sp00ki

We've all been doored. I've probably been hit by what seems like the exact same chubby ******bag from new jersey two or three times in the past four or five years (though he was in what had to be a different colored gasguzzler every time). I've always settled for punching the driver with a bit of stingy sarcasm, thanking god for the fact that they're always big fatsos, fat people being really easy targets of verbal abuse (specially when they're in an suv with jersey tags).

that said, things work differently when your girlfriend calls you at 11am crying because she was hit by a ****** incapable of checking his mirror, and the ******bag who did it was instead the one doing the yelling.

I did a bit of research, and it seems that it's the driver's responsibility to check THOROUGHLY before opening their doors in traffic. Does this make him liable? there was no bike lane (north broad), but there are like three in philly anyway, so i don't think that matters. I just told her to call the cops and file a report. she got dude's cell number, though he refused to give her more; she grabbed his licence plate as he was pulling away, stating that "there's nothing wrong with your bike" dispite a wheel that seems untrue and a brake lever BROKEN from the bar.

Is she wasting her time here?

mathletics

I am not a lawyer, but I would definitely file a report. I had a friend get doored, and the blame was left on him because he was riding at night with no brakes and no lights. If it was daylight and on a normal bike, it's at least worth looking into.

cavernmech

Call the cops. I don't know about where you are but around these parts "improper opening of a car door" is a charge that garners a fine and loss of drivers license demerit points. Also there may be a leaving the scene charge as well. Unless the ****** is a bike mechanic I dont see how he/she can arbitrarily decide there was no damage.

sp00ki

it's a fixed gear trackbike, but it does have a brake. no helmet, but that shouldn't come into play...

ryand

Get in touch with Stuart Leon, he's the bicycle lawyer in Philly.

sp00ki

oh, dip... thanks, i had no idea. just gave her his number. he'll at least tell her what she should do... nice.

ryand

good thing she got his tags.

the cellphone number and no more doesn't do anything.

theres a nice button on phones called "ignore call".

she can get him for hit and run if the cops don't be lazy.

get stuart in with a police report and the plate number and you might have a case.

Yoshi

He left the scene of the accident, that makes it a felony hit and run.

xylophonecks

even if she was doored? i'm not trying to play it down, just curious on how this works.

Jake_M

i believe in oregon, the driver has a duty to check for traffic before opening their door. therefore, the driver is at fault when a cyclist is doored. then leaving the scene would be just like any other hit and run.

I've heard stories of people getting pretty good settlements out of this. i'm not an attorney and can't give any sort of legal advice, but if there's a case, there's definitely a possibility of collecting from his auto insurance.

canice

that sounds like a hit and run if he doesn't stay to give all his information.

that guy sounds like a self-serving scumbag.

ryand

Yes, you are at fault if you door somebody. PM dynarider for more information, he got doored last year in DC and went through all the right steps.


Ah, clearly you don't know that cops in Philly always put the cyclist at fault and just don't want to help.

I hope you have better luck that some of us have seen in the past.

babychris got hit, dude stopped, looked at him, took off. Plenty of witnesses, had the plate number, cops and ambulance showed up, told him "yeah, we'll probably never catch the guy,"

YOU HAVE THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER.

However, chris never ended up talking to Stuart last I knew.

spdrcr5

I thought the law states that you can't open a door into traffic unless it is clear. In reality you're actually supposed to leave the vehicle on the curb side of the vehicle and not into traffic. Could be wrong about that though.

I know years ago a cop opened his door into traffic and my Mom took the door clean off... he was ruled at fault and the PD had to pay to repair the damage to her car.

Check the PA traffic code on exiting a vehicle. I'd also report this as a hit and run and contact a lawyer. Glad the gf is ok at least. Make sure to also get a complete estimate on repairing the bike. It doesn't matter if you do your own wrenching, you don't get paid for that!

filtersweep

Why are you riding in the door zone? I don't care if traffic is backed up for miles behind me-- I'm not riding there.

veganwar

Without knowing PA insurance law, I imagine it is like NY and has a no fault provision that doesn't so much assign blame as it requires a driver who hits a non-motorist to pay out for damages/injuries/etc. There are time requirements though (its 30 days in NY to make a claim against the driver's insurance company).

Your girlfriend would probably need to 1. make a police report and give them the cops license plate number and get a copy of the report from them. 2. Contact the Dept of Motor Vehicles or whatever the hell they call it in PA, give them the license plate number, and get what is probably a three digit code for the insurance provider (this information is contained would normally go on the police report). The DMV may just tell you who the insurance provider is which is really what you want anyway. 3. Then contact the insurance provider.

Again NY law, but NY's no fault statute has a provision that enables victims of hit and run accidents to recover even if there is no ability to determine who it was who hit and then ran. One of my former roommates is currently going through this. The money comes from a pool of money that all NY-insured drivers pay into when they get their NY insurance.

Oh, and it won't matter if the driver is from another state or the car is insured in another state. PA law will still apply.

cc700

i'm fairly sure that opening a car door in the path of traffic puts you at fault in any state.

no lights at night makes it hard to make a case against someone though.

traceur

when you're riding on north broad in philly you can choose door zone or death zone

I Like Peeing

How is there only three bike lanes in Philly? I'm pretty sure Philly is statistically among the bike-friendliest cities in the country. Bike lane or not, doesn't matter... she has a case and will win it. Even if for some reason she was "wrong" (which she isn't), it's a hit and run. Have Stuart hook it up.

reluctantfeste

all good advice. yes, driver must check. nothing new here except emphais: FILE POLICE REPORT. usu, all subsequent rights depend upon it or are horribly prejudiced without it AND there is probably a 24 hr time limit, if not less. also, usu, once filing period's gone, it's gone. FILE POLICE REPORT. Sorry, I was a nice guy once, didn't file, got screwed.

ryand

Philly... bike friendly?

Not in my experiences.

Easier to get around on a bike, yes. Bike friendly, no.

I Like Peeing

Easy to get around, lots of bike lanes... drivers aren't the best ever that's for sure.

-=(8)=-

Disregarding the Camdens etc, Philly is the nastiest, meanest city on the East Coast. Period.

What irritates me is that if that was a young kid on a 16" bike or tricycle
out with Mom on a Rec ride people would be totally outraged and ready to
lynch the driver/doorer. Its strange that when people get older it becomes
OK to assault them as long as they are on a bike.
The bicycle of the dooree grants immunity to the scum doorer.

Still not getting it......

testtube

Depends on Pennsylvania state law... Here in Wisconsin she would be at fault (unless the door extends >3ft from the car).

I found this link, https://www.dot.state.pa.us/BIKE/WEB/bikelaws.htm, and found no specifics regarding cyclist responsibility when passing parked vehicles... Not a lawyer, just a google-o-phile...

ryand

Easy to get around, lots of bike lanes that people ignore, drivers that try to run you off the road.

So all we have going is that its easy to navigate. That doesn't equal bike friendly.

By bike friendly, I expect people to be aware of bicycles on the road and not become outraged that you are there.

DC is slightly more bike friendly, even though it is harder to navigate.

I mean, Philly is fun and all, riding a bike there is awesome, but its not bike friendly.

Especially not with all those Jersey plates.

ryand

Also, please post updates about what happens in this thread. Every time I got doored in Philly, they took off too quick to grab the plate.