Safety never takes a holiday

Safety never takes a holiday

Last week, my wife was riding her bicycle when she got hit by a car. The driver opened his door and my wife rode straight into it. Several witnesses assisted and eventually she was taken to a hospital as a precaution. Thankfully, she got away with only four staples in her head, but the injuries could have been severe.

After a bit a research on the Internet, I have found an elegant a simple solution to minimize dooring:

Open the car door with your opposite hand.

Recently, the Ontario government has stepped up the fines for dooring. Andrew Morrow of the Globe and Mail writes:

“…drivers who hit cyclists when opening their doors will be dinged for $300 to $1,000 – up from the previous range of $60 to $300. They will also be slapped with three demerit points. That higher fine range and demerit point hit will also apply to people caught texting or talking on their phones behind the wheel – the toughest law in the country.”

HOWEVER, it doesn’t prevent the accident from occurring. Andrew Clark of the Globe and Mail writes:

“Fines are something you do after the fact. You know, after the door has flattened a cyclist. Perhaps I’m behind in my health sciences reading but I have failed to find an entry in The New England Journal of Medicine that reads, “patients in traction found their pain was greatly reduced when informed that the person responsible for inflicting that pain on them no longer has the money to buy a new iPad.”

Regardless who is at fault, safety is everyone’s responsibility. Cyclists and also drivers should follow the rules of the road and always be on the lookout for potential hazards!