Chicago ‘Dooring’ Reports Saw Steep Increase in 2015, Data Shows

Crash data for 2015 released this week by the Illinois Department of Transportation shows a steep increase in the number of reported “doorings” in Chicago – collisions that occur when the door of a parked vehicle is opened directly in the path of an oncoming cyclist.

In 2014, there were 202 reports of dooring incidents. That figure rose to 302 in 2015, according IDOT.

The department has been collecting data on doorings in Chicago since 2011, and says that the number of reported incidents had been decreasing steadily – until 2015.

For the full article go here.

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Permalink Reply by Caiken on April 24, 2017 at 9:07am

Before anyone starts freaking out about random statistics, remember: 

Ridership has increased. More people means more crashes, unfortunately, no matter what. Newer riders don't always know tricks to avoid dooring (:( it's true, you just learn it as you go, SOMETIMES). 

Rideshare means a lot more reckless driver and passenger behavior. 

We should always be reporting crashes that happen to us, even though it's difficult. likely that the increase in cycling also contributes to more people being willing to report when bad shit happens. 

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on April 24, 2017 at 10:08am

I do wonder if the wide-scale construction has also made cyclists more vulnerable to dooring (as well as getting hit by large commercial vehicles). I had an errand to run this morning and the construction on Damen (also Clark) has eliminated lanes at certain points and given us less space to steer clear of parked cars. Clearly, the bike lanes are not a part of the consideration when it comes to rerouting traffic. I am feeling frustrated with the lack of options since two parallel main bike lanes are both under a lot of construction. Sorry for the vent - this has been on my mind every time I leave my house.

Permalink Reply by Caiken on April 24, 2017 at 10:47am

Yo, I think venting is v important! 

I'm always just trying to connect dots. For example, I've been scratching my head at all the construction (year-round? / on streets that seemingly just had construction?!) and then I remember that the necessary evil exists because of a threat to transpo funding and TIGER and that the commander in chief may think a lot of things about infrastructure, but I guarantee you they have nothing to do with biking, walking or transit.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 27, 2017 at 1:06am

Construction makes it a lot more complicated. Last week I was riding a Divvy through River North - first time I've traveled extensively through River North in quite a while. The number of construction sites, lane blockages and increased conflict points was rather mind blowing. Holy increased risk Batman!

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on April 24, 2017 at 9:53am
http://www.pushormitchell.com/2017/03/dooring-injuries-on-the-rise-...

Freaking out?! Sometimes in congested areas part of my riding and awareness effort goes into monitoring parked cars and that detracts from being aware of active traffic because plenty of careless idiots throw open their doors without looking. Recently, I anticipated a food delivery person with a safe margin but they were unaware of the possible closeness of a collision so 'they' let out a scream and closed the door quickly. Yikes! Doorings are an increasing threat to cyclists daily. No doubt about it. Rideshare should be no excuse for carelessness. Drivers and passengers should know how to behave in big city traffic!
Permalink Reply by Caiken on April 24, 2017 at 10:00am

I guess, statistically, I don't know if the threat actually is statistically increasing because I need more data. Sry. Also because I'd just really like to use information like this to contribute to better organizing around policy changes, enforcing regulation in the gig economy, and improving infrastructure. Like productive freaking out/yelling. Or at least being able to have like, 2 seconds of nuance in these conversations. :D

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on April 25, 2017 at 1:21pm

I just try to stay in that approximately two-inch area between the door zone and drivers getting angry about me intruding on their territory.  It isn't easy.

Permalink Reply by Jacob Wilson on April 29, 2017 at 5:35am

This basically sums up riding in Chicago better than anything I've ever read. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 27, 2017 at 1:14am

I was just chatting with a friend about this.

I've been noticing a big increase in the number of crashes involving Uber and Lyft drivers. Many of these are doorings by passengers. How many of you use Uber and/or Lyft? Have you considered taking a minute while chatting with your driver to educate them about dooring and suggest that they educate passengers about it?

A police officer I know said he had a conversation with a cab driver once that was refreshing. The driver said that a passenger had previously doored a cyclist. After that crash, he made a habit of keeping the rear doors locked if there were cyclists approaching, telling passengers to wait, then released the doors when it was clear.

My friend had a good suggestion. A few years ago, the city added a requirement for cabs to have stickers on their rear windows reminding passengers to look before opening doors. Cabs also have a requirement to pull to the curb when discharging passengers, and passengers are supposed to exit on the curb side, not into traffic.

Requiring stickers might not be feasible for Uber and Lyft. Or maybe it would? Asking drivers to have removable signs on the headrests that face the rear seats might be an option. These could have a message similar to what's on the cab window stickers. 

Your $0.02?

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on April 27, 2017 at 3:12am

Good thoughts generally. I wonder how hard it would be to prompt the city to require "watch for cyclist" stickers in Ubers/Lyfts. (They already have those airport decals on the rear windshield, so it seems doable.)

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 27, 2017 at 3:14am

The friend I was talking to said "well, maybe people wouldn't want stickers on the windows of their personal cars." I thought about that one. They already have Uber and/or Lyft stickers, plus airport stickers for some. The LOOK stickers are a lot less visible unless you're a rear seat passenger, so maybe that aspect is a non-issue.

Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on April 27, 2017 at 4:34am

If you are using your personal vehicle for employment, especially ride share services, then your feelings about stickers, decals, or other safety and regulatory signage is irrelevant. Frankly, we shouldn't have to rely on spotting a decal or pink mustache to identify ride share vehicles - they should be plainly identifiable with a serial number and 1-800 number on the trunk lid.

Now getting the city to muster the political cajones to make such safety and regulatory signage a requirement? I'm not holding my breath.

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