A dored - Car Dooring, Being Doored, "Given the Door"

http://ukcyclerules.com/2012/12/21/mary-bowers-sam-harding-law/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mary-bowers-sam-harding-law

The acquittals in both cases resulted from decisions made by juries. In both cases it seems likely that the jury took the view that the driver’s failings weren’t *bad enough *to amount to the serious offences (carrying significant jail terms) which were charged.

For so long as cars are the principal way of using the roads, there is a risk that juries will have sympathy with motorists, and will be reluctant to convict a motorist of a serious offence (resulting in a prison sentence) based on what may have been a relatively common driver error.

The result is that the convictions which are obtained (and the sentences that follow) often seem trivial in cases like those of Sam Harding and Mary Bowers, and it seems that the available laws aren’t adequately enforced, so that vulnerable road users aren’t adequately protected.