parkbrav

Rollfast

You should watch for drivers in parked cars as well. And holler you're coming. Slow down and watch out for traffic behind you, then move over and pass when safe to do so.

How somebody opens their car door is beyond your control and they likely don't read BF.

Safety is a two-way street.

CB HI

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/smarter-living/the-dutch-reach-save-bicyclists-lives-bicycle-safety-drivers.html

OP please check links once you post. You needed a space between .html and interesting.

CB HI

Since the link did not work, seems you posted without even looking, let alone reading the article.

Daniel4

The dutch reach makes sense but unless there is some sort of government law to make all drivers do this, it's not going to be widespread.

But if you do have government law, the regular people will complain about the usual totalitarianism, unconsitutionality, nanny-state, loss of individual rights etc.

Much simpler would be to mandate auto manufactures to relocate all door handles to be right beside the shoulder. That way you can't reach the door handle with the hand closest to the door. You'd be forced by design to use the opposite hand to open the door - passenger door too.

Bmach

KraneXL

It it is. Except the cyclist isn't the one that crates the danger for the motorist. The problem with what seem like such a simple solution is that dangers don't always come at you one by one and from only one direction at a time. Ride safely.And in a perfect world that would make the most sense. BTW, I already thought of that. In any event, what is door zone? Is it legally defined? Is it even in the driver handbook?

I've seen cars suddenly come to a stop in the middle of the road and then drop people off. What is the solution then? Clairvoyance perhaps?

CB HI

Point your front wheel at the person jumping out of the car. That way you have some padding between you and the door.
That exact situation happened to me once. Did a panic stop and my front wheel stopped between the guys legs and one inch below his crotch.

Bmach

trailangel

I like it!

Paul Barnard

The Dutch reach impresses me as a ridiculous solution. Maybe I am missing something. If you can remember to use your right arm to open the door, can't you just remember to look before flinging your door open?

Doorings are easy accidents for us cyclists to avoid. We have absolute control over it.

parkbrav

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/s...y-drivers.html

I apologize, I did not anticipate that my browser would not mind the gap between the link and the rest of my post.

To be frank, I did not appreciate the snark when I was reading this thread this morning. Clearly, I did read this article, that is why I am sharing it with you. I will also point out to you that free click-throughs on the NY Times are very valuable as you only get so many per month.

Why do drivers need to do something accommodates bikers? We do A LOT to accommodate them - we wear high visibility colors, we buy and maintain expensive bike lights, etc. etc. Cars should do something to accommodate bikers, too.

And the other point I was making - ever since I saw this article, I've seen evidence that this is catching on with drivers.

JoeyBike

I saw a commercial just yesterday for an automobile feature that will keep the doors locked if another car is in the door zone. I was wondering if it was sensitive to bicycles and motorcycles. Good idea anyway.

tyrion

I agree there should be legislation to support this, but it doesn't have to be a enforced with nanny-policing and tickets. Just mandate that it be taught in all driving courses and part of drivers' license tests, and legislate that door-involved accidents are, by default, the fault of the door operator. If you get doored riding your bike (or car or motorcycle or scooter) you have a slam dunk case, the offenders insurance goes up, and the financial incentives will get people's attention.

mrodgers

If you don't ride "far right as practical", it kind of is the cyclist putting himself into the dangerous situation that creates the danger. Far right as practical puts me out of the door zone.

Daniel4

Sure, but I wouldn't have a lot of confidence that teaching this in driving school will have a lot of positive effect.

There's a lot of things taught in driving school that are just simply ignored on the road. How many drivers actually come to a full stop at stop signs or red lights before preceeding to turn right? How many drivers observe the speed limit as the maximum instead of as the minimum. And when you remind someone online that pedestrians have the right of way, you get a lot of "disagrees" or thumbs down.

Penalties seem to be stricter when damages occur to other motor vehicles. When damages occur to pedestrians or cyclists, the offending driver is only given a fine, a demerit or minor charge of careless driving.

JoeyBike

We should start a thread entitled: "The Top-100 Things Motorists SHOULD do."

Wish into one hand, spit into the other, and see which one fills up first.

daoswald

"Drivers Should Look Left Before Opening Door"

Yes, they should. But we're not going to change them, and even if 90% of them get the message, it only takes one of them to ruin your week.

We cyclists need to ride defensively. Stay left far enough to not get doored (or right if you're in one of those types of separated bike lanes). Watch for "people at the wheel" as you approach from behind. Make eye contact in mirrors. If you cannot, get over.

I got doored once by a guy in a parked panel van. I couldn't see him as I approached, and I was pretty new to road riding at the time so I hadn't considered the possibility. The corner of his door caught my shoe and ripped it open. I was unharmed, luckily. He was almost as stunned as I was. I'm certain that the lesson learned stuck with him for at least 48 hours before he returned to life as usual. I probably should have bargained for a new pair of shoes but there was a language barrier and I still wanted to finish out my ride.

Daniel4

That's why I had recommended that auto manufacturers redesign the car door for the door handle to be located at the shoulder. What drivers should do will be eliminated and replaced with what they have to do to open the door- use their opposite hand.

Paul Barnard

Now that's my kind of humor!

Rollfast

I'm freaky clairvoyant.

KraneXL

We need to get the word out. The sensors are already there. We just need to get the auto industry (or insurance industry?) aware of the potential danger and liability of not having this feature installed. This reminds me of manufactures milage reports. The reason they say "your mileage may vary" is because we live in the real world. Not some hermetically sealed test environment with no obstacles or interference to lower the results. Your statement lacks real-world experience. Or maybe I should say "big city" experience?

jon c. 

I think the reason there's no great rush to install such features is they are well aware that their potential liability is negligible.

CB HI

Please reread the order and content of my post. There was no snark in Post #3, I helped you out by including a working link. The reason I asked you to always check the links after the post is up, is because many of us have had the same problem with spaces being removed or other issues making the links not work.

In Post #4 , directed at Rollfast, who clearly did not read the article before his Post #2 .

Bmach