Catching the dreaded door prize
Statistics are enlightening, if not frightening: too many cyclists are getting hit by car doors
For the urban cyclist, there may be no sound more chilling than the soft click of a car door that’s about to pop open.
It’s the first sign that the cyclist is about to win a “door prize.” An inattentive driver or passenger opens their door and the cyclist ploughs into a wall of metal and glass.
Yvonne Bambrick, a local cycling advocate and author, was riding near Lansdowne and Wallace Aves. last November when she approached a car that had stopped about a vehicle-length back from the stop line. Bambrick was passing on the right when the rear passenger door sprung open.
Smack. The collision left Bambrick with a bad bruise on her leg (she still has a “dent” in her leg). But her bike was fine, and there was a language barrier between Bambrick and the family in the car. She decided not to report the collision, but it illustrated an important lesson for anyone saddling up in Toronto.
“Any door can open at any time,” Bambrick said.
Doorings are a common occurrence on Toronto’s streets and the results can be fatal.
In 2008, a driver doored a 57-year-old man, throwing the cyclist into oncoming traffic, where he was struck by another vehicle and killed.
The statistics are enlightening, if not frightening:
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2013, police report that 91bike riders were injured in 96 recorded instances of “Cyclist struck, opened vehicle door.”
During the same period in 2012, 150 cyclists were injured. And during the full year in 2011, 146 were injured in 161 collisions with car doors.
As cyclists flood the city’s streets this summer, how many of them will catch a dreaded door prize? And what can be done to prevent it?
Many of Toronto’s streets squeeze cyclists onto a narrow strip of pavement in between streetcar tracks and parked cars. An experienced, confident cyclist might choose to ride in the left lane, but others prefer not to pedal with streetcars bearing down behind them.
But staying too close to the parked cars is dangerous: if you’re within about a metre of a parked car, you’re in the “door zone.”
“As a cyclist and as a driver, it’s very difficult for me to envision a situation in which a cyclist could possibly be at fault in the event of a dooring,” says bike writer Even Weiss. “I suppose if a cyclist were actually riding in your private driveway, you might have a case but, other than that, it’s on you.” If you’re a driver: Open your driver’s side door with your right hand. You’ll be forced to reach across your own body, turning and looking out onto the street. And be vigilant. It’s summertime in Toronto and cyclists are everywhere. If you’re a cyclist: Treat taxis like landmines. If a cab is slowing down or parked, you can bet a door’s about to pop open. Scan the cars up ahead. Are the brake lights showing? Can you see someone through the sideview mirrors or windows? They may be about to exit the vehicle.