if hit by a car door with our solicitors here at Advice, get in touch with us today. You can reach our advisory team by:

Calling us on 0161 509 2856
Contacting us online
Using our live chat

Learn More

Read our other guides about:

How to claim if you slipped on ice
How long do you have to report a car accident
Back injury compensation claims

Useful External Resources

Cycle safety information from THINK!
Returning to work after a period of sickness absence, from HSE.GOV.UK
How to report a road traffic collision to the police

Thank you for reading our guide about how to claim for a cycling injury if hit by a car door.

Meet the Team

Gemma Shields

Chartered Legal Executive | Road Traffic Accident Claims Specialist

Gemma Shields is a CILEx qualified legal professional with over a decade of experience in road traffic accident claims, including pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist cases. She provides clear, compassionate legal support to clients across England and Wales.

Hit By A Car Door While Cycling – Am I Eligible To Claim Compensation?

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