Collecting the Door Prize
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 10. 9.07
Photo Peter Redman, National Post
David Hayes is an experienced urban cyclist and glances ahead at side-view mirrors to see if anyone is getting ready to pull out or open the door. It isn't rush hour, it is Saturday in July. He is behind a slow cyclist who blocks his view. "I see this part of the day like a video clip, a series of rapid-fire events in freeze-frames. First, a door opens, knocking the slow-moving cyclist sideways. I jam on my brakes but he's falling right in my path. My front wheel collides with the falling bike and, I'm certain, the edge of the door with a terrible crunch." Two cyclists down and the driver says ""I couldn't see you coming. You came up behind me, came out of nowhere ?" David has injured both his arms, not what one would call major injuries, but he is a freelance writer.
"For a self-employed writer, the after effects have been catastrophic. Ten or 15 minutes of typing does me in and even scribbling a few lines in a notepad is painful. (For this story, my girlfriend helped with the typing.) And work that I'd been counting on for cash flow in the coming months has ground to a halt.
My physiotherapist, who has seen injuries of this sort countless times, warns that it may be many more weeks before I fully recover and that my left elbow may never fully straighten.
It's a reminder to cyclists to be vigilant about parked cars and a wake-up call for the many drivers who forget that their responsibility doesn't end when they turn off the ignition."::National Post
TreeHugger promotes cycling as perhaps the best way to get around a city, but how many serious door prizes and deaths is it going to take before they make the city safe for cyclists, instead of forcing us into a two foot wide space between streetcar tracks and parked cars filled with people who don't know how to use a mirror?
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I have come to realize that cyclists are about the whiniest of all the species.
Kids are pretty damn whiny as well yet we seem to protect them....
No Whine Zone -
'bobk' have you ever been on a bike? Have you ever ridden through traffic? Do you go from having internet muscles to hiding behind a big car to spewing all sorts of ignorant rants on a continuing basis?
People of your ilk are the reason cyclists get killed. I am no hippy shouting for a cause but I ride to work in New York City and ride as often as I can. I am exposed to some of the worst forms of human nature and laziness that exist.
There is no better excuse to voice concern (better term than 'whining') than to try to get from point a to point b safely. You would think that someone who pilots 2 tons around on a regular basis would turn their lazy, self-entitled head around to avoid hitting someone. A couple of good law suits will get the cause going.
Cyclists help keep gas prices lower and ease congestion overall. Imagine if all those people taking up a few feet of space were tooling around in an Escalade.
Cyclists of the world, those like bobk are the appendix of our species. A useless vestige of a by-gone era. Empty-headed nobodies with nothing to contribute to our society.
Maintain 4 feet from the door and consult the local Vehicle and Traffic Laws to ensure you have the right to a full lane of traffic.
Good Luck.
vsk
stop your whining, motorist.
Ouch.. that sounds painful. It goes to show that tailgating on a bike can be dangerous too.
The Highway Traffic Act, Section 165, requires that:
No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on a highway without first taking due precautions to ensure that his or her act will not interfere with the movement of or endanger any other person or vehicle: (Fine $110 and two demerit points).
bobk, perhaps you are illiterate and don't know what a "species" is. I am ashamed to admit that your cowardly ass and mine are of the same species. When people try to sound smart and contrary, isn't it funny when they mess up?
OK,
Now that I've calmed down, I was thinking I was too harsh on the commenter, but judging by the other comments I was not.
Seriously,
Yes, a lot of us whine and beech moan and complain about the established system. Going up the road food chain, car people seem to have a lot of gripes about big rigs. Hmmm.
There has to be an evolution of the roadway system. Today's roads were designed around cars after the turn of the century. Level, somewhat smooth, wide, allowing for a buildup of speed (a change from the horse trails). That was the popular thing, that was the establishment.
The world at large is evolving.
Air travel increases, airport terminals get bigger. More trucks on the road, more interstate.
People have more cash to throw around (or more available credit) and houses get bigger.
Well - the more bicycles on the road, ... something has to give. We have to be the squeaky wheels that get oiled.
All these neighborhoods going up should be designed to allow safe cycling. People's attitudes have to change (cycling IS transportation). Cyclists have to mind their road manners as well. We have all done stupid things at one time or other.
I give more heed to red lights... it's just going to work for cripes sake.
Now, stepping over the bobk comments like so much detritus.
Towards the article - yes, this happens all too often. I hope the writer is back in action soon. I sometimes feel like I need a black box camera going all the time because the people who do stupid things all too often do not stop and keep going. I stopped to help some delivery kid who was hit as the car made an abrupt right turn. She was doing a slow roll wondering if she should stop. Then she saw me take out my camera and zoom in on her plate. Then she was super apologetic etc. I guess she thought her turn signal would be a magic wand and clear the way for her.
I have seen many more bicycle articles on Treehugger lately.
WELL DONE !
Good Luck,
vsk
I'm a cyclist and I feel bad for the guy, but catastrophic? Suck it up or get some voice recognition software.
I've been doored several times, and here's what I've learned:
I don't ride within 4' of the sides of the road, unless I'm going very slowly. Why? Because 4' is where car doors, old ladies, little kids, etc etc live. I wouldn't drive a car there at 20 mph, why should I ride a bike there?
Drivers behind me sometimes get annoyed, but I would rather be visible and predictable and get honked at than get hit by somebody who "just didn't see me coming".
Also - don't tailgate other bikers!
does this mean that cyclists don't have any responsibility when they run red lights?
yes people need to check their mirrors when they open their doors, but cyclists need to use lights when riding at night, signal their turns, and obey traffic signals when they're using the roads.
please be aware of them just as motorcycles are harder to see, so are cyclists, however they have responisbility to be courteous and responsible drivers too.
It's not about drivers or cyclists or pedestrians being responsible, it's about people being responsible no matter what you're doing.
By the way, black people did a lot of whining during the past few centuries as well. Maybe that's not relevant here, but when people treat you differently because of who you are or how you choose to live, or get to work, you might whine too.