his has long been a bone of contention for me. I speak as someone who regularly cycled 90 miles a week to work and back plus a lot of rides of between 60 and 150 miles at evenings and weekends. I now drive everywhere.
Sadly, if a cyclist hits your car and causes damage, you would have to sue them through the civil courts.
Someone I know pulled up one night, looked in his off side mirror and over his shoulder before opening his door. Next thing, band a cyclist went straight into his door. His car sustained £800 worth of damage and he was taken to court for DC and A, fined and points put on his licence. Absolutely absurd! If I cyclist goes out at night without any lights and wearing dark clothing, then they should be pulled up and have their bike confiscated. No excuse for it!
I am not against cyclists, but increasing numbers of them totally disregard the rules of the road. My belief is that they should all have third party insurance.
I'm not saying all car drivers are perfect, but there needs to be mutual respect.