The Chainlink

Ever been doored?

Car doors suddenly opening are the scourge of urban cycling. They are unpredictable, strike suddenly and can cause serious damage with tragic results.

If it’s ever happened to you, your personal story of a dooring crash could help Active Trans in a new effort to raise public awareness about this type of crash.

Please share your stories by e-mailing them to doored@activetrans.org.

Thanks much,
Ethan Spotts, Marketing & Communications Director, Active Trans

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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on December 1, 2010 at 12:14pm
We just wanted to follow-up on this...we've only received a couple of responses so far. We are interested in your stories to help change how these crashes are reported.

Currently, a dooring does not count as a bicycle crash.

We want to change that so a case could be made for potential funding towards safety and education efforts.

Please, if you've been doored or know someone who has, we'd appreciate hearing about it by emailing doored@activetrans.org.

Thanks so much,
Ethan Spotts, Marketing & Communications Director, Active Trans
Permalink Reply by igz on December 1, 2010 at 1:47pm
ive been doored once. it was in philadelphia. philly is known for its notoriously narrow streets. i was going down a busy street on a saturday summer night...i was whizzing by as the cars stood still in traffic. the driver decided to step out of the car...either to check out why traffic was moving or to swap seats with the passenger...he looked like was getting out, too.

this was a one way street, one lane, cars parked on both sides. it was about 10 years ago...bikes were no where as prevelant as they are now...and truthfully, the driver proably had no real reason to expect anyone on a bike coming up from behind.

the door swung open at just the right moment for me not to be able to do a single thing but say 'oh shit'. at about 10 mph, i hit the inside of the door as it was fully open, the wheel hit the arm rest, my chest hit the top of the door frame. it felt like a mighty punch to the solar plexus. i think the driver was as terrified as i was.

being as busy as the street was on a saturday night, and i heard a bunch of 'oooh's, i felt kinda embarrased and just hurried off. then i felt a stinging in the chest. i stopped and looked under my shirt. i had a long scrape from the top of the door and sweat started dripping into it.

i think the whole episode lasted about 15-20 seconds, but my chest hurt for a good few weeks to come. my ego was bruised a bit, too.
Permalink Reply by igz on December 1, 2010 at 1:57pm
aside from my personal experience with doored, i have averted a many many doorings, thanks to my constant observance while riding, by TAXIS. these things are trouble. not only do they wanna drive like grand theft auto and have no regard for bikes, the cab drop off zone is usually right in a bike lane. there are stickers on cabs to warn passengers not to exit on the street/traffic side, but nothing to warn of potential cyclists coming up the bike lane. cabs passengers regularly just swing the door open and hop out. noting this habit, i have successfully avoided crashing every time, but the danger remains.
Permalink Reply by Chuckchuck on December 1, 2010 at 2:31pm
I normally look into cars and their mirrors to check for potential doorings and and ride at least 2-3 ft from parked cars and have missed many accidents. Once on Clark street I was riding along a line of cars waiting for a red light when a passenger door opened and took me out. My face hit the corner of the door and I got a laceration. I hit the ground and picked up some road rash, but I was OK, the bike was OK.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on December 1, 2010 at 2:37pm
Haven't been doored and hope never to be, but thanks for doing this important survey. I would say in the city it's one of the biggest dangers we commuters face on a daily basis.
Permalink Reply by Becca on December 1, 2010 at 4:19pm
Did the driver apologize or compensate you for the injury?
Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on December 1, 2010 at 4:29pm
Thanks everyone, we hope you are also emailing doored@activetrans.org with your stories, we'd appreciate it.

Cameron, I'm checking with Dan Persky, our resident expert on this...I should get back to you tomorrow.

My initial response is that they aren't counted at all as far as IDOT crash data goes. That's why we want to try and change this.

But, I will confirm and get back to you tomorrow.

Thanks much,
Ethan, Active Trans
Permalink Reply by Jay on December 1, 2010 at 5:50pm
Chuckchuck said:
Once on Clark street I was riding along a line of cars waiting for a red light when a passenger door opened and took me out.

The only time I've been doored (so far) in 15+ years of riding in Chicago, that is exactly what happened to me, also on Clark. It was a passenger disembarking from a cab by Wrigley Field, while the cab was in the traffic lane stopped at a red light. I flipped over and went down hard, but like Chuckchuck, I was OK and so was the bike. I assume the passenger/door-er was OK too, as she just slinked off into the crowd without bothering to say anything to me.
Permalink Reply by David on December 1, 2010 at 6:31pm
Does anyone know if the taxi is liable in that situation, or is it just the passenger? I know we got a new dooring law recently, was this situation covered at all?




Jay said:
Chuckchuck said:
Once on Clark street I was riding along a line of cars waiting for a red light when a passenger door opened and took me out.

The only time I've been doored (so far) in 15+ years of riding in Chicago, that is exactly what happened to me, also on Clark. It was a passenger disembarking from a cab by Wrigley Field, while the cab was in the traffic lane stopped at a red light. I flipped over and went down hard, but like Chuckchuck, I was OK and so was the bike. I assume the passenger/door-er was OK too, as she just slinked off into the crowd without bothering to say anything to me.
Permalink Reply by mike w. on December 1, 2010 at 11:27pm
Back when i was a high schooler, i got done in by a Chevy Impala on 79th st. He had just passed me and swung into a parking spot about a block ahead. Just as i was coming up along his rear fender he flung open his door. i managed to do a nearly perfect tumble-roll and wound up on my arse basically unhurt. He looked down at me and muttered, "Sorry, man." i just tipped my hand to my head, picked up and rode off. Later i noticed that i'd bent the forks.
The '66 Impala 2-door had a door the size of a barn door -about 4 feet long, and thank goddess, a frameless window. If that guy's window had been rolled up, i'd probably not be here to tell the story. Wish i were even half as limber and agile nowadays as i was back then...

Many years later i was nearly doored along Bryn Mawr near NEIU by a guy who never looked. i managed to skid to a stop just short of the door and nearly landed in his lap. He was a bit taken aback by my sudden appearance halfway in his car and by a health dose of Billingsgate delivered up close and pesonal...
Permalink Reply by Joe TV on December 2, 2010 at 2:30am
My dooring story. Did I survive? You'll just have to read to find out the exciting conclusion! http://jknecht.blogspot.com/2009/08/hello-door-its-me-cyclist.html
Permalink Reply by dan brown on December 2, 2010 at 9:36am
iggi - these are great points. I realy like the idea of stickers on cab doors.
my dooring (I sent it directly to ATA) involved subarbanites exiting a cab on milwaukee ave
in wicker park - a deadly stretch for us.



iggi said:
aside from my personal experience with doored, i have averted a many many doorings, thanks to my constant observance while riding, by TAXIS. these things are trouble. not only do they wanna drive like grand theft auto and have no regard for bikes, the cab drop off zone is usually right in a bike lane. there are stickers on cabs to warn passengers not to exit on the street/traffic side, but nothing to warn of potential cyclists coming up the bike lane. cabs passengers regularly just swing the door open and hop out. noting this habit, i have successfully avoided crashing every time, but the danger remains.

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