To the guy who got hit by an opening car door next to Flinders St Station tonight, I hope you haven’t broken anything and you’re doing ok. Was also nice to see so many people stop to help.
Did anyone else see this tonight?
I’ve always had a phobia of this happening to me one day and honestly it was one of the nastiest things I’ve seen and heard. (Could swear I heard a bone brake in the process)
…and to the fuckin princess who opened the door on him then had the balls to tell cyclists off for leaving their bikes on the road as they went to his assistance. ‘Karma baby’
I thought this guy would be stopped in his tracks once the door opened but instead it threw him to the side on to the footpath. He landed about 3 metres away from the door. It was kinda like a slingshot.
Got doored on Bridge rd late last year, definitely not something i would like to experience again.
Then a month after i got my new frame on the road i had a woman turn in front of me on Chapel st.
The feeling of your face hitting a passenger side window is very unsettling. 5 stitches and another new frame later i try to avoid ridding the shopping area of Chapel st.
Got doored last year by a council parking officer (camberwell rd) went over the door after bendig it back the wrong way, sued the fat bastard got my money in jan, paid for in blood.
now everytime i ride i think there maybe a nutter out there that can kill me, helps me stay focused :x
The thing to watch out for is the ‘kiss of death’. That’s when you’re riding in the bike lane and the traffic’s pulled up at the lights. You see through the car window up ahead as the passenger leans over to kiss the driver goodbye before they blindly fling the door open, into the bike lane, to get out.
I know that well. I’ve dodged enough doors, and I’m starting to wonder when my time is up.
Swanston St Bridge on a Friday night can be chaos with taxis and suits. It needs a concrete barrier like the top end. Man I’ve had a good shouting comp or two.
It’s never a driver door I have to watch out for, it’s always the passenger door. Going down Pulteney street, cars are lined up to turn left onto North terrace, me going along the inside between the cars and the footpath to turn left as well. Girl coming running across the footpath, in front on me, yanks open the door to one of the cars lined up. I mange to skid + front bake it to stop yelling “whoa whoa”. She stops, leaves the door open says sorry and steps back on the footpath, leaving the door open.
Then, riding along North terrace (same night), in the bike lane, some dude on the phone opens the door to his fancy BMW without looking. I saw this coming, rang my bell and yelled a “thanks” to him as I went past. I don’t think he got it.
But the ‘kiss of death’ got my friend a few years ago, leaving his bike under a bus… luckily neither were overly hurt.
I hope the dude that got doored is okay. I’ve only been riding steadily for 9 months or so, and I have enough close calls to last me.
i ride down chapel street everyday and its fucking horrible, two very close calls with dumb cunts just this week. Becuase of the traffic down chapel you have to watch on your left for drivers doors and on your right for passenger doors (specially taxis)
its crazy
i been lucky so far but that could run out soon enough, just waiting for the big door prize
Taxi’s are #1 culprits. Pull over in bike lane on increasingly congested pathways, people get out, others get in. Rinse and repeat. Happens every week.
I find when it rains it’s a hell of a lot worse as people are in much more of a hurry.
Recently ended up in the chest of some woman who was running across the bike lane on St Kilda Road to a car stuck in traffic of all places, didn’t even think to look at the on coming cyclists including myself.
She didn’t see me, I locked up hard and the wet didn’t slow me down at all. I crashed into her and knocked her down, her boyfriend got out of the car nervous as.
At least they were apologetic, but “sorry” doesn’t heal gravel rash!
I try not to rage, but seriously… open your eyes, you’ll end up worse than the riders!!
What are the ethical/karmic ramifications of carrying an already-broken ‘work critical’ PDA or mobile so you can go “OMG my phone/pda/glasses! pls pay!” cough coughhand out
Boring personal crash anecdote: I took off (with a green light) one drizzly night cnr brunswick st and alexandra pde heading north, and this bint in a cream Commode coming off the freeway decides to scoot across the intersection well after her red - ie after the green had been lit – probably wasn’t paying attention to the lights and just rolling along with the rest of the peak hour crawl. If I had been a red-light-jumping V8 it would have been spectacular. So I hit her rear passenger quarter and bang my knee on the ground - she stops in the lane (the right hand side lane, closest to the median) and gets out going ‘omg you okay?!’ I told her to get back into her car and keep an eye out next time.
But if I had a broken mobile in my pocket I would have gone ‘that fucken thing cost me $800’. Everyone knows how ‘important’ a mobile is. No-one knows (or cares) about pricey bike bits.
Dear God won’t someone validate my deceit
Oh, cabs. At 600 Bourke after 5pm they’re always double-parked just sitting there in the middle of the f’n road - cars and bikes alike forced to jump into the tramway and run the risk of getting smooshed there. Just so Sanjeesh and Raj Frank and Ralph can have a chat about how shit business is at the moment. How about you spread yourselves around a bit better instead fellas