Police investigate as London cyclist killed after crashing into car door

A London cyclist died in hospital after she crashed into a car door in Haringey last month, police have said.

The cyclist, a 65-year-old woman, was treated by paramedics at the scene of the crash which happened at around 4.40pm on the afternoon of Friday 28 May, but she died in hospital two days later.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Service said that the victim had been riding on Coleridge Road, N8 “when she collided with an open car door.”

There was no mention of whether the door had been open for some time, or whether it had been opened as the cyclist approached, and officers are appealing for witnesses and information.

Police said that the driver of the parked car is helping them with their investigation, and they do not believe there were any other vehicles involved.

Anyone who saw the crash or has any dash cam footage or CCTV is asked to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Alperton on 0208 246 9820.

Police added that their enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are continuing.

Under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, it is an offence to “open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person.” The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine.

After the death of Leicester cyclist Sam Boulton in 2017, Cycling UK joined his family in calling for a new offence of causing or permitting serious injury or death by car dooring to be created, with tougher penalties for those convicted of committing it.

> Family of cyclist killed when taxi passenger opened door launch safety campaign

The taxi passenger who opened the door into his path, causing him to fall into the path of a van, was fined £80, while the driver was fined £300 and lost a subsequent appeal against his conviction.

The charity has also campaigned for the Dutch Reach technique for opening the door of a vehicle to be incorporated into the driving test and the Highway Code.

> Consultation launched on proposed changes to Highway Code

In its consultation document published last year outlining potential changes to the Highway Code, the Department for Transport said:

The Highway Code already makes clear that you must ensure that you do not hit anyone when opening your vehicle door. We are recommending that a new technique, commonly known as the 'Dutch Reach', is introduced to this chapter. This advises that road users should open the door of their vehicle with the hand on the opposite side to the door they are opening. This naturally causes the person to twist their body making it easy to look over their shoulder and check for other road users. This will help to reduce the risk to passing cyclists and motorcyclists, and to pedestrians using the pavement.