We’ve compiled collision data from ICBC and BikeMaps.org to develop a list of dooring caution zones in the City of Vancouver. Doorings were the most prevalent type of cycling collision reported through official reports (Urban Systems, 2015). In the five dooring incidents reported to BikeMaps.org, three of the five cyclists were injured, and two sustained injuries serious enough to require an emergency department visit or overnight hospital stay.
Have a look at the dooring caution-zones map and accompanying table of dooring caution-zones. If you cycle in these zones, be sure to keep adequate space from parked cars, or use a nearby designated cycling facility. A map of Vancouver’s cycle routes is available here.
To avoid doorings, in Denmark, the law states that drivers must open their doors with their right hand.
In car bicycle collisions it is assumed that the motorist is at fault.
The Denmark law wouldn’t have helped me when I was doored on Pender St. 15 years ago. The driver stopped and it was the passenger that flung open their door.
I’ve often thought that it would be safer for all cyclists to drive facing traffic and parked cars. What say you?
U of T and UBC just completed studies that show helmet use is useless. In the book Happy City, the author writes about traffic psychologist Ian Walker, who fitted his bicycle with distance sensors and discovered that drivers were twice as likely to drive dangerously close when he was wearing a helmet.
He was in fact struck twice when he was wearing a helmet.
I find helmet use dangerous. The only thing I’d say in their favour is that if they’re white it improves being seen. It’s smart to be visible – that’s a big strike against recumbents. I do find baseball caps improve my safety – keeping rain and sun out of my eyes and keeping my head warm or cool. I always wear a cap.
I’d also point out that cyclists are more dangerous to pedestrians if they’re wearing a helmet – like going up against a linebacker. Helmet-wearing cyclists scare me.
Just once, I drove my motorcycle without a helmet. It was a Zen experience. My driving behaviour was completely different.
If I recall correctly, in some places pedestrians must wear something reflective at night. This makes sense.
Motorists, myself included, are bullies. We are de facto dangerous. Come to a full stop at a stop sign? Occasionally. Speed? I don’t. Listen to crap on the sound system. No. Eat, drink coffee, fiddle around in the glove box, put on make-up? No. I have Roadsafe and no points on my license, but I could kill somebody.
Just as there are motorists who can kill through inattention, or ineptitude – the manslaughter crew, there are those that I compare to snipers – murderous. I’ve encountered those.
If there are snipers in our cities, is the solution to force everyone to wear bulletproof clothing, or is the solution to deal with the perps.
The two greatest inventions of the last two centuries are the bicycle and the internet.
Anything that can be done to increase bicycle use is to the communal good. Helmets are horrible and simply a pretext for miserable motorists to wag their fingers.
I’m more fearful now than I used to be because so many drivers pull over to quack on their phones (engines running), increasing the likelihood that they might suddenly open their door. They’re no longer as alert to traffic. This could just be paranoia after having been doored.
Further, are cyclists educated in regard to keeping a minimum of one meter away from parked cars to also prevent dooring? In addition, I have witnessed numerous cyclists riding with no hands on the handlebars and texting while cycling. About 50% do not wear helmets although it is the law. Are cyclists educated about their responsibility for collisions when not cycling with due care and attention?
There are many mixed messages that we all receive in regards to cycling.
I think proper cycling training should be taught in schools at a young age.
That’s done in the Netherlands and they have a very large amount of cycling going on with very few problems. Part of that is infrastructure but part of that is education so people know what to do when using that infrastructure.
Really? Is that why the Netherlands is being forced to bring in legislation to ban cellphone use while cycling? Apparently 1 of 5 bike on bike accidents is caused by texting! Wait a minute, 80% of young Dutch people’s bike on bike accidents are caused by something else? Clogs maybe? Doesn’t sound like a culture of safety to me.
Yeah, they should pull over before texting.
When people are trained for their drivers test, are they even informed about looking before opening their door? If they’re required by law to do so, and are 100% responsible if they don’t, then it’s unfair to them that they are not told about it when they’re trained.
In my opinion, a huge part of learning to drive and of passing the drivers test should have to do with the people who will be walking and cycling around them when they’re going to be driving. They will be controlling a device that can cause great harm to others. They need to know that and need to know what to expect out on the road and how to behave when encountering others they have the potential to harm.
To me this would be more useful if it was adjusted for number of daily cyclists using a route….ie what seems like a large number of doorings on a route may be safer per rider than a route that only shows a few doorings if the first route has a lot more riders.
Many people say that cyclists should ride 1 metre away from cars. This is not far enough, as many doors stick out more than 1 metre. As this video shows, 1.5 to 2 metres is more a appropriate distance: