Re: [bcp] Getting doored

[Dennis Winters]

Does anyone have the details of this dooring?  Cycling advocates should be
following up on incidents like this!

Dennis R. Winters
Transportation Programs Manager & BCGP Board Member
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Clean Air Council
135 S. 19th Street, Suite 300
Philadelphia, PA  19103-4219
215.567.4004, x233      215.567.5791 fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.cleanair.org
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"I do not call one greater or one smaller, that which fills its period and
place is equal to any."


Walt Whitman
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Rosenfeld" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 8:59 AM
Subject: Re: [bcp] Getting doored


>
> > From: Leslie Tierstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > I saw someone get doored this afternoon. It was scary.
> > ...a woman rider going about 12-13 mph
> >...the injured bicyclist was unconscious for at least a minute...
> >
> > The bicyclist was well out from the parked cars, but not far enough --
> > especially for a wide van with a wide door.
> >
> > Be careful out there, and take the lane.
>
> Exactly so - opening a door happens so quickly that one can seldom avoid
it even
> at lower speeds. And even if you have time to see it coming, you don't
have time
> to decide if it is safe to suddenly change your lane position out into
traffic.
> So the only solution, if you are going over about 5 mph, is to ride
outside of
> the door zone. Riding within the door zone is one of the most common
errors I
> see in Philadelphia.
>
> Dooring is surprisingly common in cities, so it is well worth learning to
avoid
> it. And even though the motorist is at fault in these situations, it is
actually
> quite difficult for then to see a bike in their sideview mirror unless
they VERY
> carefully check the road.
>
> Bike lanes that encourage riding next to car doors are just dumb. Instead,
if we
> are going to build bike facilities at all in these situations, we should
be
> building facilities that encourage 'taking the lane' when necessary. A
bike lane
> should never encourage riding next to any road hazard. An even greater
problem
> are the bike lanes that encourage riding next to the curb near
intersections.
>
> BTW - two door sedans also have very wide doors. They can really catch you
by
> surprise because you just perceive them as another sedan and don't expect
a door
> that can stretch out 50 inches.
>
> -Peter Rosenfeld
>
> ----
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