Doored cyclist has a broken hip

The cyclist whose dooring was captured on tape by WUSA9 has a broken hip and a broken wrist. 

t turned out the crash so badly damaged Kaldany's hip that the surgeons had to cut it out and replace it. Police cited the van driver for violating the D.C. law designed to prevent this kind of crash.

The driver, if you can believe it, continues to insist that the video tape is lying.

The driver continues to claim Kaldany ran into his mirror, although it's clear from the tape that he opened his door right into him.

If WUSA9's data is correct, doorings are more common than I thought.

The numbers are staggering. There were about 850 bike versus car crashes in D.C. in 2014. As many as 20 percent of them were people opening a door right into a bike's path.

I only know of one cyclist death in the DC area that was the result of a dooring, and that was many years ago. 

 

Comments

[Riley]

That curb lane would make an excellent protected bike lane with the cars parked in the next lane out.

[Atlas]

Did the cyclist roll a stop sign there? Can't tell if there's a sign there or not. It SHOULDN'T matter, but the driver could argue that the cyclist contributed >1% to cause of damages. I don't agree with contributory negligence as a defense, but since it is allowed in DC, I cringe every time I see a fellow cyclist roll stops/reds, ride w/o lights, salmon, etc. They are basically forfeiting any chance of collecting proportionate civil damages.

I really hope there isn't a stop sign there; not that it should matter here.

[jeffb]

@Atlas

Yes there is a stop sign there.

@Riley
There actually is a MUP on the other side of the cars along the edge of the Georgetown Waterfront park.

I've ridden this route for many years and I've taken to using the MUP, despite conflicts with peds, because of this very issue with doors being flung open in my path.

[jeffb]

While this didn't occur in a bike lane this video should be mandatory viewing for all DDOT planners contemplating painting a YABLITKZ - Yet Another Bike Lane In The Kill Zone.

The cyclist in this video wasn't even going fast - coasting in fact. WHich shows the only safe speed in a door zone is zero - and even that's debatable. I've seen a cyclist standing still waiting at a light nearly knocked over by someone opening a door!

[jeffb]

P.S
Re Stop Sign.

This sign is pretty much ignored by 100% of the cyclists coming off the CCT. Nearly all perform an Idaho stop.

This makes this location a favorite of MPD when they need to get their cyclist violation numbers up.

I wonder if the news crew was there for a reason - gathering video for a safety week story.

[Crickey7]

This stop sign is not ignored by everyone. I don't. I don't link the running the sign to the accident, but really, stop pretending that by calling running a stop sign an "Idaho Stop", it makes it anything other than breaking the law. It might be more acceptable if the people who practice it observed the rule that you still have to yield to other road users, but too often, they don't. I've even had people run into me from the rear on the stretch when I stop. If you get a ticket from MPD for running this stop sign, look somewhere else for sympathy.

[washcycle]

In Paris, cyclists can ignore stop signs on three-way intersection like this one (where no traffic is coming from the right). But here in DC, it is both an "Idaho Stop" and against the law.

[Slappy J]

Three words (From someone who has been doored roughly 10 times in the last 25 years): Take. The. Lane.

[Jack]

Be SAFE - Stay Away From the Edge (and door zones)

[Lee]

Yes, I always take the full lane. My husband rides a motorcycle and he warned me...doors are your enemy! Drivers can also get hurt. I saw a driver get seriously injured when she flung open her door, put her legs out....just as a car drove past. That car smashed into her door and flung it back with enourmours force. So her own door crushed both of her legs. It was terrible! Be careful when you open your doors in a traffic lane.

[jeffb]

Be careful when you open your doors in a traffic lane.

In the video the reporter demonstrates the technique of opening the door with your opposite hand - doing so naturally turns your body enabling you to look for oncoming traffic.

I don't think many drivers practice this. Certainly none to whom I have suggested this approach do.

[SJE]

In the same spot I took the lane but someone cut across traffic to get a parking spot, and I went over the hood.

[Jack]

A cyclist was seriously injured in a DC dooring incident 3 or 4 years ago. I'm told that a couple months later he had a fatal heart attack, and his friends considered his injuries to be the cause.

[T]

The tv anchor's advice was good, but I would also add to open a door slowly. People who fling open their doors are begging for them to be hit by a cyclist or even a vehicle using the roadway.

I've had a couple of close calls and always right to the edge of those lanes/sometimes taking the lanes. It's the other reason I prefer blinky light mode in the city--it seems to catch the eye of those opening doors.

[DE]

I ride through here most days. I tend to take the center turn lane, which has its own problems but is better than the door zone. I really can't understand who people ride in the door zone.

Like Crickey, I yield the right-of-way at the stop signs through here, and regularly have cyclists blow through past me, taking the right-of-way from the car I yielded to. Idaho stop only works if you're not rude.

[DE]

"People who," not "who people," which is another species entirely.