Advocacy & Safety - Legal Outcome of Dooring Incident in Madison, Wisconsin

The City Attorney in Madison, Wisconsin, dismissed charges against Linda Willsey, the cyclist who had be ticketed for running into a door that opened into the traffic on a downtown Madison street.

http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9353015&nav=menu1362_2

Several Wisconsin legislators and state senators are now actively working to change the law under which Willsey was ticketed. The cyclist continues to commute by bicycle, and she has vowed to lobby for changes to Wisconsin and Madison statutes under which she was initially ticketed.

Howard

Assistant city attorney Marcie Paulson told 27 News Willsey's case was dropped just before trial because a witness to what happened changed his story to support Willsey's version, and the car's driver was unavailable to appear in court.More like they knew they were going to look like fools, if they really prosecuted the cyclist in open court.

In Mississippi a vehicle operator is legally liable for any damages caused from opening a door.

In Rhode Island it is illegal to open a door on the travel side of the vehicle. It is the openers fault for not looking. I broke a guys hand when he doored me, I aimed for the soft target instead of the edge of the door.

Yes, folks, in many states it is the driver's responsibility to check first... and the cyclists' responsibility to realize few drivers look.

However in Madison they changed the laws so that cyclists were responsible for maintaining a safe distance...

Bob Mionske discusses the whole issue in one of his columns...
http://www.velonews.com/article/83954/legally-speaking-with-bob-mionske---a-tale-of-two-cities-

... However in Madison they changed the laws so that cyclists were responsible for maintaining a safe distance...

Madison's law could work to the benefit of those of us who avoid door zones, particularly if we get rear-ended while doing precisely what the law would require. We could also use it to good advantage to prevent door zone bike lanes from being built.

Madison's law could work to the benefit of those of us who avoid door zones, particularly if we get rear-ended while doing precisely what the law would require. We could also use it to good advantage to prevent door zone bike lanes from being built.

I tend to agree actually, and initially argued that it was a good law. I was later a bit put off by the double jeopardy aspect of the injured cyclist also receiving a traffic ticket.

At VBF's Fall Retreat (http://www.vabike.org/vbf-fall-retreat-2008-a-report/) last weekend we talked about an anti-dooring law for Virginia. Bud (our volunteer lobbyist) didn't think it was doable, at least this year, because rural representatives wouldn't appreciate the problem or see a need for a law to prevent it.

the motorist who opened the door should have been the one cited, who's paying the cyclist's hospital bill?