Today, I got into the classic bike crashing into the car door accident

Xevious

Xevious

CAGiversary!
I live in a bike friendly area and I've been riding my bike for over 10 years now. There has been many instances where I would be riding along a series of parked cars and suddenly a car door would open in front of me. Usually I swerve right out of the way in the nick of time.

Today though, some dude got me. I was riding at a fairly slow pace and I was looking at something to my left when I heard a car door opening in front of me. As soon as I turn my head, I smashed right into the door and the handlebars went right into my chest and arm leaving a big red line across it. It was really painful.

The car owner and I were talking and it became apparent that his car door was fucked up. The car owner asked for my insurance which I thought was strange. I told him that I do not have insurance because I have a bike. I suggested that we should call the police and make a police report but he said he didn't want to do that.

We exchanged phone number although I felt weird doing it.

Anyways, I'm back home and I have a bit of a headache and the bruises on my chest.

Has anyone gone through this? I'm hoping this dude doesn't become a pain in the ass. I felt like it was his fault. I'm still trying to calm down from this whole situation.

EDIT:
To be clear. It wasn't as bad as this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKbXH2cAyI

I didn't fall off my bike
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']You should have given him a fake number.[/QUOTE]

Yeah.. that's true. I was still stunned from the accident though (I still am right now).

Still I guess giving him my correct number was the right thing to do for karma reasons. It may bite me in the ass later on. I don't know.
 
Take some photos of the bruises on your chest. Just to be safe. If he sues you for damages to his car you can counter for your medical bills!
 
[quote name='keithp']Take some photos of the bruises on your chest. Just to be safe. If he sues you for damages to his car you can counter for your medical bills![/QUOTE]


Yeah...thought of that right after I typed the first post. Its a good idea.
 
A busted door is going to cost quite a bit. My girlfriend had her side mirror smashed and it cost $300 for that tiny thing. I suspect you're going to get a phone call with a hefty bill :whistle2:(

In the meantime, dude get some ice on your battle wounds. If that headache doesn't go away or if you have any dizziness, head to the hospital. Sounds like you took a pretty hard blow to the chest and may have a mild concussion.
 
first off, i hope youre ok.

secondly, screw that guy. it was his fault. he has to look when opening car doors. it was his neglect.

if he tries to call you, you should claim that the accident gave you whiplash and you suggest he should pay, suggesting that you would call the police to sort it out. thatll scare that prick off. asking for your insurance? what is he a fucking moron.
 
you definelty should have called the police to file a report because now its just your words vs his and if hes prick enough he could try to lie so you end up having to pay for repairs.
 
It seems to me like it's the responsibility of the person inside the car to look around before opening the door. I just don't see how it would be the responsibility of the bicyclist to anticipate someone opening a car door. Especially when you consider alot of cars have tinted back and side windows.

If anything, you're the one who has a case against him.
 
Thanks for the responses everyone. It helps to hear everyone's opinion. I'm still trying to calm down from this thing (My adrenline is up a little bit). I still have a headache but its not as bad as before.

I guess I will play the waiting the game to see if this guy makes a move or not. I guess the worst thing that could happen is that we both go to small claims court. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I called the police (non-emergency) number and the dispatcher couldn't give me any clarification on the situation. So I have no choice but to see how this plays out.

Interestingly enough, I searched the internet and found that a few people died going through the same accident. I guess if I was going faster, I would easily have gone right through the glass. But like i said before, I never fell off the bike.
 
Legally the driver is at fault. Bicyclists and pedestrians have the right of way over cars. Since you're in California, this will be of benefit to you:

V C Section 22517 Opening and Closing Doors
Opening and Closing Doors

22517. No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open upon the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.
Click to expand...

Basically, he broke the law by opening the driver-side door without checking if it was safe for him to do so first. If he tries anything against you, it's more likely to hurt him than it is you.

My advice would be to do what keithp said and take pictures of your injuries. If there is any damage done to your bike, I would suggest taking pictures of those as well. You might also want to consider talking to an attorney as a precaution. With my Google-fu, I was surprised to learn that there are actual "bicycle accident lawyers" you can contact. They might suggest you go to a doctor to have your injuries checked out.
 
[quote name='Cantatus']Legally the driver is at fault. Bicyclists and pedestrians have the right of way over cars. Since you're in California, this will be of benefit to you:



Basically, he broke the law by opening the driver-side door without checking if it was safe for him to do so first. If he tries anything against you, it's more likely to hurt him than it is you.

My advice would be to do what keithp said and take pictures of your injuries. If there is any damage done to your bike, I would suggest taking pictures of those as well. You might also want to consider talking to an attorney as a precaution. With my Google-fu, I was surprised to learn that there are actual "bicycle accident lawyers" you can contact. They might suggest you go to a doctor to have your injuries checked out.[/QUOTE]

Wow. That is great! Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it.
 
part of the reason bicyclists tend to annoy me is because there's no way you can hit one and not be at fault. and I'm not trying to say I want to hurt anyone but some dudes on bikes are crazy. You can't bob and weave thru moving traffic the way some of these guys do. It's unsafe and as much as the car guy will be at fault you'll still be broken.

In those situations my dad has a saying "You can be right, or you can be alive"

Anyway most of that doesn't apply to you except that i really don't see anyway in which you could be held accountable for what happened. Any advice I would give has already been offered above so I'll just note that I agree with them.
 
[quote name='CouRageouS']A busted door is going to cost quite a bit. My girlfriend had her side mirror smashed and it cost $300 for that tiny thing. I suspect you're going to get a phone call with a hefty bill :whistle2:([/QUOTE]
Why? Even in Quebec we are taught at driving school that it is YOUR responsibility to look out and through your side mirror as to not hit anyone.
 
I don't know about how it's like in California, but bicyclists running into open car doors are becoming a bigger issue in New York City. There were two separate incidents where the bicyclists actually got run and killed over by a vehicle after colliding into a car door.
Glad to hear that nothing like that happened to you.
 
If I wasn't looking where I was going when driving and ran into someone, it would be my fault. Why any different if you're a cyclist, as the OP admitted to not paying attention?
 
[quote name='daschrier']If I wasn't looking where I was going when driving and ran into someone, it would be my fault. Why any different if you're a cyclist, as the OP admitted to not paying attention?[/QUOTE]

If you open up your door into traffic and a car hits it, it is your own fault. My sister once took off someones door completely but the woman opened it like an ass and my sister was not responsible at all. Of course, it depends on the circumstances, but from how it sounds in the OP, the door was opened unexpectedly with no time to react.
 
[quote name='daschrier']If I wasn't looking where I was going when driving and ran into someone, it would be my fault. Why any different if you're a cyclist, as the OP admitted to not paying attention?[/QUOTE]

I was initially going to comment about that, but the law places the fault more in the hands of the driver. Even if Xevious was paying attention, it's quite possible he wouldn't have been able to change what happened as he wouldn't have been able to stop in time (or he might've instinctually swerved out of the way and into oncoming traffic, making things worse). Had the owner of the car been paying attention, the accident could've been avoided altogether.

I can give an example of this involving cars that happened a couple years ago to my mom: My mom was going about 40mph through an intersection when a van turned in front of her. My mom had the right of way since the light for her was green. In this instance, my mom was paying attention and tried to stop, but wasn't able to in time and still crashed into the side of the van. However, even if my mom wasn't paying attention (say she was adjusting the radio at the time), she still likely wouldn't have been held liable due to the fact that it's unlikely she could've done anything to avoid the accident and the fact that accident was caused by the other driver breaking the law. Had the owner of the van been paying attention, the accident could've been avoided altogether.
 
I agree that a driver should do a quick glance to the mirrors before opening doors, but I disagree that the bicyclist is not at fault. Imagine you have a vehicle full of passengers. There are vehicles where it is not possible for passengers to be able to check all around safely before opening the door either through a lack or mirror or design of the car itself.

Also, it should be mentioned that the "law" reposted above appears to be written with vehicle traffic in mind and does not mention bicyclists or their right of way. You can not simply assume that because you're a pedestrian you can frolic in the street and not be at fault for anything because you have right of way.. it is not an all encompassing concept.

Before you file some kind of lawsuit, keep in mind that you should have been operating at a reasonable speed and focused on safely operating your bicycle or you will probably be found at fault. You cannot live your life based on expecting everyone else to follow rules and now more than ever, you need to cover your own ass. If you are riding a bike, and especially so close to cars, you need to be going at a speed that you can stop yourself at a reasonable amount of time given your proximity to your surroundings. It won't be avoidable 100% of the time, but it sounds like you weren't paying attention and "fairly slow" is awfully subjective so you are both at fault.
 
This morning I received a call from AAA insurance. The guy wanted a recorded statement and I gave it to him. I requested a copy of my statement be mailed to me; It is coming in the form of a cd rom. He asked me if I intended to sue and I told him "I prefer not to." My head is still a little woozy but I am feeling better today.

I saw a few of the posts and I need to clarify that this was not a busy street. In fact this was a quiet neighborhood street and all the cars were parked on both sides of the street. There was no traffic (with the exception of me of course). The guy who opened the door was the only person in the car. There were no other passengers. The driver and myself were not yelling at each other. We were both fairly calm.

And yes I did look to my left but i didn't look for a long time. It wasn't a stare by any means.

Hopefully this ugly incident will be put to the past.
 
[quote name='Wolfkin']part of the reason bicyclists tend to annoy me is because there's no way you can hit one and not be at fault. and I'm not trying to say I want to hurt anyone but some dudes on bikes are crazy. You can't bob and weave thru moving traffic the way some of these guys do. It's unsafe and as much as the car guy will be at fault you'll still be broken.

In those situations my dad has a saying "You can be right, or you can be alive"[/QUOTE]


Bikers can be just like any other asshole on the road, and they aren't exempt from the rules. I know this very well since I followed the rules yet still managed to be run over. People don't pay attention on the road, which is what sounds like in this situation.

You already did yourself a big diservice by providing a recorded statement without consult of a lawyer, however it is good that you're receiving a copy of it. If you made a slip up providing them a statement - no matter how small it is - they will not hesitate to use it against you in any attempt to resolve their insured of the blame.

If you haven't already, be sure you get checked out for any injuries. Medical complications could show up later in life that may not be apparent now so you want to be sure you get those cleared before you settle on anything.
 
Sounds like a fun Torts exam question.

But to be less glib, the guy in the car probably has the lion's share of the fault.
 
I don't know if I'm using the right logic here, but isn't this HIS fault? I mean, he should have looked before opening the door. It's much easier for him to wait to open the door than for you to stop or swerve. And if you would have swerved away, you could have been hit by a moving car. If the guy had done the same thing, only his door got ripped off by another car instead, would it have been the other car's fault for not stopping on a dime?

That's just my thought anyway. I wouldn't give the guy anything.
 
[quote name='QiG']I agree that a driver should do a quick glance to the mirrors before opening doors, but I disagree that the bicyclist is not at fault. Imagine you have a vehicle full of passengers. There are vehicles where it is not possible for passengers to be able to check all around safely before opening the door either through a lack or mirror or design of the car itself.
[/QUOTE]

While a cyclist could do something to gain fault it is still on the passengers of the car to prove the cyclist was to blame, and I do not think glancing to the left proves the bicyclist was to blame. An alert driver/cyclist will look at all his surroundings and would not assume that something is going to just appear 5 feet in front of him. It's not the bikers thought if the driver has a car that has blind spots. Even if a car had no side mirrors, passengers should be able to look behind the car through the rear/side windows and wait a second until their blind spots have cleared. If those windows are blocked or tinted so they can't see they automatically accept fault for whatever happens when they open the door.

However, the sad thing is do you want to be right or uninjured.
 
[quote name='Access_Denied']I don't know if I'm using the right logic here, but isn't this HIS fault? I mean, he should have looked before opening the door. It's much easier for him to wait to open the door than for you to stop or swerve. And if you would have swerved away, you could have been hit by a moving car. If the guy had done the same thing, only his door got ripped off by another car instead, would it have been the other car's fault for not stopping on a dime?

That's just my thought anyway. I wouldn't give the guy anything.[/QUOTE]this is basically the conclusion we've all come to.

most of the discussion here isn't so much if we're legally correct.. but how legally correct we are.
 
While I agree that the driver of the car should be more careful when opening a door, a bicyclist should also be more cautious and pay attention to where the fuck they're going.

Sorry you were injured, OP, but sometimes people on bikes really annoy me. Like when they think they don't have to stop at a 4-way intersection. There are stop signs there for a reason, dumbass! Just because you're on a bike, it doesn't mean you're exempt from traffic laws (or common sense).
 
This is my fantasy. I want to do this to every mother fucking lane splitting motorcyclist asshole here in California. They deserve to rot in traffic like the rest of us. That being said, you should have put it in his pooper.

I'm sorry it took us two pages to get there.
 
To you guys saying that it's impossible for the person to have looked out of the window to see if there was anything coming before opening the door.. I have no words. It takes literally 5 seconds to take a quick glance of of the window and take a look around before opening the door. On the other hand if you are on a bike and riding along, you can't seriously expect the bike rider to look through every window of every car that they cycle past looking out for people that might be opening their doors..

@QiG This whole fairly slow thing is stupid.. He could have been going super fast and the only difference would have been that he was more severely hurt.
 
[quote name='Phelmo']@QiG This whole fairly slow thing is stupid.. He could have been going super fast and the only difference would have been that he was more severely hurt.[/QUOTE]


The only argument in which speed could've made a difference is if he was exceeding the speed limit. On a bicycle, there's not too many other things that could cause distractions.
 
[quote name='shieryda']sometimes people on bikes really annoy me. Like when they think they don't have to stop at a 4-way intersection. There are stop signs there for a reason, dumbass! Just because you're on a bike, it doesn't mean you're exempt from traffic laws (or common sense).[/QUOTE]I can feel where you're coming from with this. I hate those bikers who just ride thru anything. Barely slow down thru traffic lights but will keep a pace when they're in the middle of the lane.

Still doesn't mean you're exempt if you hit them. A motorcycle might be able to sneak up on you with it's speed (and ninja like silence?) but a bicycle hitting a parked car when the door opens. Esp in an area of the city that's bike friendly. Not like you were in Atlanta.
 
[quote name='Phelmo']@QiG This whole fairly slow thing is stupid.. He could have been going super fast and the only difference would have been that he was more severely hurt.[/QUOTE]

I'm not exactly sure what your argument is, but I'll say this: First, we're only hearing one side of the story. Second, OP chose to ride in a street that is populated with vehicles and admitted as much as he wasn't paying attention to the point where he can normally swerve out of the way and didn't have time to in this incident. Third, a bicyclist is expected to follow the same laws as someone driving a car. TELL me that when you drive you don't stay far enough away from parked cars that in the event of a door opening, you have that buffer?

I never said OP was 100% at fault, I said this could have been avoided by both parties.
 
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