Matariki

Driving back home from an errand last night, my wife and I decided to call in a take-out order from a local restaurant. Driving slowly down the quiet street in front of the restaurant I saw no parking spaces so I put my right signal on, pulled close to a break between parked cars and stopped to let her out. As she started to open her door, I caught a glimpse of a weak, blinking white light in my mirror and released that a cyclist was about to pass between my car and the parked cars - despite my being stopped, my active turn signal, and my wife's door starting to open. I yelled "Wait, wait, wait!" and then as the cyclist started to squeeze through the narrow space between my car and the parked ones I yelled "You idiot!". Of course, my wife who had not seen the cyclist, thought I was yelling at her. Even worse, she had turned to me as I was yelling and did not see the cyclist as he passed.

The good thing is that the cyclist was not doored, but I really had to do some 'splaining on the way home.

choteau

I can see it now in A+S ..... minding my own business riding down a quiet street with my bike lights on, when a idiot cager passes me and then does the squeeze into my travel path, STOPS and then tries to door ME. Then the cager yells at me! Only my catlike reflexed kept me from getting injured

By the way good save, both for the cyclist and more important keeping your wife from getting hurt.

OldsCOOL

Excellent. No good deed shall go unpunished. If the rider had hit your wife's door....well, you may have saved his life with your blinker.

Matariki

Except I hadn't passed him. We were actually stopped for a good half minute before the wife started to open the door. I know what you mean about A&S - few cyclists post reflections about how their own actions placed them at risk.

RoadTire 

This is exactly why everyone should wear a camera on their head all the time. This way the video would be proof to your wife there really was a cyclist zooming past while she wasn't looking.

David Bierbaum

I will explain how you should have handled this in a way that gave punishment to the cyclist, while lighting the fires of romance with your wife! Listen to the wisdom of an old single dude who is clueless about women!

As your wife opened the door, you should simply have grabbed her, pulled her close, and gave her a passionate kiss. The idiot would have doored himself on the unattended open door, while your wife's emotional level would... well... would be dependent upon your abilities as a passionate kisser... You could then lambaste the idiot for interrupting your special moment with your siginificant other. See? A perfect plan!

headloss 

FWIW, I agree, cyclist was an idiot. Never a good idea to ride between vehicles like that, always pass on the left; if you have to pass on the right, do so with EXTREME caution.
You should make a joke of it now, yell "YOU IDIOT" at home, maybe in the kitchen, blame a passing cyclist.

Gerryattrick

My wife went one better than that and knocked a motor-cyclist off his bike when she opened her door as he squeezed between us and some parked cars. Luckily no damage to the car, my wife, or to the rider, but some damage to his shiny motor bike (which he had to pay for).

VNA

Double parking is not safe and obviously there was enough space to pass between you and the parked car--the cyclist did not want to go into the next traffic lane a) because it was busy with oncoming cars and b) because he most likely assumed you would be the one opening the door.

Bad situation all around--again double parking is dangerous because it blocks traffic!

Matariki

While I agree that stopping like this on a busy street would be a problem, this was a side street with very little traffic. I stopped for a very short time to let my wife out and then drove around the block to collect her when she came out. Passing right between a narrow (18"gap) risking a passenger's side dooring is not a good strategy for avoiding a driver's side dooring. Avoid both by passing on the left. I doubt the cyclist made any assumptions.

Matariki

Man - I missed my chance here.

crazyb

If I see a double parked car, I wouldn't try to ride between it and a parked car. I might however slow down and think out what better option there might be. IMO, it was a stupid move on the cyclists part. It doesn't matter who is in the wrong when you get launched over or into a car door.

FBinNY 

Easy fix for the future. Decide on ONE name to call your wife when she does something dumb. Use one that will get your message across, but not offend her. Hopefully it can be delivered in a loving way with a bit of humor. Use that term EXCLUSIVELY for her, never calling her anything else, and likewise never call anybody else by that name.

jimincalif

Not a dooring incident, but we had a near-miss last Saturday in our club ride. One group of riders was stopped at a light, unfortunately clogging up the right turn lane with a car behind them waiting to turn right with his turn signal on. As I approached with a second group of riders, the light changed, the first group started riding and the car started moving forward. I moved to the left to stay behind the car turning right, but then from behind me about 6 riders passed me, then the car signaling for a right turn, on the right. Car had to abruptly stop, I had to stop, and the second group was squeezing thru a narrow path between the car and the curb. Not good, and I can't fault the car driver at all. It is usually much better for us cyclists to move left and pass turning or parking cars on the left! And if the first group of riders had taken the right thru lane instead of the turn lane, that turning car would have been long gone before the rest of us got there!

NOS88

Interesting. If I yelled, "You idiot!" My wife would likely turn and say, "Are you talking to yourself again?"

qcpmsame 

Wait, my wife is married to you too?

Bill

donheff

+1 I occasionally do this and am always paranoid. It is a dangerous practice - double parked cars are often dumping passengers. I am also always cautious when filtering up on the right at a red light or other congestion. It can be hard to see bikes coming up on the right. Some of them blow by pretty fast. I almost turned into one myself and I always look.

John E

This is what I hate about some group rides -- some clown is going to insist on going to the right of right-turning or potentially right-turning traffic. I used to participate in a local YMCA-sponsored group ride, but I upset the ride leader by telling her, the presumed expert, that we should position ourselves in a destination-appropriate fashion on approaching an intersection. She consistently led people along the gutter to every intersection and tried to make a left turn from a position to the right of a left-or-through lane.

John E

I am extremely careful when opening any car door, but I did come close to causing a door incident once. I was in the UK, sitting in the left front passenger seat, and our local driver pulled up and parked at a right (wrong over there) side curb. I dutifully checked back, but not forward, when starting to open my door, and almost opened it into an oncoming car.

VNA

Not the safest move on the part of the cyclist, but the driver was blocking traffic and that include cyclist--obviously there was enough room to go between cars--by the way splitting lane is legal (carefully) particularly with stopped automobile traffic.

Also the driver should have been aware of the cyclist since he had to overtake him shortly before he stopped.

Opening doors into traffic is illegal according to the driver's handbook so is double parking!

leob1

Which would be easy, beacause he would be inside the car with you!

leob1

You're not married anymore, are you?

FBinNY 

Been happily married over 25 years.

Deb KNOWS that I would never call her an idiot or whatever, so there's no chance of her being insulted or upset by mistake. I don't have to resort to calling her names in anger because she'd know what I mean or feel by tone or context.

I do have a mild epithet I might use when annoyed, but can deliver it with a smile in proportion to the level of annoyance when she screws up. Likewise she does the same when I screw up.

If getting insulted is enough to strain a relationship, then the relationship wasn't that solid to begin with.

crazyb

I'll repeat, "it doesn't matter who is in the wrong when you get launched over or into a car door". It will ruin your day. Riding your bike between two cars is dangerous.

mprelaw

And all too accurate.