Respect The Door Zone

[J4CKO]

Probably preaching to the converted here, but probably worth re-iterating,

I nearly got clouted by some pillock in a stationary white van today who launched his door open without any warning or check , I am very wary of parked cars and as such was far enough out to avoid the door but it was literally centimetres due to the road being narrow and a car coming the other way so I wasn't as far out as I would ordinarily be. I was very visible, Hi-Viz Gillet and a flashing Hope Vision 2 light due to the overcast grey weather, but if fat dozy van driver doesnt actually look you could be the naked lady from their newspaper on a bike with come and get it sexy van drivers written on you and they still wouldnt see you !

This is the first time I have been suprised like this, I have been commuting for 13 months and been dilligently skirting cars, only very very occasionally actually going into the firing line and sometimes you feel like you are being overly cautious, youre not. Normally you get a feeling or spot little signs, this time, nothing.

I didnt stop or remonstrate but I might say hello next week if I see him in a non confrontational manner, I hope he (old sheddy Escort/Fat blob driver) realised that he nearly had me off and will be more careful in future, if only as potentially getting hit getting out of his heap by a sixteen stone cyclist with 50 lbs of bike and gear at 15 or so mph would hurt, a lot.

 

[cannondale boy]

White van drivers are probably the worlds worst no matter what they do. Just had an incident yesterday. I think all they think about is how to get home quick enough no matter if a cyclist is in the way, and food. Sometimes we forget the door zone as i am probably thinking of other things along the way. But its no excuse by not looking at the mirror that's outside your van to see if there is anything coming your way.

There was an incident that happened a couple of years ago while driving into a petrol station...got petrol, got into car to drive out the station, while bearly leaving a guy in a mx5 decides to swing his door open, narrowly missing the side of my car...now if i didn't stop, or if he opened the door any further, it would have been an insurance claim on his part.

 

[J4CKO]

We cant rely as cyclists on drivers looking before opening their doors, even the most cautious drivers may forget or be under duress, sometimes kids are in cars and dont get supervised properly and just launch the door open.

i think we need to rely on ourselves, I ate into my margin of error this morning and was just far enough out to avoid what would have been a nasty accident, I am going to be more dilligent rather than think that I avoided it so am ok, it was too close for comfort.

Also, I am not afraid to slow right down or stop if I am not sure about a situation that is evolving in front of me,

Its easier to regain lost momentum via pedaling than losing it abruptly by hitting something.

If only car drivers would realise this, it is so trivial to lose and regain speed in a modern car but they really dont want to slow down sometimes, even if they would hurt someone who didnt defer to them ?

 

[HJ]

Which is why you should always be at least a doors width out from parked cars, look ahead, think ahead and don't expect the idiots to look for you...

 

[HLaB]

I fortunately can't recall being told verbally "you're in the middle of the road" but the vast majority of time folk are there, its to avoid the door zone. Its not to hold them up its to save you from a nasty accident; I wish the pillocks could understand that.

 

[the reluctant cyclist]

I find it really hard not to be in the door zone sometimes - even if you are not worried about the car behind you some of the roads I cycle on the car coming the other way will mean that you are closer to the parked cars than you want to be - it's a really tricky one I find.

I try and go slow and steady and keep an eye out but even with the most careful cycling you can still get hit.

I have had a few near misses with drivers doors but actually got knocked off by a passenger opening it so you have to watch that one too!

What with watching door zones (both sides) checking behind you (lifesaver) 18 times a minute, checking for RLJ's, checking for straying pedestrians just stepping out, dogs, cats and kids it's a wonder that cyclists haven't evolved at least one extra set of eyes really!!

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

There's a no through road section that I use on one of the estates that I cross on the way to work: there's a bit of wasteground at the end which I can cross to get onto the next section, but it's impassable to motor vehicles.

There's the main no through road with a load of houses on both sides of it, with several cul-de-sacs going off on each side of the road. Inevitably, lots of cars parked along all of these. There's not much traffic going along it but because of that a lot of people coming out of the side roads will do so without looking carefully (if at all) presumably because they "know" nothing will be coming.

None of the roads are very wide and so to be out of the door zone I have to be well on the "wrong" side of the road, putting me in the danger zone of people coming out of the side turnings: it's a case of going slowly and weighing up the relative risk of being close to the parked cars or not second by second *. The saving grace is that I can see many of the parked cars have nobody in them so can be confident they are not a threat. But, by no means all of them ..

* "Bl**dy cyclists! Weaving about all over the place .. makes em harder to hit!!".

 

[nigelnorris]

I tend to remember that if while driving a car someone opens their door in front of you and you take it off along with chunks of the front of your car, then in the eyes of the insurance company it is your fault, and they'll always pay up to the other driver. Just like driving into the back of someone, it can only happen if you put yourself into that position in the first place.

 

[briank]

I tend to remember that if while driving a car someone opens their door in front of you and you take it off along with chunks of the front of your car, then in the eyes of the insurance company it is your fault, and they'll always pay up to the other driver. Just like driving into the back of someone, it can only happen if you put yourself into that position in the first place.

I can see the sense of rule about driving in to the back of something, but there are many urban streets in which cars parked down one or both sides leave room for a two-way flow of traffic ONLY if drivers do use the door zone.
Do insurers really use that rule? If we all drove accordingly, most towns would seize up!

 

[dellzeqq]

I tend to remember that if while driving a car someone opens their door in front of you and you take it off along with chunks of the front of your car, then in the eyes of the insurance company it is your fault, and they'll always pay up to the other driver. Just like driving into the back of someone, it can only happen if you put yourself into that position in the first place.

As far as the law is concerned - a quick google on John Burridge, former Crystal Palace goalkeeper reveals...

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=973

 

[HJ]

Yes it is good to remember that insurance companies do NOT make the laws or enforce them, that is for Parliament and the Courts. However insurance companies do like to bully people into thinking that they do, and try to force them to accept a lower settlement, but they also know that the courts don't always hold the same view. One should always make point of standing up to bullies...