This is one of many reasons why you never hug the cub or parked cars when riding on the road. Always leave buffer space to your sides even if it means riding down the middle of the lane if needed.
Assume everyone is out to kill you either via ignorance or malice.
Yeah just today I made a left turn on my bike. There was a car waiting to turn left there. They waited for the car in front of me to pass, then I had to do a full stop so that they would not hit me. It was in bright daylight and perfect visibility. Drivers simpy don’t think of anybody else but other cars.
I’ve had this improve after adding lights, cameras, and a good amount of retroreflective tape to help with night riding. Sometimes some drivers really aren’t malicious, they just really don’t notice because they aren’t looking (which is still negligent of course). The lights and reflectors and blinking camera lights help you get noticed, and the camera helps keep otherwise shitty people behaving better (or at least keeps them accountable when they do something like assault someone).
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People have tried to kill me like that several times. I genuinely don’t get how you park on a busy street and just toss open your door.
Watch those doors: No amount of money is worth your life and drivers usually don’t really care about yours.
If you’re in a car, use the Dutch reach to exit so you are forced to look and make sure its clear of both cyclists you could injure or kill as well as oncoming traffic that could kill you.
I wish you or the article would explain what the Dutch reach is.
I just look in the side mirror to ensure no cyclists are riding up, then I exit quickly and shut the door quickly so it’s not a hazard.
I believe it’s using your right hand to open the door. Forces you to pivot your torso, and the bike lane comes into your peripherals.
Basically, you just reach over with your non-driver-side hand, which forces you to look every time. Making a conscious effort to look is good, but reaching over helps ensure you face the mirror automatically so it’s less of a conscious effort and more a matter of course.
I like that. Thanks for sharing. On one hand it’s overkill vs what I already do, but it’s overkill because, like they said, reaching across and opening the door with the other hand forces you to scan your side mirror and look out, checking your blind spot. It’s one of those safety things that sounds dumb and feels dumb, but you do it because it’s safe and, when it works for you — that is, you see a cyclist coming — I’d say rather than open the door, you wave as they pass, and then open the door (unless there are more of them).
I drive because I like being able to pay bills and public transportation sucks, but I’ll always love cycling. I did it before I got a car and rode everywhere, including from town to town. I’ve been hit by a car once, driver literally was not looking in front of him. I’d say he was checking his social media, but this was long before smartphones. I wasn’t injured, so I counted myself pretty lucky. I’d hate to be on the other end of that, the reason someone got hurt.
