Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Any info on just how many "deaths by dooring" have occurred in the U.S. and/or Canada over the last decade or two? Or perhaps info on the percentage of bicycle fatalities that have been the result of a "dooring"?
Also helpful to determine just how great is the risk would be credible data about number of dooring collisions and the severity of resulting injuries in conjunction with some credible data on the exposure rate of bicyclists to potential dooring incidents, regardless if bicycle lane stripes are present or not.
One back of an envelope guesstimate after many years of observation of city riding in Philadelphia would indicate that most bicyclists who do ride on busy urban streets that also have street parking, almost always ride to the right of traffic (often in the door zone) rather than in the traffic lane; the always-take-the-lane guys seem to exist more on the Internet than in real life on busy urban streets.
I'm with you on this. I realize there's a minute increase in odds with cell phones and such that someone could be in a car for several minutes or more before exiting, but it's very rare I've passed someone just sitting in a parked car. Then in a subset of those cases they need to open without looking. Generally I can see the person approaching the car or parking the car. Part of the problem is that somewhere along the line window tinting became legal or at least unenforced. Heck a quarter of the time I can't even make eye contact through windshield or driver side window. Still I don't think a person sitting there as a time bomb is any more likely than unexpected, unusually large pothole, driver running stop sign, dead limb falling from tree on beautiful tree lined parkway, etc. In fact I've never had a close call with dooring, but I've essentially been assaulted with vehicle, had stuff thrown at me, rolling smoke etc. Active acts of road rage and negligent moving violations are far more common than dooring, yet I choose to take that on to enjoy a cycling lifestyle. Dooring is a low level threat.