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Permalink Reply by Lisa Gordon on April 28, 2017 at 8:43am

The article says, in at least two places, that bicyclists crash into cars.  Since I'm fortunate in not having (yet) been doored, is that how it happens?  The door opens and the bike crashes into it?  Or is it really the car door crashing into the bike from the side?  Or either or both?  The way it's phrased, it seems like it's all the biker's fault. 

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 28, 2017 at 9:12am

More often the door opens and the cyclist hits it, to my understanding. The one time it happened to me, there was no time to react.

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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on April 28, 2017 at 9:12am

I think we can definitely do better in how we talk about dooring and crashes in general. There is definitely a connotation that we have somehow caused the crash by "crashing into doors". It's tough - I do my best to provide as much as I can for interviews, hoping to enlighten others but by they time my words are edited to fit in a story, a lot of times there are important points that don't make the final cut. 

I really appreciate the use of Katie Isermann's quotation about the door flying open in front of her:

"The door opened right in front of me, and I went down, and there was a cyclist behind me that went down too," she said. "It was pretty scary. I was OK. My front wheel was tacoed in half." She got a new bike but didn't need stitches for the cuts on her thumb and leg.

Now she's on guard even while riding in protected bike lanes, looking at side mirrors of parked cars to see if people are inside the vehicles.

"I try to be aware because I feel like people driving aren't," said the 35-year-old Lakeview resident.

And then to read the comments, it's immediately jumping to an accusation that we "deserve" it because we "break laws". Which is just so frustrating. Danielle Martin makes such a good point about educating drivers. That information is not out there and there's a perception we (cyclists) need to change because we are the problem. Like everyone else that rides a bike, I am constantly having to be on guard for daily experiences that involve drivers that don't follow the laws and put cyclists (and pedestrians) in danger. The most common issues I see are people not being aware of their surroundings - many times because they are driving distracted by a device in their hands. Yesterday, on my way to bar night, less than two miles from home I had three vehicles buzz me while I was in the bike lane. One did it three times. I don't believe many motorists are aware the three-foot law exists. Nor do I think that motorists realize how dangerous smart phones are in the hands of a driver. I know I am not alone - we are all in the same boat, every day. 

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 28, 2017 at 10:09am

+1

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Gordon on April 28, 2017 at 9:52am

Thanks for the clarification.  Lots to learn!

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Permalink Reply by Matt Bauman on May 2, 2017 at 10:23am

I was doored last summer… or well, my pannier was.  I was really lucky.  It just knocked off the bag and put a small rip in it. Judging by the location of the rip, the door definitely was still in the process of opening as my knee and shoulder went by.

Both definitely occur.

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Permalink Reply by John Farris on May 2, 2017 at 5:35am

Urf.

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