Cyclists dread getting doored. If you’re new to riding, you may wonder what this means and how you can avoid it. You certainly don’t want to get injured in an accident on your bike.
In a general sense, getting doored just means that someone has opened their car door in front of your bike. They were likely parked on the side of the road, next to the curb, and they swung the door open into the street as you were riding by. If this happened directly in front of you, you probably couldn’t avoid the door, and you slammed into it at high speed.
Why does it happen?
This most often happens because people do not check behind them before opening the door. They may know that they’re far enough off of the street that they wouldn’t be in danger from other cars, but they don’t think to look for bicycles. They may glance in the mirror to look for other cars, but they never bother to turn and look for cyclists.
This can also happen when the bicycle lane runs right next to the parked cars, serving as a buffer between those cars and the street. This can make people feel like the buffer zone is designed to protect them as they get out rather than providing a safe space for a cyclist to ride next to them. In other words, it just never dawns on them that they’re putting cyclists in danger.
Even if you try to avoid getting doored, it may mean you end up swerving into traffic and getting struck by another vehicle. If you’ve suffered serious injuries, you need to know how to seek financial compensation.