How to prevent the dreaded door prize

My colleagues and I recently moved offices. For me, that change means I have extended my bicycle commute, which brings me immense joy. There’s nothing like getting ready for a day and winding down from one by pedalling hard and feeling the breeze on my face. But, on one stretch of my daily route there is street parking to my right in one lane and streetcar tracks and faster moving motor vehicles to my left. That means I ride through the dooring zone for part of the way to work. It can be unnerving, especially considering year after year we are retained by numerous cyclists injured in dooring incidents.

Most provinces have, on paper, laudable legislation aimed at deterring this common road-safety issue. The laws penalize those who would toss their door into moving traffic without first checking to see if it is safe to do so. This wasn’t always the case. Even in 2017, Nova Scotia was one of four provinces including New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan that did not classify dooring as a specific offence under road-safety legislation.

Along with newly minted laws have come increased financial penalties. In 2020, the provincial government in British Columbia increased the fine for dooring to $368.

Other provinces have engaged in public education campaigns to raise awareness about doorings. In Quebec, in addition to increasing fines from $30 to between $200 and $300 in 2016, the public auto insurer, the SAAQ, actively promotes tools for motorists and their passengers to avoid dooring someone. The SAAQ has started trumpeting the use of the “Dutch reach.” The Dutch reach is the practice of opening a car door using the hand that’s farthest away from it. By doing so the person’s body turns and faces the vehicle’s blind spot, giving them a chance to see oncoming cyclists (and other cars for that matter).

The Dutch reach is a great, cost-effective, easy-to-implement behaviour change. Provinces across the country could amend driver training programs and tests to teach and normalize the Dutch reach.

The NDP in Ontario tried to bring forward legislation to that effect in 2019, called the Teach the Reach Act. Unfortunately, the bill died after its second reading.

Not to be deterred, MPP Chris Glover has been looking to engineering ingenuity to curtail incidents of doorings. Glover, a dooring victim himself, worked with the University of Toronto Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department to develop a camera system set up inside mirrors that prevents doors from opening when a cyclist enters the dooring zone.

We cyclists should actively encourage our local and provincial governments to give dooring incidents and their victims the attention and support they deserve. We must also continue to cycle defensively. I’ll be relying on the age-old tricks and tactics of seasoned cyclists before me. You should, too. When you ride, look at car mirrors and into parked vehicles for occupants. Ring your bell constantly and have flashing lights to announce and illuminate your approach. Take more of the lane to the left when it’s safe to do so. And, if you’re like me, slow down and assume every door is out to get you.

A good defence is only as good as a strong offence, so we encourage everyone to continue to advocate locally for safe infrastructure, laws aimed at reducing dooring incidents and teaching our non-cycling friends the simple steps they can take to prevent injury.

What to do if you are involved in a dooring incident

1. Seek medical attention and contact emergency services.
2. Take pictures of the driver’s licence plate, insurance information and gather witness information.
3. Report to the police.
4. Contact a lawyer.

Dave Shellnutt is the founder and managing partner of The Biking Lawyer LLP, lawyers for injured cyclists, thebikinglawyer.ca