DriveSmartBC - Opening the Door
 

Imagine the surprise of the motorist at a collision I once investigated. He parked at the side of the road, opened his door, and a passing car tried to tear it off! It's a good thing he didn't step out while he opened the door.

What went wrong here? The motorist didn't look first, or didn't see what was overtaking him. He probably felt safe in the fact that he had stopped close to the curb and was out of harm's way.

Failing to look or see when you open your door poses a significant threat to cyclists. They must use the right hand edge of the roadway and are difficult to see because of their size. The cyclist that slams into an opening car door can be seriously injured.

People must not open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so. Once a door on that side is open, it must not be left open for longer than is required to load or unload passengers. One must always look carefully in the rear view mirror for any overtaking traffic before opening that door.

Reference Links

i almost take a door off every day driving in vancouver. on the small side streets, people just swing their doors open like it's their RIGHT to do so and if anyone has anything to say about it they will get mad... well one of these days there will be a car coming towards me and some retard is gonna open their door in front of me and i'll have no choice but to take their door off... people are so clueless in vancouver.

People up here seem to wait until a car is coming then swing it open right before you pass them. Just the other day I see their door open an inch, then three seconds later right as I'm going by it goes swinging out and I see some lady jumping out. I drive a giant Lincoln. One day that door will just be gone.

so skidmark, gauging from your post if a driver opens their door and a biker slams first into it, the car's operator would have a claim against their insurance ?

Since we like to play the "what if" game around here...

What if I DID take off the driver's door... as I drove by. Who would likely be found liable?

Just curious. I know it's more of an ICBC question...

what if game... i'll play..

what if you're driving at speed limit and a small child just runs/pops out between some parked cars and on the street. you brake as hard as you can but still hit the child. who's fault is it? somewhat similar, no?

No, a small child doesn't have the same ability to gauge traffic before he runs out into the road.

If you are driving along and the driver of a parked car opens the door into your path to get out, it is their fault, not yours.