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As any cyclist will tell you, one of the biggest dangers of riding a bike is getting "doored," when someone inside a car abruptly pops open a door to exit the vehicle. The potentially deadly situation is often caused by taxi riders who open a door without looking or who try to get out on the traffic side, as opposed to the sidewalk side. Now cyclist and graphic designer Marko Bon is urging the Taxi and Limousine Commission to add a logo like the one seen here to the TV screens in cabs. According to Streetsblog, the commission has shown interest in the design, and Transportation Alternatives has also been pushing for the use of video PSAs to remind cab passengers to open their doors carefully. Last year 66-year-old David Smith was killed on Sixth Avenue when an abruptly opened door knocked him off his bike into the path of a truck.
Cab Warnings to Promote Cyclist Awareness in Works
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More cooperation between drivers and cyclists is a good start. Share the road.
Drivers definitely need to be more aware of cyclists, but there are a lot of cyclists out there who flaunt the rules and lack common sense.
40+ comment post between bikers and the people who hate them: GO!
Why install mechanisms that lock the door of the cab that faces the street?
I have narrowly avoided being "doored" so many times. Several times I've had an offender yell at me, "why don't you watch where you're going???" Well, if I *hadn't* been watching, you WOULD have doored me, dumbass! I'm not a mindreader who can somehow predict that someone's about to pop a car door open into traffic.
It's illegal to open a vehicle door in the path of a bicyclist... If you're doored, get the drivers' license and insurance information.
#6, 10min. time-out for quoting out of context...it would have been 15, but you linked the article.
the rest of that above quote:
"...Violators receive summonses, but Detective Walter Burnes, a Police Department spokesman, said no separate records were kept on the issuance of such summonses."
It is about as illegal to open a door on a biker as it is to spit in the street.
haw haw
I want to respect bicycles and motorcycles, but they need to respect us as well. I get cut off and almost hit by both types of bikes all the time, when they whip thru traffic and ride on the shoulder to get around (motorcycles). It goes both ways, like Lindsay Lohan.
NY mag had an article about the Ghost Bikes around town and almost 3/4 of the deaths listed car door opening as what initially caused the accident (they were often thrown into traffic or hit while avoiding the door).
Look out for those doors people!
I think we need to enforce common sense. Remember important life lessons like 'Pay Attention' and 'Watch where you are going'? We don't need more signs and laws.
seperated bike lanes.
They make sense.
I'm a biker afraid of getting doored as much as anyone else so I'm glad for the extra awareness.
However, looking behind you before swinging open a car door isn't exclusively a bike thing as much as it is plain old common sense awareness. You could also hit another car that's trying to squeak by and have the door ripped off. Or you could hit a pedestrian who wants your taxi. Etc etc etc.
7: The remainder of the quote provides no additional context as to the legality. It just says that no one has gone through the records and added up how many tickets have been issued for the offense.
as a biker I would say that cabs are the most aware cars on the street for bikers but parked they are pretty dangerous cause of their dumbass passengers. the worst offender to bikers are cellphone walkers.
Another source, this time New York State Law: Section 1146. Drivers to exercise due care.
Seems that there are no real legal repercussions for dooring a bicyclist, however, I'm pretty certain that the spirit of the law helps direct responsibility to the proper party, in case any incident enters the legal system, arbitration or even the insurance system.
In any case, once you've been on the road long enough as a biker, you learn car passengers rarely remember to look behind the car before opening that door, and you adapt to it...
I've been fortunate that the one time I was clipped by a door it was only a brush (knock on wood). However, that hasn't prevented me from witnessing some potentially deadly accidents happen from such incidents.
I've actually been pretty lucky and slammed into a couple of passengers getting out of the car and sandwiching them between the card door. It may hurt a little but it's a fucking awesome feeling of my bike slamming into human flesh and then for the cardoor opener guy to apologize to me while groaning.
"Cab Warnings to Promote Cyclist Awareness in Works"
Unless the 'warning' includes some type of low-level electrical stimulation of the passengers senses then it's probably useless.