Maelochs

I watched enough of the video to see that most of the cyclists were putting themselves in silly situations, IMO. I do not recall and of the doors being opened from Moving cars. Then by definition, they were parked cars. But I don't intend to watch the video again.

If you can direct me to a specific timestamp when a moving car opened its door and clipped a cyclist I will watch that.

Paul Barnard

I see what you are saying. While there shouldn't be vehicular traffic between a car and the curb, the person opening a door still has a legal duty to make sure there is none. I'd be interested in knowing how that has played out in court, because it doesn't appear that a cyclist can legally pass on the right of another vehicle, if there isn't a lane there.

RCW 46.61.115
When overtaking on the right is permitted.
(1) The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle only under the following conditions:
(a) When the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn;
(b) Upon a roadway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two or more lines of vehicles moving lawfully in the direction being traveled by the overtaking vehicle.
(2) The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass another vehicle upon the right only under conditions permitting such movement in safety. Such movement shall not be made by driving off the roadway.

Ninety5rpm

Passengers opening doors on the passenger side of a car while cyclists are passing on that side is a different issue (one not anticipated by the law). I was just going by your original statement, which sounded like you as driver were going to open your door on the driver side without looking first, which is illegal.

By the way, on the passenger side of cars is where they're putting some of these "innovative" "protected" "bike lanes" now (the parked cars ARE the protection!), so riding there on that side certainly can't be illegal in those situations.

Paul Barnard

I am sorry I thought I had made it clear I was talking about exiting the passenger door when along side a curb.

italktocats

DO NOT RIDE IN THE DOORZONE EVERRRR

if the door doesnt kill you, getting flung into oncomming traffic will

a women got heli'd off last year after getting hit by a door at slow speed

Ninety5rpm

No, MY apologies. I totally missed that. So sorry!

Ninety5rpm

Let's try this again.

I won't agree that they got what they had coming, but expecting passengers to look before they open their doors curbside is unrealistic. And yet that's exactly where cyclists are often encouraged to ride by "innovative" "protected" "bike lanes".

mr_bill

So many "air quotes". So many "air ors". (Errors, get it?)

The parking lane and a travel lane are inverted. There is parking, a BUFFER, then the bike lane.

Have you actually ever ridden in ANY of these, ANY where?

-mr. bill

Ninety5rpm

Yeah, some do have painted buffers. They show cyclists where to ride because of all the pedestrians taking up the other part of the "bike lane".

EDIT: add example from Portland



https://www.treehugger.com/bikes/mak...-portland.html

mr_bill

Another set of "air quotes". Another "air or". There are no pedestrians in that picture.

Where have you ridden in a door zone protected bike lane?

-mr. bill

Ninety5rpm

I put "bike lane" in quotes because it's not a legal bike lane when it's separated from the roadway (at least in some states - that may not be the case in Oregon - not sure). I put "protected" in quotes because the "protection" claim of these facilities is dubious.

SquidPuppet

Yep. IMO 99.9% of those were idiot bicyclist moves. You could smell the hit coming a mile away.

Lets see, I'm in a very busy shopping district and there are lines of taxis squeezed closely together, that are temporarily stopped. I think I'll pick the narrowest slot and rip through it at a quick pace. What the heck did they expect? Morons. Taxis stop to let their passengers OUT.

Etc, etc, etc. All dumb choices.

Paul Barnard

That's what it all boils down to right there. We knew it was a dooring vid, but even without that knowledge I would have cringed seeing what I was seeing. Intuitive, observant cyclists can feel that sort of stuff developing based on the whole of the traffic picture.

Ninety5rpm

Absolutely. But I see most cyclists engage in behavior that makes me cringe. Of course those events aren't from a cherry-picked collection where the reason I cringe actually manifests itself.

How can we make more cyclists cringe like we do, and thus avoid this kind of behavior?

CliffordK

Many of the doorings in the video are where bikes are filtering between cars, and often in spaces maybe 3' wide... it wouldn't be possible to leave a 5' space while filtering like that.

As far as parked/driving cars, several of the vehicles appear to be either double parked, or briefly stopped in traffic when someone hops out. For example:

6 seconds, Prius, cyclists riding on both sides, appears to have brake lights on.
29 seconds, in snow, door appears to open on curb side, apparently car stopped in driving lane.
35 seconds, car parked half in parking lane, half in driving lane, flashers on.
52 seconds, cars lined up for right turn, I think, door opens on curb side.
1:14, bike filtering between parked cars to left, and driving to right, left door (passenger?) opens.
1:26, rear view, but apparently passing to the left of a few cars in the driving lane, left door opens.
1:35, another car at a traffic light, bike filtering, right door opens.
1:55, another car stopped in traffic, bike filtering to right, right door opens.
2:10, taxi stops to left of bike lane... predictable results.
2:18, more filtering between stopped cars and curb to the right.
2:40, car pulls over and "double parks", opens right door.
2:49, bike lane again to left of traffic lane... car opens left door from traffic lane.
2:58, another car opening door from traffic lane.

Whew, I'm getting tired of these... Anyway, at least in the compilation, at least as many dooring incidents seem to be happening from cars momentarily stopped in traffic lanes than from cars fully parked. Some predictable, some not, but most due to bikes filtering along faster than traffic.

Daniel4

Cyclists aren't the only ones getting doored.

https://youtu.be/ZMl8Oh4HA_I

I believe California has allowed motorcycle lane splitting.

I was once asked how I felt about this. I said fine, as long as the motorcyclist doesn't mind following me on my bicycle doing the same thing he is to avoid congested traffic.

mr_bill

People on two wheels aren't the only ones getting doored.

(Best with sound.)


-mr. bill

Daniel4

Some posts here like to blame the cyclists.

But motorists door everybody because they don't look.

https://youtu.be/imy4xYr9GM0

B. Carfree

A decade ago, I borrowed a big bike cart from a campus student Co-op. The student who loaned it to me was car-free and we got to chatting about how she came to decide to no longer drive. It turns out that the last car she owned was totaled when she kicked the stuck door open without looking and it was removed by a passing pick-up.

Needless to say, she doesn't ride in the door zone either for fear of meeting someone just like herself.

FBinNY 

The first (and last) time I was doored was in 1967. I was flying downhill on my way home from school. Guy opens his door and with luck, I catch just right it and with it's momentum, swing it beyond the limit, breaking the hinge.

I'm OK, but the driver insists that I wait for the police. They show up and the driver explains how I damaged his door and he insists they get my name because I was going to pay. The cop asks me if I was OK and had anything to add, and I say that's basically it --- he opened the door and I couldn't avoid it.

The cop smiled and said it was so rare that both parties agreed on the details, making his job so, then proceeded to issue the driver a summons for opening his door into the flow of traffic.

BTW- though I was OK,and the bike seemed OK, it turns out that I very slightly buckled the down tube. I put lots of miles on that bike, then lent it to a friend who was riding it when it finally let go (no injury).

Ninety5rpm

It's not about blame.To me, that means (among many other things): do not ride in the door zone. Period.

kap 7

I'm the OP and just wanted to point out around here we don't have bike lanes divided by parked cars .. its more like an after thought of widening the street a few feet and having the bike lane painted on the street between traffic and the parked cars that are against a curb ... so a drivers door can fly wide open easily and the lane is only about 4 feet wide with nowhere to go but into the door or into traffic.

Ninety5rpm

That's called a DOOR ZONE BIKE LANE.


Don't ride there.

Don't let paint think for you.

canklecat

Bike lanes are just parking zones with bicycle shaped icons to bait unwary cyclists into actually thinking it's a bike lane.

Comparable to those minnow-shaped rubber baits that fool bigger fish into thinking "Oh, look, this must be the fish lane. I'm safe here."

It's a clever ruse to reduce the cycling population.

Chris0516

I 'take the lane', and stay out of the bike lane, even when they do exist.