Oak Bay Police are urging drivers to pay extra attention to cyclists when opening their vehicle doors after two collision incidents in the last three weeks.
In both instances, which were completely separate, police reported drivers had parked their vehicles and were proceeding to exit, when approaching cyclists collided with the vehicles’ doors.
On July 5, a cyclist crashed into an opening door from a pickup truck in the Beach Drive and Bowker Avenue area, though the driver of the vehicle sped off and no plates were obtained. About a week later, on July 19, a 45-year-old cyclist was knocked unconscious after a driver opened their door on Henderson Rd.
Both cyclists were fortunate to suffer only minor injuries.
Though alarming, the incidents don’t necessarily point to an increase in cycle-car-door collisions.
“I would not say we have had a noticeable increase,” said Oak Bay Police Chief Constable Andy Brinton, adding part of this can be attributed to a higher volume of cyclists due to the warmer weather and Oak Bay enjoying a relatively high cycle commuter population due to the proximity to UVIC, the Royal Jubilee medical complex, and downtown.
twitter.com
Though concerning, Brinton pointed noted incidents are entirely preventable through self-education and awareness, pointing towards the helpful work done by cycling advocacy groups on educating drivers to the danger of opening car doors and generally looking out for cyclists both while parked and when passing.
Such educational material also involves the cyclists themselves, ensuring cyclists are following the rules of the road and riding defensively, considering their vulnerability when traveling with other road users.
But the solution to the issue needs to come from further afield, noted Corey Burger, policy and infrastructure chair of the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, adding Oak Bay council should help create bike lanes that don’t put cyclists in the “door zone” in the first place.
“In a section of Henderson Rd., near UVic, the bike lane ends at 7’oclock and becomes parking, which is super dangerous,” he said, pointing out that there are only two bike lanes in the region that have part-time status, and are both in Oak Bay.
Without a full-time dedicated bike lane, cyclists are then stuck between a rock and a hard place, Burger added.
“The challenge you have, if you’re riding a bicycle, you have two places you can ride if there’s no bike lanes in the area: you can either ride in the door zone, or you ride further out from the curb and further up to the cars, in which case you place yourself at risk of being rear ended. If you build a bike lane that’s protected, you eliminate all those risks entirely.”
While the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act does not require a driver to give a certain amount of room when passing a cyclist, there is a legal requirement to ensure it is safe to open a door.
“Cyclists are subject to Motor Vehicle Act when riding on a roadway so have certain responsibilities as well,” Brinton said. “The Oak Bay Police Department encourages safety on our roadways and would like to highlight not only obeying the law, but operating with safety and vigilance in mind.”
