Cyclist Struck by Lorry Door
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ACASE in which a cyclist was hurt when a driver opened the door of his stationary vehicle came before the King's Bench Divisional Court last week. An appeal by the police from a decision of the Melksham magistrates, dismissing a summons against Cecil Harold Noel Matthews, of The Bungalows, Bramble Road, Swindon, for an alleged offence under the Highways Act, 1835, was rejected.
It was stated that Matthews was the driver of a stationary lorry and opened the off-side door, which struck a passing cyclist. He was summoned under the Highways Act, in that he, as a driver of "a carriage, caused. by negligence, damage and hurt" to the cyclist. The magistrates, without determining the question of negligence, dismissed the summons on the ground that Matthews • was not the driver of the lorry within the meaning of the Act.
For the police it was contended that an offence had been committed, as Matthews had been driving the lorry before it became stationary and was in his seat when he opened the door. • The Lord Chief Justice (Lord Goddard), giving judgment, said the material section of the Act, aimed at negligent driving—not a mere casual act of negligence, assuming there was such, which had no connection with the driving. The language in which the magistrates expressed their finding was, perhaps, a little unfortunate, as obviously Matthews was the driver; but his negligence, if there was any, was not in connection with his driving. The magistrates were right in dismissing the summons.