Today a cyclist was killed because he swerved to avoid getting doored and ended up under the wheels of a semi.

This is on my route for my daily commute. If I hadn't overslept this morning and ended up taking the bus for part of my commute, I very likely could have been in the area right when this happened - either seen it, or come upon the scene afterwards... I'm really hit hard by this.

This particular stretch is absolutely a nightmare to ride. It's technically an official Bike Route and a striped bike lane, but the road surface is absolutely a mess, with patched and repatched potholes and poorly repaired utility work. (The road is so torn up that you can't even see the bike line striping anymore.) Add to that the fact that it's right in front of a high school, so there are kids running across the street and tons of cars dropping off their kids at school, not paying attention at all. And big old school buses blocking the bike lane.

I hate how the article says the cyclist "turned suddenly to avoid an open car door" - when we all know the car door opened suddenly in front of him. THAT was the unexpected action that caused the death but they write it as if it was the cyclist who behaved erratically. GRAR.

Now this man - and who knows, we share the same commute, it's possible I'd recognize him or have passed or been passed by him before - is dead. Because some driver was too distracted/thoughtless/stupid to look before opening a door. Sigh.