Cyclists have the right to share the road with other vehicles. They should travel on the same side of the road as motor vehicles and must obey all of the same lights and signs.
Unfortunately, people in motor vehicles are not always considerate about the need to share the road with those on bicycles. Drivers sometimes make choices that put cyclists at risk in traffic. Other vehicle occupants can also endanger cyclists. Dooring incidents are a perfect example of this phenomenon.
A dooring collision involves a vehicle occupant opening a door into traffic when there is a cyclist approaching. The cyclist cannot avoid the door without swerving into traffic and may strike it, leading to serious injuries or secondary collisions. Are vehicle occupants responsible for dooring collisions, or are cyclists responsible because they failed to stop?
People should check traffic carefully before acting
State statutes in Ohio make it clear that any actions that could impede the flow of traffic can create liability. Drivers should not park in travel lanes or travel at speeds substantially lower than the overall flow of traffic.
They also need to check their surroundings before opening a vehicle door into an oncoming lane of traffic. Typically, anyone on the left side of a vehicle should look carefully for approaching traffic before opening the door. The failure to do so is usually the underlying cause of dooring incidents. Given that state statutes require that people check their surroundings for safety before opening vehicle doors, cyclists can usually assert that vehicle occupants are to blame for an incident involving a car door.
Dooring incidents can cause broken bones and brain injuries. They can cause catastrophic injuries if a cyclist gets thrown into traffic and struck by other vehicles. The damages caused by dooring incidents are often so severe that car insurance alone is insufficient to compensate the injured cyclist. Especially when considering lost income as the cyclist recovers, basic liability coverage may be woefully inadequate.
Reviewing a bicycle collision, such as a dooring incident, with a legal professional can help injured cyclists evaluate their options.