Excellent Dooring Analysis Video!
I see a white line and I want it painted black.
Bravo to Dan Gutierrez for this excellent compilation and analysis of dooring crashes. Spread it far and wide.
And when you get feedback from bike advocates who want to place responsibility for this on motorists, tell them:
Yes, it is the fault of the person who opens the door, but it’s 100% preventable by the cyclist. All we have to do is not ride there. Let’s rely on the solution that lies with the party who has the most immediate self-interest in preventing the crash.
And people, it’s time to rise up and demand an end to the government-sponsored duping of cyclists into riding where they can get killed.
For good design standards, see Dan’s diagrams for where sharrows and bike lanes should be placed when onstreet parking is present:
Door Zone Bike Lane and Sharrow Clearance
How bike lanes must be designed to avoid passing/dooring hazards
Sharrow Lateral Placement and Frequency Issues
Understanding Bicycle Transportation 5b2 (This is from Dan’s training program for Caltrans engineers)
Great video, Dan! Thank you for sharing.
I did some research on the Dexter street bike lanes in Seattle. See my website:
http://bikedexter.com
At that time I was surprised to find NO door crashes, but several crashes with vehicles entering the road, opposite direction traffic turning left etc and I documented lots roadside activity causing evasive maneuvers. Not surprising when you understand the problems of visibility near parked cars and the visibility and predictability problems of riding separate rather than driving with traffic that resolves these issues.
Does anyone believe that the door is the problem? Then riding next to parked cars or vehicles that have no doors on the streetside should be safe, right? Well, I don’t believe that and I really worry about information that leaves that interpretation open.
Seattle did rebuild the Dexter bike lanes and they buffered the lane from the moving traffic not the parked vehicles with praise but pictures here:
http://seattlelikesbikes.org/wordpress/?p=783
I believe that when bicyclists learn to ride with the rules of the road while communicating clearly and powerfully they are treated far better than we can imagine. Riding separately whether “buffered” from doors or not does not communicate clearly and powerfully about equal treatment under the rules of the road. I reserve such riding for example, on rural freeway and state highway shoulders, where I’m better operating as a pedestrian.
I’d like to see a design (with measurements) that uses back-in angle parking with a bike lane or sharrows.
“A woman in her 30s was cycling west along Queen — a downtown street the city recommends for cycling — just before 9 a.m. when the driver’s-side door of a parked Volkswagen hatchback opened and struck her. The force of that impact tossed her into the street.”
Cyclist killed on Queen Street when ‘doored’ by parked car http://bit.ly/rjK0M0
Interesting configuration – not quite a bike lane, but a right lane that allows parking at certain times (leaving the equivalent of a door zone bike lane to the left): http://g.co/maps/qybwz
That’s pretty common in cities. Orange Ave has parking in the left lane downtown on weekends, creating what looks (to the uninformed) like a bike lane. Fortunately the lanes are really narrow so it doesn’t look as inviting. I found a lot of this kind of flex parking in DC that were in lanes that left 5ft next to the parked cars, so it made it more awkward to control the next lane over. But you pretty much have to, if you want a tolerable experience. If you ride in between, the box truck and taxi drivers will take off your arm.
Clinton Miceli was killed in such a lane in Chicago.
As long as cities are striping door zone bike lanes and sending the message the cyclists belong in a hazard zone, these faux bike lanes will lure them into danger just the same, without costing the taxpayers anything.
Two related vidoes on this accident. A cyclist is interviewed, who understates the death, tragedy as rare. Then expounds on following the rules and asking motorist to should check before opening the door. Dear Mr. Powell the door zone (faux) bike lane is the problem.
Second video shows the faux bike lane, at 00:26-00:31 seconds.
What a waste.
OK, lets try that again…
Video 1: http://bit.ly/qQaPzZ
A cyclist is interviewed, who understates the death, tragedy as rare. Then expounds on following the rules and asking motorist to should check before opening the door. Dear Mr. Powell the door zone (faux) bike lane is the problem.
Video 2: http://bit.ly/oIS1HJ
Accident scene and faux bike lane, at 00:26-00:31 seconds.