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| Drivers push cars to gas station during "oil crisis," Roslindale, Boston Public Library |
When I first started biking, getting doored was probably my biggest fear. I'd heard horror stories about friends of friends who got badly injured. If you don't know, getting "doored" means colliding with a car door flung open in your path without warning. Good drivers will check behind them for bikes before getting out of their car. However many will just kick their door open milliseconds before a bike gets there, presumably because they're in a rush to pick up their dinner from Whole Foods.
Anyway, I myself have had some close calls, no collisions thankfully. But I would get that feeling of slight dread while biking in the bike lane alongside a column of parked cars. For each one I would try to squint my eyes and see if there was someone inside the car ahead of me.
This method worked, but it was a bit tiresome, feeling like I had to check every single parked car that I was approaching. Eventually, though, I found another way: riding outside the door radius (or door zone). The door zone is the distance the width of an open door from the car. Inside the zone is where the door will hit you.
It seems simplistic, but it works. A lot of bikers will bike to the far right of the bike lane to try to put as much distance as possible between moving cars. It makes sense but also means putting yourself in harm's way from doors. Bicyclists hit by doors will fall off, often into incoming traffic where they can get really seriously hurt. Instead, bike on the side of the lane away from parked cars, at a distance where if a door does open suddenly, you will not get hit.
Stay out of the door zone, and stay safe.
Further Reading:
How to Avoid Dooring (and What to Do if You are Doored) - San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
