How about side view mirrors for rear seat passengers? As a driver with that technology I've managed to never open my driver door into an oncoming car.
The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
11–20 of 612 posts
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#12I was doing something similar to this over the summer when I sprained some ligaments in my left hand so it was painful to open the door using the "usual" left hand motion. The video seems to imply that reaching over your body to open the door with your right hand will naturally force your body to turn to see behind you (or to the side). This never happened in my experience, I can reach over and open the door with my right hand while still looking forward. Actually having to turn your torso has to be an additional learned behavior. I suspect that folks might make the turn at first if taught to do so, then eventually do the lazier thing and stop turning.
As a cyclist who has been nearly doored on multiple occasions, I emphasize but the cultural change might be a bit too much to expect. TBH, I prefer jawbone3's suggestion of making the driver/car owner liable by default for "dooming" and applying a fine and/or surcharge.
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#13Right, Large scale change of driver habits is a simple solution... a more enforcable suggestion is that the car owner is by default liable for any damages that happen from dooring, and that dooring is a fineable offence. Give car owners a real motivacion to check for bikes
Usually they are.
Cheatsheet: http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/dooring_BLU.pdf
CA law: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection....
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#14Getting doored is honestly terrifying (I don't say that lightly). I bike and longboard frequently, and I'll avoid bike lanes if they are alongside parked cars. And this is in Boulder, one of the most bike friendly cities in the US: http://www.bicycling.com/culture/advocacy/2014-top-50-bike-f...
Also live in Boulder, also avoid bike lanes. Absolutely terrifying.
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#15Or, as a bike rider one can simply look into a cars cabin and see if a person is inside. I assume everyone is a terrible driver, have no idea I'm on the road.
I am a regular bike commuter on traffic heavy Los Angeles. I'll never understand the mentality of bicyclists who are more concerned with asserting their rights as opposed to exercising caution and restraint. Graveyards are full of people who had the right of way.
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#16Right, Large scale change of driver habits is a simple solution... a more enforcable suggestion is that the car owner is by default liable for any damages that happen from dooring, and that dooring is a fineable offence. Give car owners a real motivacion to check for bikes
> Large scale change of driver habits is a simple solution...
I'm not sure how your proposed solution would work without a large scale change of driver habits.
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#17Right, Large scale change of driver habits is a simple solution... a more enforcable suggestion is that the car owner is by default liable for any damages that happen from dooring, and that dooring is a fineable offence. Give car owners a real motivacion to check for bikes
Perhaps a change in car manufacturing where you put the door opening handle behind the driver, forcing them to turn.
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#18This is great, because it's simple, easy to explain and highly actionable. It's incentive-compatible because implementing this yourself greatly reduces the chance you'll door someone, and few people actually want to cause an accident.
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#19Or, as a bike rider one can simply look into a cars cabin and see if a person is inside. I assume everyone is a terrible driver, have no idea I'm on the road. I am a regular bike commuter on traffic heavy Los Angeles. I'll never understand the mentality of bicyclists who are more concerned with asserting their rights as opposed to exercising caution and restraint. Graveyards are full of people who had the right of wa…
Cyclists are already second class citizens on the roads. People who ride bikes are upset about this and would prefer not to become third or fourth class. It's also very frustrating to have to assume everyone is so ignorant that they wouldn't mind accidentally killing you for the sake of saving a second or two.
I completely agree that being aggressively paranoid is the way to stay alive. But agreeing that it is the smart thing to do and believing that it's acceptable are different things.
"Women are underrepresented in tech and they should just have to suck it up and deal with casual sexism & etc because tech bros can't learn to not be sexist"
That's roughly the same attitude applied to women as cyclists. Seems a lot worse that way, doesn't it?
Re: The Dutch Reach: Clever Workaround to Keep Cyclists from Getting “Doored”
#20Just reach over the handle bars and close the door first.