Advocacy & Safety - Another dooring in Canada

Cyclist in critical condition:

Cyclist hit, dragged by car on St. Denis (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=4974f03d-7664-46b1-bb05-1b390c75a07c)

A woman is in critical condition in hospital following a cycling accident yesterday afternoon, police said. The woman, whose name has not been released, was travelling south on St. Denis St. between Duluth St. and Roy St. around 3 p.m. when she was struck by a door that was opened suddenly on a parked car. The woman fell off the bicycle into the path of a southbound vehicle, which drove over her and dragged her several metres

... and people ask why I hate door zone bike lanes and ride only in the far left side of them ...

Skydiving accident: http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S499994.shtml?cat=565

Scuba diving accident: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/arts/story.html?id=5c80383d-44f5-472d-8895-63826ec1dcec


Statistically 99.9% of us are going to die at some point, its a matter of when and where.

Skydiving accident: http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S499994.shtml?cat=565

Scuba diving accident: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/arts/story.html?id=5c80383d-44f5-472d-8895-63826ec1dcec


Statistically 99.9% of us are going to die at some point, its a matter of when and where.

True, but I'd rather not have it come from an unawares motorist opening a door.

I have started paying more attention to riding in door zones.

Skydiving accident: http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S499994.shtml?cat=565

Scuba diving accident: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/arts/story.html?id=5c80383d-44f5-472d-8895-63826ec1dcec


Statistically 99.9% of us are going to die at some point, its a matter of when and where.

Except in the case of skydiving and scuba diving accidents, the fault lies in the individual, not an outside, preventable, force.

Skydiving accident: http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S499994.shtml?cat=565

Scuba diving accident: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/arts/story.html?id=5c80383d-44f5-472d-8895-63826ec1dcec


Statistically 99.9% of us are going to die at some point, its a matter of when and where.What about that other .1%?

Of course we're all going to die. That doesn't mean that idiots who kill us while we're cycling before we would have otherwise died of natural causes aren't a proper topic of discussion in a cycling advocacy & safety forum.**

Just like that skydiving accident is being discussed in a skydiving forum, and that scuba accident is being discussed in a scuba forum.


** You know, so we can warn the unwary beginners, and document actual incidents, both for our legal defense when we ride outside the door zone, and for lobbying for changes in where bicycles and parked cars are placed in relation to each other on the road.

Total bummer about the lady; hopefully if she has the confidence to cycle again she will get the confidence to take the lane.

Except in the case of skydiving and scuba diving accidents, the fault lies in the individual, not an outside, preventable, force.

Unless of course the guy that packed your chute was incompetent.

The fact is that the world is full of dangers and it's our collective task to mitigate the chances. In this particular case, one could ask if the bike rider was following protocol or riding in such a manner as place themselves in harms way.

Unless of course the guy that packed your chute was incompetent.

The fact is that the world is full of dangers and it's our collective task to mitigate the chances. In this particular case, one could ask if the bike rider was following protocol or riding in such a manner as place themselves in harms way.


You sound like every newspapaer article, 4/5ths of the police, and 98% of the non riding public......'it must somehow have been the cyclist's fault.....surely the cyclist could have done something to avoid it.' While sometimes it IS the cyclist who is at fault, the vast majority of the time the cyclist is doing everything properly and still get's hit or an accident is created by someone who is inattentative while operating a vehicle.

why is it if someone opens thier car door in front of me while im driving and i take their door off with my suv THEY are obviously an idiot that should have looked and THEY are OBVIOUSLY at fault in the eys of the general public. but if Im on my bike on the same road traveling the same speed with the same right to be there and the same person opens the same door in front of me THEN the same general public see's it as: i put myself in harms way and I should have been looking where i was going?

i make it a point to stay out of the door zone but some times in the case of busy high speed limit roads i stay to the right or in the bike lane... im usually going atleast 20 and i pay attention but there is a lot going on on the roads other than just the door zone. i pass hundreds of cars everyday i just cannot look inside everyone of them and i feel that even though im paying attention and anticipating it i still wouldnt be able to stop in time. ive had multiple close calls where doors have opened right in front of me and only avoided me cause i stay just out of the door zone but in every case if i had been just 5-6 more inches to the right i would have never stood a chance.

why is it if someone opens thier car door in front of me while im driving and i take their door off with my suv THEY are obviously an idiot that should have looked and THEY are OBVIOUSLY at fault in the eys of the general public. but if Im on my bike on the same road traveling the same speed with the same right to be there and the same person opens the same door in front of me THEN the same general public see's it as: i put myself in harms way and I should have been looking where i was going?



The general public does not consider bikes as valid forms of transportation; to the general public a bike is a toy... and therefore you are engaging in some "extreme sport" when you ride on the street. This is further exemplified by "uniform" some cyclists wear... the bright clown suits and foam hats.

Since the majority of the general public cannot see themselves out there riding a bike in traffic (perhaps because they know how poorly they themselves drive) anybody out there on a bike is foolishly putting themselves into "harms' way."

Until this perception is changed, perhaps by campaigns as strong as auto ads, (zoom zoom) cyclists are not likely to be seen as anything more than "idiots."

I cannot recall the last time I came remotely close to getting doored and my 8 and 10 year old daughters have already learned this is a no ride zone.

We all take the lane.

Unless of course the guy that packed your chute was incompetent.

The fact is that the world is full of dangers and it's our collective task to mitigate the chances. In this particular case, one could ask if the bike rider was following protocol or riding in such a manner as place themselves in harms way.

Well considering that the MUTCD allows for bike lanes to be placed in door zones in the US, a cyclist could easily believe they were "following protocol" and yet be in "harms' way."

Of course the laws state that it is the drivers responsibility to ensure the way is clear before opening the door... but motorists have a habit of not following the law... as exemplified by speeding by nearly every driver.

The MUTCD and road engineers, and even some cycling advocates believe that the driving public will simply obey the law and therefore there is not problem.

The evidence is otherwise. 40,000 drivers die every year due to some sort of infraction.

You sound like every newspapaer article, 4/5ths of the police, and 98% of the non riding public......'it must somehow have been the cyclist's fault.....surely the cyclist could have done something to avoid it.' While sometimes it IS the cyclist who is at fault, the vast majority of the time the cyclist is doing everything properly and still get's hit or an accident is created by someone who is inattentative while operating a vehicle.I don't know how Canadian law sees it, but it's probably the same as U.S. law, in which case it's the driver's responsibility to look before opening the door, and to only open the door when it is safe to do so. That said, a cyclist should take precautions, either by riding outside the door zone, or if in the door zone, by checking every car for a driver or passenger who may be getting ready to open the door. Nobody in the car, it's probably safe, but proceed with caution. Somebody in the car, proceed with extreme caution....or better yet, adjust position to the left.


why is it if someone opens thier car door in front of me while im driving and i take their door off with my suv THEY are obviously an idiot that should have looked and THEY are OBVIOUSLY at fault in the eys of the general public. but if Im on my bike on the same road traveling the same speed with the same right to be there and the same person opens the same door in front of me THEN the same general public see's it as: i put myself in harms way and I should have been looking where i was going?We should all drive INSIDE the door zone and ride OUTSIDE the door zone. Darwin will take care of the rest. :)

why is it if someone opens thier car door in front of me while im driving and i take their door off with my suv THEY are obviously an idiot that should have looked and THEY are OBVIOUSLY at fault in the eys of the general public. but if Im on my bike on the same road traveling the same speed with the same right to be there and the same person opens the same door in front of me THEN the same general public see's it as: i put myself in harms way and I should have been looking where i was going?

Sad as it might be, it's a lot easier to claim that you didn't see a cyclist (and thus had no reason to believe that it was not safe to open the car door) than it is to claim that you didn't see a car. Realizing how easily you can be overlooked as a cyclist is a big step towards figuring out ways to prevent ending up in collisions like this one. In this case, the solution is simple though it requires a mindset many cyclists refuse to accept.

I do personally feel though that law enforcement needs more formal education on this topic before we can expect too many cyclists jumping on the stay-out-of-the-door-zone bandwagon. The presence of striped bike lanes in door zones seriously hampers this from ever happening though.