Originally Posted by
Miele Man
Two-door cars parked next to a painted door zone bicycle lane like that are even more dangerous than the car shown in those images. That's because most doors on two-door cars are much longer and thus would project even further into the bicycle lane.
This video shows the distance needed with a four-doorr car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPA-ZcYGT94&t=66s
This video is apparently with a two-door car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlOnnDvr9Uw
Look at how far away you need to be to be safe from a suddenly opened door.
Cheers
So here's the thing... they were not showing this on a street with typical tire tracks... So it becomes a bit difficult to verify this in their video format...
But they ARE talking about maintaining a 12-13 foot distance from parked cars... Where does that put you in a typical travel lane that doesn't have a bike lane? Right about in the grease stripe.
If I am on a road that does not have a bike lane, yet still has cars parked along the side... I tend to ride in the right tire track. That right tire track is often suggested as a "good" place to ride... yet here we see that is not the case. And yes, if a driver throws open a car door on a street like I have described, that door will be taken off by a passing car.
So, do we ride instead in the left tire track? Well, that is often seen as a signal that we intend to move more to the left.
I have no solution... I just offer these comments as a taste of the reality of the roads today.