As an example of the issue of the potential for biased reporting of
collisions involving vulnerable users, here is a particularly egregious
example that was just pointed out to me concerning a very recent "dooring"
fatality in Oakland CA.
("Dooring" is slang for when a driver of a parked car opens their door
without seeing a cyclist approaching from behind, and the cyclist either
hits the door or swerves instinctively to avoid it. It can be fatal,
usually because the strike or swerve causes the cyclist to get hit by a
passing motor vehicle. Bicycle educators teach cyclists to always ride at
least 3-5 feet from parked cars for this reason, but sadly, too many
cyclists don't think about that, being more afraid of the moving traffic
than of the parked cars. Also sadly, some motorists don't understand why a
bicyclist may be riding so far into the travel lane and may harass him or
her because of it.)
This article refers to the bicyclist as "slamming into a parked car", then
later describes him as "crashing into the open door." It is further noted
that the man inside the parked car stayed at the scene and "cooperated with
the police". It is never mentioned that it is against the law for a driver
to open his or her car door into moving traffic. Does the reporter not know
that? Or did he not think about it, and why not? That omission, together
with language used, may give the impression that the driver did nothing
wrong (the cyclist was the only person described as having done something),
and in fact was exemplary because he was cooperating, and that the
bicyclist just wasn't looking where he was going. Meanwhile, simple math
says that a door that opens within two car lengths in front of a cyclist
going at a typical cruising speed does not have enough reaction time to
avoid it. And as Angela mentioned earlier today in another thread, there
was no opportunity for the cyclist to give his side of the story. Very sad.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/04/bicyclist-dies-in-oakland-after-colliding-with-two-vehicles/
P.S. I see in a related article that his family needs help with funeral
expenses. :-(
https://www.gofundme.com/f/w7hus-israel-lopez-funeral-services-fundraiser
