Sacrificing future Bikes Lanes for Anti-Dooring Campaign from the City

How many miles of future Bike Lanes would be acceptable to sacrifice for a proper Anti-Dooring campaign from the City of Chicago?

The funds will have to come from somewhere. Why not money that was already ear marked for bike infrastructure?

How much does each Bicycle Lane cost to build? How much would a Anti-Dooring Campaign cost? Stickers are cheap. Web pages can be cheaply added to existing pages on the City site. How much does it cost to add signs to existing street poles? Would Alderman's offices take part for maximum saturation of the message?

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Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 9, 2012 at 5:48am

Great idea.  Take money from building these expensive lanes that are problematic at best, and spend it on educating drivers about an issue that threatens cyclists EVERYWHERE. 

Permalink Reply by Mark on October 9, 2012 at 6:00am

What if The Chainlink or someone else organized a t-shirt or jersey campaign with some type of "WATCH YOUR DOOR" or "CHECK YOUR MIRROR" or some other slogan in large type on the back?  I think it could send a powerful message if enough of us commuters wore them.

Permalink Reply by Mark on October 9, 2012 at 6:04am

Another low cost idea is getting decals put on all of the Pay Boxes that would remind drivers to LOOK before they open the DOOR.

Permalink Reply by Jenn_5.5 mi on October 9, 2012 at 6:06am

I own and it's on sale at Threadless, for VERY limited size(s):

http://www.threadless.com/product/3673/Bicycles_in_Mirror_are_Close...

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on October 9, 2012 at 6:45am

I would give up all the bike lanes to have a good anti-dooring program; I think it would do more to improve safety for cyclists than protected bike lanes.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on October 9, 2012 at 6:59am

You need to define your terms better than just "Don't Door Me" though.  How many non-cyclists know what dooring is?

Permalink Reply by Jared on October 9, 2012 at 7:03am

I'm pretty sure I never heard the term before I moved to Chicago.

Elizabeth said:

You need to define your terms better than just "Don't Door Me" though.  How many non-cyclists know what dooring is?

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on October 9, 2012 at 7:48am

I agree

notoriousDUG said:

I would give up all the bike lanes to have a good anti-dooring program; I think it would do more to improve safety for cyclists than protected bike lanes.

Permalink Reply by Melissa on October 9, 2012 at 8:02am

I wish an anti-dooring effort would be included at the DMV as part of a greater push for improvement in some essential driving practices (that happen to threaten cyclists).   

Use mirrors.

Allow 2 feet to pass. (Or whatever the legal distance.) 

Use turn signals.

Incidentally, this morning I launched my own verbal anti-dooring campaign after coming closer than ever to being pitched under a bus.  Terrifying.  Here is the calculated three-part response.  Stop.  Fly into a screaming rage about being killed.  Kindly instruct him to look in the mirror for oncoming traffic before opening.  

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 9, 2012 at 8:17am

In all but the most outrageous circumstances, I usually call out in a polite but firm tone, saying "please get in the habit of looking before you open your door."

Melissa said:

I wish an anti-dooring effort would be included at the DMV as part of a greater push for improvement in some essential driving practices (that happen to threaten cyclists).   

Use mirrors.

Allow 2 feet to pass. (Or whatever the legal distance.) 

Use turn signals.

Incidentally, this morning I launched my own verbal anti-dooring campaign after coming closer than ever to being pitched under a bus.  Terrifying.  Here is the calculated three-part response.  Stop.  Fly into a screaming rage about being killed.  Kindly instruct him to look in the mirror for oncoming traffic before opening.  

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on October 9, 2012 at 8:40am

I agree that education is very important.  But as a cyclist -- why not just bike outside the door zone?  I've had doors just miss me many times, and the driver usually looks up shocked as they realize what almost happened.  But as long as I'm out of reach of the door, it doesn't cause a problem.  Yes, moving cars have to be more careful when passing, but that seems like a good thing.  

I think part of the education aspect is educating drivers about why a cyclist might be riding 3 or 4 feet from the parked cars (or on the left-most edge of the bike lane), rather than closer to parked cars.

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 9, 2012 at 8:54am

I bike outside the door zone whenever possible, but on busy arterial streets (especially those angled streets we all love as direct routes) it's often not possible.  I choose routes based on being able to ride in the middle of the road as well, but, again, that's not always practical.  My main anti-dooring strategy is going slowly.  At 10 mph, I can stop much more quickly if I am about to be doored than if I'm doing 15 mph. 

Elizabeth said:

I agree that education is very important.  But as a cyclist -- why not just bike outside the door zone?  I've had doors just miss me many times, and the driver usually looks up shocked as they realize what almost happened.  But as long as I'm out of reach of the door, it doesn't cause a problem.  Yes, moving cars have to be more careful when passing, but that seems like a good thing.  

I think part of the education aspect is educating drivers about why a cyclist might be riding 3 or 4 feet from the parked cars (or on the left-most edge of the bike lane), rather than closer to parked cars.

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