ROJA

A Prius doored a cyclist right next to me and he went right down. The cyclist was riding in a bike lane. He seemed OK, but I encouraged him to take a minute to gather himself to make sure that he had no injuries and wasn't just in shock. A cop was right behind when the accident occurred and either witnessed it or came by immediately after it occurred. I asked the cop if he was going to cite the driver and the cop told me no in a very belligerent way. I pushed the issue and the cop was clearly getting pissed at me and started staring me down (I stared right back). The cop had a really bad attitude about it, saying that all I wanted was "punishment punishment punishment." What a negative experience. And this was in Berkeley, a place that is supposed to be very friendly to cyclists.

gcottay

It seems to me that both the driver and the rider were victims of bad traffic design. The rider should avoid door zones even when the bike lane is poorly done and the driver should check for traffic before swinging the door, but putting bike lanes right next to parking makes it tough for both of them.

littlewaywelt

That may be true, but it's the driver's legal responsibility to make sure it's clear before opening the door.
I would have asked the po for his badge number.

Bicure

Punishment, punishment, punishment?

Sounds more like a desire to avoid paperwork, paperwork, paperwork!

I can empathize with that, but I always consider what would have happened if the person auto-costed were a police officer.

When we're hit with a car (or any part thereof), we're told to get over it, or issued a summons.

When the police are hit with cars (or any part thereof), guns are pulled and serious charges are filed.

Kars become deadly weapons when they interact negatively with the police, but we non-drivers are fair game, it would seem.

maddyfish

Cops are so poorly educated he may not have even know there was anything he could do.

LittleBigMan

Good job checking on the cyclist. Did the policeman do the same?

Report him if he neglected his duty. Some cops need a cop.

ROJA

The cop made a very cursory inquiry and then couldn't be bothered.

urban_assault

I hope the guy and his bike are OK and that he will watch out for that a bit more. As far as the officer, well it does not surprise me.













...do you hear it? HH and the anti bike lane folks are going to be here any minute. Prepare for another tiresome VC thread hijacking debate.

Mos6502

what did the car owner say?

knotty

That errant cop needs to be reported to higher ups. Also, it's against the law to exit a car on the street side. Next step, a lawyer for the cyclist against the city and car driver. The cop should have cited the driver at least.

I won a small claims against a driver who opened his street side door and clipped my car a few years ago.

knotty

Ngchen

Not sure what the law is exactly. It might depend on jurisdiction. No doubt we're dealing with a bad design here. But FWIW, cops have a lot of discretion on who to cite and who not to. It's usually a bad idea to get into a dispute with them; they can and will go after you if they feel like it. Rather than taking all the blame and putting it on the cops, it would probably be more productive to ask the traffic people why said bad bike lane still exists.

bugmenot

A possible explanation for the cop's poor behavior is that he's had to deal with bike local bike lunatics like Jason Meggs (google) and is painting all cyclists with the same brush. Reprehensible but it's a possible explanation.

Agent Cooper

Wait, this happened in Berkeley? Well, there you go!

The policeman probably believes in "restorative justice." How does punishing the motorist help heal the community? After all, that poor driver probably has Urban Vehicle Safe Disembarkment Disorder, and has struggled with it all his life. He's the REAL victim here! That cyclist has no compassion for his diversity issues! He should be forced to attend a UVSDD sensitivity course.

Keith99

Source? Oh and winning a small claims case is not a source or even evidence or any such law. It just indicates that the door was opened in a reckless manner.

Mr. Underbridge

That's an excellent point. That's why communities often view cops with distrust; it's the 'do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do' approach to law enforcement. I imagine if a car had doored a cop on a bike (or the Segways they put those out-of-shape losers on now) that a taser or something would have been involved.

Hobartlemagne 

Is that true?

Much of the laws of the road are for cars. When a car doors another car, the person who opened the
door looses. You don't need a law to make people be careful about that. The stupid person looses.

Unfortunately this doesnt work on cyclists getting doored.

Keith99

You mean like the OP?

Notice nothing about the party involved wanting the driver cited.

So imagine you are a cop, come up on something that had recently happened and someone not involved wants someone involved cited, but the other party involved does not. Hmm

knotty

Keith99:

Opening and Closing Doors

22517. No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open upon the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

Amended Ch. 162, Stats. 1963. Effective September 20, 1963.

From San Francisco Dept. of Parking and Traffic:

Q. Can’t cyclists just look into parked cars as they ride and see if someone is about to open the door?

A. This can be very difficult. All road users need to constantly scan the entire roadway for safety. Checking every parked car for a driver diverts cyclists’ attention from other roadway hazards. Also, it is often impossible to see drivers when large parked vehicles block the view of other parked vehicles, or due to tinted windows, headrests, etc. Car drivers should check their side-view mirror or look back prior to opening their door. It is the driver’s responsibility should any collision occur (CVC Section 22517).

dobber

What was the riders position within the bike lane. Was he maximizing his visibility so an exiting driver would see him?

Seems this is all a bunch of internet whining. Funny we jump down the throat of Law Enforcement over a perceived injustice but were that same officer enforcing a transgression committed by a cyclist, we'd be whining out the other side of our mouths.

And if the officer didn't see the incident, what exactly is he suppose to do?

littlewaywelt

A cyclist doesn't need to maximize his visibility. It's the legal responsibility of the door opener to make sure nothing is going to impact the door.

Whining? That's your opinion. Getting doored can kill you. There's a difference between whining and complaining. I don't see any whining here.

Officers don't have to see an incident. They take can take a statement and issue a citation without even being present when an infraction occurs. The officer is supposed to enforce the law. When it's clearly been broken and someone has been hurt he has no excuse using discretion to not cite the person responsible.

littlewaywelt

I can't speak with certainty to the law in all states, but it's likely true in nearly all of them. It's true where I live. Getting your door taken off by another car will not just result in your loss of the door. It will substantially damage the car that takes it off.

iltb-2

Who was hurt?

dynodonn 

I came close to being doored two nights ago, even with my dual headlights blasting into his mirror and car, the motorist still flung his door open just I passed next to him. I was fortunate that the traffic was light, and I happen to be riding just outside the bike lane at the time giving me extra room. If I ever happen to be doored, depending on the motorist's attitude or how badly I was hurt, I probably take some sort of legal recourse.

littlewaywelt

In this case the cyclist was presumably fine (that could have easily changed in as little as an hour), but that's not necessarily the case, and in any event, it's completely unrelated to whether a law was broken or not and, IMO shows poor use of discretion on the officer's part in this case.

If a car runs a light, hits another, no one is hurt and damage is minor, the officer should still cite the red light runner.

iltb-2

Maybe so; but not when the known "facts" about the event consist of second hand information coming from a less than disinterested "witness".