Originally Posted by notfred
There's about 3-4 feet of space available inside the bike lane on the other side of the car, which for the most part DOES put you in that "door zone". However, I've never actually seen this be a problem. Generally, if someone is about to open thier car door, they are either standing outside the car, and you will avoid them anyway, or they just parked the car, which you watched from a few hundred yards behind on your bike, and you are aware that they will likely open thier door shortly, so you can give them space.
notfred: are you joking? You've never seen this to be a problem? People DIE from being doored, and it's not as rare as you might want to think.
I was nearly doored once, luckily there was no traffic to the left of me and I was able to swerve. I had no idea that the driver was about to open his door; you can't scan every car when you're passing hundreds if not thousands on your way to work.
Being in the "door zone" is absolutely an issue and it is totally dangerous. For a city to encourage and REQUIRE bikes to ride there creates safety, for sure. For the CARS.