New “dooring” legislation good, but not good enough

Shane Wade
Opinion Editor

Justice is nigh for cyclists that have been injured as a result of “dooring.”

Just this week, the Virginia Senate approved a bill (Senate Bill 736) that penalizes drivers and passengers of vehicles who open their vehicle doors to block the path of cyclists and other oncoming traffic. Accident responsibility shifts from cyclist to motorist, with a fine up to $100 for violators.

This small bill has big implications and represents a larger contextual progression for cyclists throughout Virginia; a movement  to establish public awareness that cyclists have equal road rights to motorists. The sizable fine levied against violators should be used to fund a road awareness campaign aimed at educating motorists that the road is a shared space.

The campaign should also advocate the creation of exclusive cyclist lanes on the roadway. Numerous cyclist advocacy groups, including Bicycle Life and Bicycling Safety, cite door collisions as the second-most common type of bike-car collision. VCU’s own 2010 State of Cycling report found that 7 percent of accidents in the VCU area were the result of dooring.

It may seem like a trivial issue to legislate, but it’s important for the public to know that roads can and should be a safe place; efforts like this help solidify the fact that cyclists and motorists share a potentially dangerous area. Increased attentiveness on both their parts creates a positive environment, ripe for discussion.

Cyclists need to be protected from the danger of motorists who feel that cyclists are imposing on “their roads.”

I myself have stopped cycling because of how dangerous a city environment is for cyclists. The shared road becomes a lethal maze with death by car at every open space and awkward pedestrian or inanimate object collisions on the alternative space.

In a match, four thousand pounds of steel, a roaring engine and a sputtering exhaust pipe versus five pounds and a helmet isn’t a fair fight. As much as cyclists have a right to ride in the middle of a lane, they don’t always have the clearing to do so, with behemoths breathing down their backs and the potential for an inattentive passenger of a parked car to casually open their door. It’s hardly different from walking a tightrope without a safety net.

For cyclists in the city, current laws have done little to increase comfort or perceived safety; hopefully this legislation changes that. The danger inherent in our infrastructure is that it passively lends advantage to motorists; our entire perception and construction of a city is built around the automobile, from parking and street lights to sidewalks and buildings.

For motorists complaining about potentially being fined for another person’s “mistake,” think instead of this as a progression to a wider discussion about personal obligation and a side effect of using public roads. As long as motorists remain attentive, they’ll be absolved of blame.

Unfortunately for some, that means spending a few extra seconds being patient, waiting for traffic to pass or looking for oncoming cyclists.