Electric Bike Rider Dies After Dooring

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/man-dies-after-car-dooring-incident-in-highett-20140605-39ky0.html

A 54-year-old cyclist has died after a dooring incident in Melbourne’s south-east.
Police say the man was riding an electric bike on Highett Road, Highett, just after midday on May 26 when he crashed into the open door of a Commodore station wagon.
The man fell from his bike and suffered head injuries, an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said.
He was taken to The Alfred Hospital where he died on Tuesday morning.
A police spokeswoman said the driver would be interviewed over the incident and that a report would be prepared for the coroner.

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jeez, this is awful. The article doesn't say anything about whether he was wearing a helmet or not, but this is why I ALWAYS wear a helmet. Anytime you're on the road with cars, even parked ones, this stuff can happen in a blink of an eye. I always try to stay just outside door range of parallel parked cars, but sometimes I get forced in and am always keenly aware of what the risk is...

While it is very sad and unfortunate this happened, I have been a motor cyclist for many many years and see people putting them selves into dangerous positions all the time. It would be easy to blame the car driver saying he opened the door without looking, but you can also protect yourself by not putting yourself in the position where your life is in someone else's hands.
I have seen too many times when a bike blames someone else for an accident when with more awareness and observation they could have avoided being in danger. You have to take control of your own safety not trust it to the diligence of others.

Tench said:

While it is very sad and unfortunate this happened, I have been a motor cyclist for many many years and see people putting them selves into dangerous positions all the time. It would be easy to blame the car driver saying he opened the door without looking, but you can also protect yourself by not putting yourself in the position where your life is in someone else's hands.
I have seen too many times when a bike blames someone else for an accident when with more awareness and observation they could have avoided being in danger. You have to take control of your own safety not trust it to the diligence of others.

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Perhaps but it is also nonsense to suggest that you have control over your environment.

Every time you hop into a car, every time you cycle a bike, every time you cross a road or walk along a footpath you are at the mercy of others. The only thing you can control is the odds of an event occurring but that's no guarantee. A loose tyre could finish you, a suicidal driver that wants to take someone with them, a deer bounding across a road and a thousand other things that you have no control over can end your existence.

We don't even think about but the food we eat, the water we drink, the medications we consume for illnesses. We take all of that stuff for granted but any one of those items could kill us if someone has neglected their job or is out to kill people.

You're life is always in the hands of someone else.

Very sad. The fact that he was riding an ebike very likely has nothing to do with him dying. Situational awareness means survival. His was not good enough.

I've been biking and motorcycling now for about 50 years. I gave up riding where I would get doored about 45 years ago. One time at age 10 or so taught me.

There is no way you can ride with no risk. But by the time I turned 21, I'd learned to never do a whole lot of things ever again.

My survival to 21 was pure luck, not my day to die, whatever you call it. But since then, I try really hard to stack the odds a lot more in my favor. That goes for everything, riding, car driving, skiing, flying, working construction. Always looking out for number one.

Just one example, that crane did not drop that truss on me, because I was not under it. It landed 3 feet from me, but I was NOT under it. 3 feet and that guy would never have been doored.

The really cool thing about ebikes, is that you can take a safer route miles out of your way with ease. I do the same thing all the time in cars too.

Amen to the cautious long-route philosophy described by Dogman. Helmets are great abrasion protection devices and help spread the force of impacting 'pointy' stuff, but a bonk is a bonk whether you're wearing one or not.

I notice the article reads as if he collided with the open door, discounting the possibility that someone collided the door into him. Dead men tell no tales.

On a bicycle you can't go far on Melbourne Australia roads without the cops pulling you over , Melbourne is known as the nanny state down here.
I would be absolutely stunned to say the least if he didn't have a helmet on at the time.

I don't live terribly far away from there. Road looks pretty quiet and safe really, guess he was unlucky.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.947171,145.028636,3a,75y,97.81h,72.11t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sR4fwqxP01-QQZRUj_3lkLg!2e0
Maybe the car driver saw him coming and did it deliberately as they could of had a tiff in the past or something.

This guy died on Glenferrie Rd, which is a road I have ridden up and down about 200 times of the last few years. Don't have to any more.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/reflecting-on-a-tragedy-20111125-1nzd7.html#ixzz1eloDSCzx
Victoria State Australian Law on dooring below....(from article above)
Director of road user safety at VicRoads, "road rules state that people opening vehicle doors, leaving doors open and getting in and out of vehicles must ensure they are not causing a hazard to any person or vehicle". Failure to do so carries a maximum court penalty of $366, or an on-the-spot infringement fine of $122. In instances where someone is killed or injured, police can raise more serious offences.


Another dooring that happened in Melbourne a few months ago
[youtube]e4bLcMapzSo[/youtube]

The law is clear. It was the car drivers fault.
But we all know that only a tiny fraction of cardrivers watch in the mirror before open the door becouse the penalty if something happen even if its cold blooded death is so negliable that it is too easy to forget to watch in mirror.
I wonder if the car driver would have known that if he would door someone to death than must gone 10 years minimum behind bars. If he than would have just watched 2 secounds in the frocking mirror?? no one knows, but i for sure would have watched.

Joseph C. said:

Perhaps but it is also nonsense to suggest that you have control over your environment.

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This is so true. It does make me wonder whether we can do better with respect to safety gear. Truthfully though, there are no smoking guns to these type of problems. There is inherent danger in what we all do and it's foolish to brush off these type of accidents as mistakes that we would not make ourselves.

Car drivers fault, for sure. No doubt about it.

However, it might have been quite possible to take a different route. Bike lanes that occupy the get your ass doored zone are incredibly stupid, and I will never ride the one we have in my town. Nor will I ride a bike lane on another street, where getting right crossed is inevitable. The city govt calls this dumb crap making the city bike friendly.

Luckily, in my town, other routes abound, just get off the main drag and take a residential side street. But mind that person backing out the driveway. 8)
In the "new" town, the city demands developers to include good bike lanes and paths into the plan.

I totally agree with DM on this, you can make a difference and do a lot to improve your own safety out there, while I also agree you are never 100% safe you can massively change the odds!

Some peoples behaviour on the roads is akin to a pedestrian crossing the road without looking, they trust their fate totally to the behaviour of others.

Unfortunately, the guy who died may not have had a lot of bike experience.

I just got real lucky I learned some things riding so much in my pre teens and teens. Riding with the racing club at 14 taught me tricks I'd never have learned any other way. Lots of miles to learn all the ways cars are out to get you.

A decent rearview mirror on the bike will let you avoid the dooring zone without looking backwards, focussing on the dooring area, and letting you take the lane when there is no-one behind, getting out of the zone most of the time. Back in the zone when the cars approach, you can look in every mirror for drivers in their cars, slowing down a bit, without loosing a view behind. This helps. Caution is warranted.

I used to ride with a full face DOT helmet, which doubled as a nose/ears frostbite inhibitor in the winters. Now it's just too damn hot so I rock a regular bicycle helmet. It's true that it can only do so much, but for the random case where a crash is unavoidable even after safe riding practices, for a few ounces it seems a shame not to put it there.


And I don't get wind hair.

Sad accident.

My take on it is it was an accident. And an accident usually takes a certain amount of carelessness. But the carelessness is usually a cumulative effect of the 2 people involved in the accident. Let me explain further.

If one person has enough awareness about them, it is possible for them, in some circumstances, to mitigate the carelessness of the other person such that an accident does not occur. In this case, if the biker were more aware of his location in proximity to parked car doors and how they open, he might have dodged that "door prize". On the other hand, if the driver of the car were more aware, we might have been able to wait for room before opening his door as to not give a "door prize".

It's like 2 people immersed in their own smartphones that walk into each other. If either of them were paying more attention, that person could have taken steps to avoid the other. I guess what I'm saying is that it takes 2 to tango.

Let me also make it clear that one person could be so careless in their whereabouts as to overcome another person's carefulness, and still trip the "accident threshold"

bullshit. i always look before i open the door. just another negligent driver.

when you live in a comfy air conditioned cocoon and could care less about the stupid bicyclists who constantly slow you down and get in the way there is no way you would ever even care to look in the mirror.

i bet they sue his estate for the damage to the car too.

Although in the older, wiser and "experienced" category - these past couple years I always do a ride cam.

While it won't prevent these incidents it will likely provide some evidence about what happened. If it's my fault, it's my fault. But if it's Oscar Grope's fault - my wife/family will most likely be more successful seeking damages.

Talk of "preventing" or "avoiding" these situations is Monday morning QB'ing. People can and should learn/study MSF and bicycle safety but I won't dive into "what if?" here. A man is dead. His family surely grieves and I'm sorry for their loss....

dnmun said:

bullshit. i always look before i open the door. just another negligent driver.

when you live in a comfy air conditioned cocoon and could care less about the stupid bicyclists who constantly slow you down and get in the way there is no way you would ever even care to look in the mirror.

i bet they sue his estate for the damage to the car too.

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Maybe you always look. That doesn't mean every one else does every time. Keep riding in the 'door zone' and expecting drivers to pay attention and let me know how that goes for you.

I'll maintain that it takes 2 to Tango and stay out of the door zone so that even if some idiot does pull this crap, I can give him a nice hiney slap from a safe distance

Just this evening I attended a memorial bike ride for a fellow cyclist that was killed by a drunk driver on May 30th. Here's the part that to me is just shocking, the driver was arrested for drunk driving, the accident occurred at 7:30 in the morning.
The biker was wearing his helmet and had biked for years and was nearly to work. He and his family recently moved here recently just a tragedy.

Tall truck and driver driving erratically plus he was first arrested for DUI. His name has not been released and he still hasn't been charged with anything. Our city isn't bike friendly.

Ultimately we carry our fate when on a bicycle. Sure a small meteorite could fall from the sky and kill you there isn't anything you can do about that but you can never, ever let your guard down. Back a hundred years ago when I rode motorcycles I watched everything, calculated what may or may not happen, basically on my game every time I rode. I only gave up riding because, well I liked to go fast and the odds eventually left my favor.

Just be aware that 25% of drivers care about you, 50% of drivers may care about your fate but let's face it they suck at driving. Then the other 25% are annoyed that your on a bike and half of those drivers probably hate bikes on their road.

I'm not altogether sure what I just wrote makes sense but it was a long day and the memorial ride was tough on me for some reason.

Be safe
Dan L.

Bit more detail on it here.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/cyclist-dies-after-crashing-into-opened-car-door-in-highett/story-fni0fit3-1226944580652
The driver was initially hit with a $352 fine for “causing hazard to a person by opening door or when alighting a vehicle”.

But following the cyclist’s death, the driver has been questioned again by detectives and was released pending summons on more serious charges.

Police allege the driver had pulled over and parked his Commodore station wagon when he opened the door without looking as the cyclist passed on Highett Rd, near View St in Highett, just after midday on May 26.


The driver was a commodore station wagon driver, that raises my paranoid theory that it was deliberate dooring attack by 40%.

It is really sad to hear that someone has died as a result of a dooring.

The video shows that taxi was just stopped in traffic when the occupants got out. The taxi was not pulled over nor did it have it's indicator on to give the rider any indication that someone was going to exit the vehicle.
I wonder if the taxi driver or company could be held accountable seeing as how the occupant that caused the dooring would not give his details?

Ykick said:

these past couple years I always do a ride cam.

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at the risk of getting fairly off topic, what is your setup for a ride cam? Automatic recording or a GoPro you have to turn on and off each time?

I've been wanting to setup an automatic ride cam like all those russian dash cams but haven't found a good solution for an ebike that is no-fuss enough. The problem with GoPros and the like is that you still have to take the time to turn it on and off and erase the card when it gets full and such. I'd really love an automatic setup that just runs off a DC-DC converter on my bike.

Danschutz said:

Back a hundred years ago when I rode motorcycles...

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Just how old are you, Danschutz? :lol:

mlt34 said:

Ykick said:

these past couple years I always do a ride cam.

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at the risk of getting fairly off topic, what is your setup for a ride cam? Automatic recording or a GoPro you have to turn on and off each time?

I've been wanting to setup an automatic ride cam like all those russian dash cams but haven't found a good solution for an ebike that is no-fuss enough. The problem with GoPros and the like is that you still have to take the time to turn it on and off and erase the card when it gets full and such. I'd really love an automatic setup that just runs off a DC-DC converter on my bike.

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Nothing as elegant as you desire. My setup is an old Tachyon low-res action cam that I repowered with a small RC Lipo - it originally used AA Alkaline. Waterproof and uses SD memory cards. I just recharge it when charging the bike. My only complaint is that it's not HD. Hard to capture license plates in less than ideal conditions.

The best part is if/when I have an angry run-in with NYC drivers/peds, point to the cam and say "smile" - their behavior always changes drastically. Geez, I wonder why? Plus, it's just cool to have video when weird shit happens like presidential motorcades or running across something strange and/or unusual.

I think there's an untapped market for front & rear Hi-def cam loop video recorders loop-recording whenever a bike's on the road. Not just for bicycles/eBikes but motos too. It would be much simpler and better to have an automatic central DVR and small wide angle cams.

Years ago one of our UK brothers showed a sweet system similar to that description. Dunno whatever happened to him but I'll look in my post history and see what I can find? He posted some vids that were perfect for this application.

As to this sad "dooring" incident - I can assure everyone that you can be in between gridlocked fast-slow lanes and some idiot will have the bright idea to swing a vehicle door open. Perfect example years before I started recording - traffic pretty much stopped along 6-lanes (2 each direction plus bus lane) 57th St. NYC.

Rolling between traffic fast and right lanes when some woman pax realized her coat belt was caught in car door. She swung the door open at just the "wrong" time - but luckily years of experience lane-sharing in CA, MSF and general riding paranoia I was travelling at speed in which I could react and stopped before a major collision.

It's similar to riding motos in Elk country at night - you must SLOW DOWN and keep a keen eye out for those critters as they will ruin your life if you're riding too fast without extreme situational awareness.

In addition to a constant-cam, advertizing that its real-time upload is good, too. Some people will attack you for video recording them: http://www.photographyisnotacrime.com