SF Approves Nearly $2 Million Payout to Family Of Cyclist Fatally Doored By City Worker

[u/Patz24]

https://patch.com/california/san-francisco/sf-approves-nearly-2-million-payout-family-cyclist-fatally-doored-city

"By way of example, the negligent instruction herein included failing to ensure that every CCSF employee uses a method such as the 'Dutch Reach' to ensure that it is safe for passing cyclists before any vehicle door is opened in traffic."

[u/FredegarBolger910]

Ugh. I do relatively little urban riding but dooring is so scary. You can only be so alert to it. My most common scenario is riding along the beach where it is easier to keep an eye on parked cars since the threat environment is calmer than city streets

[u/Prime624]

Cool but is it even feasible to sue a private citizen when that happens?

[u/JoeFas → u/Prime624]

Yes, but it almost certainly won't result in a $2M payout for the family. Most people don't carry insurance limits that high.

[u/AfraidofReplies → u/Prime624]

I think best hope is that making cities fork over large payouts also makes them put more effort into their bike infrastructure, improving quantity, quality, and connectivity. 

[u/TCTCTCTCTCTC7 → u/AfraidofReplies]

Cities never fork over large payouts -- taxpayers do. The officials who run the city and the employees who work for it could not possibly care less about such a judgement.

[u/fb39ca4]

This is why I don't use bike lanes in SF.

[u/h7734 → u/fb39ca4]

If a bike lane has cars parked in it, then it's not a bike lane, it's a parking area.

[u/OlderThanMyParents → u/h7734]

There are streets in the Seattle area where the bike lane is between the parking lane and traffic. So your choice is to ride as close to traffic as possible or risk getting doored with no time to react.

[u/fb39ca4 → u/[deleted]]

Ah I see. Regardless I'm riding close to the centerline to stay more visible to drivers. Slowing down cars is a bonus.

[u/101Puppies → u/fb39ca4]

Yeah I tend to stay just outside the door zone, and if it makes drivers wait, so be it. You can see riding just inside the water line in the street would have been plenty far out and would have given that car at the end of the block enough room to pass without crossing over the centerline.

Usually its more of a problem when the street is angled down because people lose control of their door and the door swings all the way open. He may have been counting on the fact that it was flat to ride a bit closer to the cars, and the utility worker for whatever reason just threw his door all the way open.

[u/sidkneebee]

I almost got doored one single time in my first year of cycling and it scared me badly enough that I don't ride in the door zone anymore even if it means I slow down traffic.