Dooring Wounds and Kills, Even More with Ebikes. Tips to Avoid It

“Dooring” means opening your car door without watching, thus injuring a cyclist passing by. Since ebikes ride faster, they are more exposed to it.

Update of 13 December 2023

Why dooring happens so frequently

As far as car drivers are concerned, opening the door without carefully watching who is riding or driving along is a not so infrequent practice. Traffic stress, hurrying up not to be late, especially in case of late arrival due to traffic jams, and distraction, are among the most common causes.

On social networks, some cyclists even complain that drivers open the door to hurt cyclists on purpose. I doubt it, even though some drivers are irritated by cyclists, because they can be slowed down by bikes, and so on.

Statistics are clear, dooring is frequent and harmful, even more for ebikes

Just google it up, dooring accounts for about 20% of all bike accidents. Even though statistics don’t single out percentages for ebikes, we can imagine that it’s even worse for them. Indeed, most commuters use e-bikes. Since working places are mostly in urban areas, commuters frequently ride along longer rows of parked cars, whereas cycling tourists normally avoid riding in the cities. Moreover, electric bikes are quite faster than normal bicycles, which further increases the probabilities of dooring accidents.

What could be done to prevent dooring accidents

• Enabling cars and eBikes to communicate with each other.
• As we wrote here, detecting devices could communicate to both drivers and e-bike riders that they are getting closer, for instance when approaching an intersection. A similar system could prevent drivers from opening the door as a cyclist is approaching. The latter would then be warned when a car that he is approaching could open the door, for instance because the engine is off and the driver is still behind his steering wheel. Sounds a bit complicated to implement? Indeed.

 

• Equipping cars with a red led light on the top edge of the driver’s rearview mirror. When the engine is turned off, that light would be put on until the door is closed. Such a system would be rather inexpensive, and could be mandatory for car manufacturers.
• Legally compel drivers to open the door with their right hand, thus making it easier for them looking at the rear-view mirror to check whether a cyclist or another car is approaching.
• Legally compel car manufacturers to install the driver’s door handle very close to the rear edge of the door, thus compelling them to turn their head backwards in order to open the door with their right hand, what allows seeing approaching cyclists.

What car drivers can already do to avoid dooring

Getting used to always open their door with their right hand, thus veryfying that no cyclist is coming. For example in Italy you fail your driving exam to obtain your driver license if you open your door with your left hand. In the Netherlands, drivers are legally obliged to open their door with their right hand.

What bikers can do to avoid dooring

1. Keeping at least one meter clearance between the right handle of the bike handlebar (left in the UK, etc.) and car doors, when possible.
2. Looking into parked cars, if possible, to see if there’s somebody sitting there, because he could suddenly open the door.
3. Paying attention at situations and circumstances. For instance, riding along a row of parked cars near a school is more dangerous at 8 o’clock in the morning, when classes are going to start, then at 10 o’clock.
4. Avoid bypassing on the right a car that just pulled over, somebody may get out without watching, since there’s only a sidewalk on the right, hence no danger for him.

Legislation about dooring

Generally speaking, in Europe, cars maneuvering to exit a parking place must yield. Opening the door can be considered maneuvering to exit a parking place. Therefore, any cyclist injured by dooring, should be legally entitled to a reimbursement. A good lawyer should help.

Volkswagen and Ford have heeded the call of endangered cyclists

From the VVolkswagen Newsroom website:

‘The latest generation of the Volkswagen exit warning system helps to avoid dangerous situations when exiting the vehicle in inner-city traffic. The assist system can warn the driver and passengers about road users approaching the parked Volkswagen from behind. For example, within system limits, the system can detect cyclists, who are often among the most vulnerable road users. In addition to the driver and front passenger doors, the exit warning system also provides protection for the rear doors. The new ID.702, new Passat and new Tiguan are equipped with this assist system as standard. In the Golf, ID.4 and ID.5, the technology is optionally available in a technically specific form.”

Concerning Ford:

Ford’s Exit Warning will be installed first to European delivery vans, such as the Transit Custom and the Tourneo Custom. Some passenger vehicles will follow suit, like the Explorer and the Mustang.

Now, just adding a clearly visible red light on the top of rear view mirrors, which would blink during the time anyone sits in the car after the motor is turned off, would be much simpler, less expensive and promptly applicable to all cars, even the smallest city cars. Wouldn’t it? Of course, that wouldn’t prevent car occupants from opening the door, but it would still safeguars cyclists. Moreover, it would soon be generalised to all cars, and the more sophisticated Volkswagen system would be an option for more expensive cars, as it probably will remain. Indeed, In the Golf, ID.4 and ID.5, the technology is only optionally available in a technically specific form. So much for overall wide adoption…