Monthly Archives: April 2018

Dooring Accident Kills Burbank Cyclist

Police are investigating a dooring accident that killed a 51-year-old cyclist in Burbank. Two weeks ago, the cyclist was riding his bicycle in a designated bike lane when a car door opened in front of his path. After colliding with the car door, the cyclist was thrown into traffic and hit by an oncoming pickup truck. Emergency personnel rushed the cyclist to a hospital, but he later died from his injuries. This type of accident can occur even in designated bike lanes. Unfortunately, many bike lanes are next to rows of parked cars. You are also more likely to be in a dooring accident while biking in urban or residential areas. The following steps may help you reduce the risk of a dooring accident. Do not ride in the dooring zone. Ride farther to the left when passing parked vehicles. If the bike lane is too close to parked vehicles,…
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What Are Vulnerable Road Users?

We recently published a blog discussing how fatal accidents increased for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists in recent years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the most recent statistics on these traffic accidents. All three groups are known as “vulnerable road users” or “vulnerable users”. This is a catch-all term to describe people who are not using motor vehicles. Other examples of vulnerable users include people on skateboards, mopeds, farm vehicles or in wheelchairs. Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other vulnerable road users have little to no protection when they are involved in accidents. Some states have laws that help protect vulnerable users from harm. California does have some laws that take vulnerable users into account, but there is always room for improvement. The League of American Bicyclists has three recommendations states can use while crafting vulnerable user laws. These recommendations include: Creating a “vulnerable user law”. This law would…
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Are San Diego Cyclists Being Assaulted?

We have written about road rage on our blog before. Many of us who are used to cycling in San Diego have probably been honked at, yelled at, flipped off or cussed at by motorists who were unwilling to share the road. Unfortunately, there are also cases where cyclists are assaulted or pushed off the road by angry motorists. Assaults or attempted assaults on cyclists are not uncommon in California. Some cyclists have even recorded their encounters by using wearable cameras. Last year, a video of an East Bay Area cyclist being struck by a tennis ball was shared online. In other cases, cyclists have been run off the road  or screamed at by angry motorists. Cyclists who are assaulted can suffer serious injuries, or worse, they may be killed. What Cyclists Can Do After an Assault First, it would be wise to buy a wearable camera if you are…
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