Originally Posted by
adablduya
the rider in the video was not riding with caution. sporadically parallel-parked cars, lots of room in the lane.
why would this rider be riding anywhere near the door zones ?
Originally Posted by
BobbyG
...and I admitted as much.
That is why I posted it.
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
Being too hard on yourself IMHO. You were not reckless, and reacted long before you got near the opening car door. It wasn't a close call.
+1 [MENTION=227213]wphamilton[/MENTION].
Particularly in the urban environment you are squeezed in between a rock and a hard place.
I posted to the Metro Boston thread in the Regional Discussion Forum:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Just this morning (3/8/19) on the 6-7 AM segment of the Jeff Kuhner talk show on WRKO, he discussed proposals by mayor Marty Walsh to decrease the speed limit in Boston to 20 mph, and increase the number of bus and bike lanes.
He was vehemently against it, as were many of the callers, with snide comments about cyclists.
I called in as Jim from Boston…and introduced myself as his Number One Fan among Boston Cyclists. I made two points: bicycles are entitled to be on the road, and the more cyclists, the fewer other cars, and the more parking spaces available.
Jeff was pretty gracious, but I (accidentally) got cut off. Afterwards, he made some reasonable remarks…
I sent a rebuttal text to the station, FWIW:
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
…Before I got cut off I was going to make my third point that cyclists are ultimately responsible for their own safety, and I agree with your subsequent comments about cycle-auto collisions.
In the “cycling community” there are two schools of thought about riding in traffic: As Far Right as Possible: close to the curb; or Take the Lane to be out there and visible to cars. Bike lanes encourage the former behavior, likely more tolerated by motorists.
Bike lanes are not that wide, but then the cyclist is in the “door zone” in danger of opening doors from parked cars.
As noted earlier in this thread I am readily aware of riding near stopped cars, but I have had car doors unexpectedly open next to me.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I frequently post this basic rule for me,
”Consider every stopped car like a weapon, loaded, with an occupant ready to exit, on either side." For example I think about that when filtering between cars stopped at a traffic light.
When I have had doors opened directly before me
, I have found a scream causes the person to immediately retract back into the car like a turtle into its shell.
For a real vicarious thrill of dooring, see this
video (link).