Doored! Odd Circumstances...

"I" was doored on Saturday 7/20. This is the first time I have been doored in my life, in over 4yrs commuting in Chicago with over 20k miles ridden. Plenty of close calls under my belt but I have to say, I didn't expect my first time with these circumstances...

My wife and I had house guests this weekend, married friends and their son who is 10 years old. While they were in town, they wanted to ride around the city being cyclists themselves and go to Lincoln Park Zoo. My wife and I lent them some of our N+1 bikes for the weekend. Given their son's age, his only option was to ride with me on the back of our tandem. So, the 5 of us headed out on our 4 bikes - and now you know why "I" was doored... it was a group activity.

Everything was going well, the group had stopped by Wrigley Field and was headed down Clark towards the zoo. We were riding about 12-14mph given the nature of the group. The kid and I were in the lead at Clark/Deming when it happened. We were riding toward the left side of the marked bike lane when I saw a car door start to open about 1ft in front of the front wheel. I had no time to react.

Knowing the real danger is getting hit by a car behind you, I white knuckled the brakes and moved a little to the left. I knew we would make some contact, thankfully it was only the kitty litter panier on the back right side. I still don't know how the door missed the kid's right leg and only hit the panier. When the kitty litter bucket hit we were still moving at a decent speed and the impact stopped us instantly. Thank God the kid was holding on and didn't go flying in the street. At this point we are bound up with the car door, I put my feet down to deal with the situation.

Another cyclist not in our party was right behind us, followed by the kid's dad and then my wife. The other cyclist - thank you by the way - said that she saw everything and stopped for us to see if we needed a witness. We first determined the child was not harmed, and honestly not impressed by the situation at all. This kid is precocious as shit. At this point I turn my attention to the driver. My wife witnessed the whole interaction. She described my interaction as rage which quickly turned to exasperation as I noticed the driver was a ~70yr old women. She had nothing but apologies for us and admitted full blame. I had few words for her but given her age they only amounted to "watch out, that is illegal, this is a child, etc."

So what was the conclusion? What should you do with this person? The only damage was a zero dollar panier which was easily fixed with more zip ties. Doored by a person who is unlikely to be more attentive with a ticket or more harsh talking to. No personal injuries. We simply gave a scolding and moved on. I left the whole incident thinking "wow, hat was an odd way to get doored for the first time".

I never would have expected my first dooring to be under these circumstances. It goes to show you that you always need to be vigilant, even on a fun ride.

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Permalink Reply by Jordan M S on July 20, 2014 at 1:04pm
Totally been there. Knocked down, landed on my feet and went straight to her window, maniacally irate because of recently being hit-and-ran from (not to mention the carelessness of the action itself), then find myself cussing out an old woman. Left it as "I'm walking away, and you need to be more careful." Lesson learned? I don't know...
Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on July 20, 2014 at 1:24pm

Edit: 7/19.

Permalink Reply by Julia 3.5/7.5 mi on July 20, 2014 at 1:41pm
Glad you and kid are okay!

If you have the license plate and driver's info, you could file a report now. She won't be cited because fault can't be determined by a desk officer. Not sure how it'll affect her insurance if you don't file a claim, and quite frankly I'm not offended by people keeping a closer eye on older drivers for near misses and minor accidents. I've learned through family circumstances that it's not terribly hard to keep your license, even if there's no way in hell you should (or could) be driving.

Non-police alternative: I'd post it on Steve Vance's Close Calls site (http://cc.stevevance.net). At least this way it's reported in the hands of a transportation guru. No telling what might eventually come of this kind of data, but it's certainly the supplemental stuff that's sorely needed and that CPD will never collect. Karma-wise, you can still anonomytize this driver, if you feel the need to protect her identity.
Permalink Reply by Alex Z on July 21, 2014 at 1:52am

Not a dooring, but I almost got left-hooked (me biking northbound through intersection, she driving southbound/turning east) by an old woman on Damen on Sunday. Her car came to a stop a few feet in front of me and we both looked at each other. I felt similar confusion, wondering what would be the use of screaming at her.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 21, 2014 at 6:27am

4 years is not enough time to learn the hazards of street riding. Glad everyone is not seriously injured. Reporting her to police will help get drivers like this more informed and or off the road.

Permalink Reply by Tandemonium on July 21, 2014 at 1:13pm

Juan -

Firstly, you should reread my post. I accept the fact that it is TLDR and you probably skimmed, but take notice of the fact that I state we were riding toward the left side of the lane prior to incident. Right where that fun little green "YES" is located in your safety-graphic. I'm pretty sure we were in the correct lane position. Given that both handlebars cleared, missed the kid's legs & pedals, and then only hit the wide hanging kitty bucket should be an indicator of our lane positioning.

Secondly, it is really shitty to basically blame the victim with "4 years is not enough time...". Come the eff on. I have a side mirror and the street was busy with traffic, I knew I couldn't swerve as noted in your safety-graphic. I was in the correct lane position and riding at a reasonable speed for the conditions, able to slow fast enough to mitigate the situation. We escaped the situation without injury or meaningful damage. That right there says the rider knew a thing or two. Tell me again how a couple more years in the saddle could have improved the situation?

To everyone else -

Yeah, in hindsight perhaps I should have called the cops, if only to rack up her DL points and get her off the street for the future. But in the moment I was thinking 1. No injuries 2. Basically no damage and 3. an apologetic elderly women. It didn't seem worth it to call the cops on granny given those points. I would have if any one of them were different.

Thanks all for reading!


Juan 2-8 mi. said:


4 years is not enough time to learn the hazards of street riding. Glad everyone is not seriously injured. Reporting her to police will help get drivers like this more informed and or off the road.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on July 22, 2014 at 2:17am

FWIW the stretch of Clark between Deming and Wrightwood is really narrow, especially when riding south. It's a really fine line between staying out of the door zone and getting buzzed by cars which they will do there. It's also very busy traffic wise with all the small business on that block. Most drivers don't like to yield to pedestrians at that particular crosswalk either. 

Permalink Reply by Jose A. Terrazas on July 22, 2014 at 3:27am

Whew! Started reading and was like, OH NO a kid! Very suspenseful post. So awesome it turned out the way it did. I pull my girls in a trailer pretty often to 31st street beach east bound on 35th and I'll admit I pretty much white knuckle all the way, so I really felt this post. Nerves, nerves, nerves. But hey, my girls want the beach, we go. It's so much easier to bike there. No worrying about parking, fees and so on. There have been close calls with doors but the pace is always pretty light and that helps with reaction time. But the look in the drivers face is always the same. 8-o

It's really something about most peoples mind set once they get in that BOX. My box, my road, me me me me. 

  

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 22, 2014 at 4:49am

Tell me again how a couple more years in the saddle could have improved the situation?

Until they build cars properly and get rid of on street parking, these city streets are very dangerous.

Narrow streets require the use of taking the right side of the lane especially with precious cargo.

Years of riding all year round would also have one seeking out side streets or even polite sidewalk stints when carrying loads.

Permalink Reply by Jose A. Terrazas on July 22, 2014 at 5:09am

I start by Western and 35th, and connect with 33rd after Halsted. No proper bridge on 35th to cross so I weave to 31st after MLK blvd. It's the stint between Western and Halsted that's very edgy. Although, the 35th St. bridge is closed and being replaced with an amazing new one that will be handicap accessible and bike friendly. Thought of taking Archer before but traffic is way to speedy for my girls taste. They have let me know under no uncertain terms.     

h' 1.0 said:

Not sure where you ride from, but trying 33rd instead of 35th as far as you can take it might allow you to ease up on those grips a bit.

Jose A. Terrazas said:

Whew! Started reading and was like, OH NO a kid! Very suspenseful post. So awesome it turned out the way it did. I pull my girls in a trailer pretty often to 31st street beach east bound on 35th and I'll admit I pretty much white knuckle all the way, so I really felt this post. Nerves, nerves, nerves. But hey, my girls want the beach, we go. It's so much easier to bike there. No worrying about parking, fees and so on. There have been close calls with doors but the pace is always pretty light and that helps with reaction time. But the look in the drivers face is always the same. 8-o

It's really something about most peoples mind set once they get in that BOX. My box, my road, me me me me. 

  

Permalink Reply by Jose A. Terrazas on July 22, 2014 at 6:26am

Thanks, I'll give that a dry run soon.


h' 1.0 said:

There is some construction on 33rd now but when the street is paved again you should take 33rd from Western, jog south to 34th at Archer, continue on 34th to Justine south (in line with the ace hardware parking lot) to Iron east then south,  to 35th east (just long enough to cross over Bubbly Creek).  Then back north on Racine to 33rd, and take that as far east as you can until 'forced' north to 31st.

 

The target at Damen creates a bit of congestion but overall this is still a relatively stress free way to go.
 
Jose A. Terrazas said:

I start by Western and 35th, and connect with 33rd after Halsted. No proper bridge on 35th to cross so I weave to 31st after MLK blvd. It's the stint between Western and Halsted that's very edgy. Although, the 35th St. bridge is closed and being replaced with an amazing new one that will be handicap accessible and bike friendly. Thought of taking Archer before but traffic is way to speedy for my girls taste. They have let me know under no uncertain terms.     

h' 1.0 said:

Not sure where you ride from, but trying 33rd instead of 35th as far as you can take it might allow you to ease up on those grips a bit.

Jose A. Terrazas said:

Whew! Started reading and was like, OH NO a kid! Very suspenseful post. So awesome it turned out the way it did. I pull my girls in a trailer pretty often to 31st street beach east bound on 35th and I'll admit I pretty much white knuckle all the way, so I really felt this post. Nerves, nerves, nerves. But hey, my girls want the beach, we go. It's so much easier to bike there. No worrying about parking, fees and so on. There have been close calls with doors but the pace is always pretty light and that helps with reaction time. But the look in the drivers face is always the same. 8-o

It's really something about most peoples mind set once they get in that BOX. My box, my road, me me me me. 

  

Permalink Reply by Yao X Lin on July 22, 2014 at 7:36am

Glad you and the kid are OK!

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