Bicyclist killed in crash after getting doored in Burbank
April 17, 2018
https://bikinginla.com/2018/04/17/bicyclist-killed-in-crash-after-getting-doored-in-burbank/
Sadly, last night’s breaking news has been confirmed.
As we noted earlier, KNBC-4 reported last night that a bike rider had been killed after getting doored at Alameda Avenue and Mariposa Street in Burbank.
Unfortunately, however, they failed to post the story online.
Now the Burbank Leader has confirmed that 53-year old Burbank resident Lenny Trinh died after the driver of a parked car opened door as Trinh rode in a bike lane on Alameda, knocking him off his bike and into the path of an oncoming pickup.
Trinh was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries.
The paper places the time of the crash at around 5 pm Monday, between Mariposa Street and Griffith Park Drive.
For a change, both drivers remained at the scene.
According to California law, the driver is always at fault in a dooring, as long as the victim is riding legally in the direction of traffic.
CVC 22517 clearly requires drivers to check for traffic before opening a car door and ensure that it does not interfere with traffic.
And yes, bike riders are considered traffic, in or out of a bike lane.
While dooring is one of the most common types of bicycle crashes, deaths are rare, averaging less than one per year in the entire SoCal region.
And they can be eliminated entirely if drivers are trained to use the Dutch Reach, opening the car door with their right hand so it forces them to look left over their shoulder.
This is at least the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 10th in LA County; it’s also the fifth bicycling fatality in the LA area in just the past two weeks.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Lenny Trinh and all his family and loved ones.