Cabbie is fined after cyclist dies when passenger opens his door
Teacher thrown into the path of van
A TAXI driver was fined £300 after a cyclist was killed when he was hit by the opening passenger door and thrown into the path of a drunk driver.
Sam Boulton, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, fell under the wheels of the van and sustained ‘unsurvivable’ head and chest injuries.
The incident took place as the ‘inspirational’ teacher, who ‘ had everything to live for’, rode past Leicester railway station. He was not wearing a helmet at the time.
On Monday, cab driver Farook Bhikhu, 56, was found guilty of permitting a passenger to open a vehicle ‘so as to injure or endanger a person’.
He had been parked on double yellow lines in a bus lane at the time of the incident on July 27 last year. Bhikhu, of Leicester, was ordered to pay a £300 fine, £635 prosecution costs and £30 victim surcharge by Loughborough magistrates’ court. His passenger, Mandy Chapple, 56, was previously fined £80 after she admitted opening a vehicle door so as to injure or endanger another person, known as car-dooring.
Bhikhu said he usually told passengers to exit on the pavement side but forgot to do so on the day of the crash. Prosecutor Mayzam Razaq said Bhikhu had a duty of care to his passengers and failed in his ‘forgetfulness’ to fulfil that.
But Sandeep Kaushal, defending, said: ‘No conversation took place at all, so is it fair to blame him?
‘There were adults in the taxi who had responsibility to look around to see if it was safe. The fare was waiting to be paid and the transaction had not been completed. He did not give permission.’ Passing sentence, chairman of the bench Ben Faust said: ‘Because the car was parked on double yellow lines, there was an inherent danger leading to greater risk than had the car been parked in the designated drop off zone.
‘ We find that the passengers would reasonably assume that because the vehicle was parked and the journey was over, it was acceptable to get out.
‘By not giving any instructions, permission was inferred and we therefore find you guilty.’
The van driver, Nigel Ingram, 50, received a 26- week suspended prison sentence after he admitted being almost three times the legal drink-drive limit and was banned from driving for 28 months.
Cycling UK assisted Mr Boulton’s family in bringing the prosecutions to court. After the hearing, spokesman Duncan Dollimore called for legislation to be changed so that professional drivers must undergo training regarding their passengers and car-dooring.
He said: ‘We have contacted the Department for Transport to see if this can be included in the driver test and we’d like strong guidance on this in the Highway Code.
‘Sam’s parents have indicated they would like to see a change in legislation so this offence is taken more seriously, as well as further education and awareness on the dangers of car-dooring.’