Must be the new 'thing' to do...

Originally Posted by jonboy

Look, we know car drivers and their passengers open their doors whilst stationary. Now that we know this there really shouldn't be a problem should there?

I have to say that I'm constantly amazed at the incredulity of a lot of bike riders (and I'm not having a go here) at the plain obvious.

When you know the score simply ride accordingly.


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MMmm..bit harsh. I always expect every car driver to be out to get me, but unless you spot them taking off there seat belts to get out, you dont have much chance on spotting them doing this.

Aha, the old "should have seen it coming" argument. This happened to me recently and I have had to put up with some pretty self righteous comments from certain forum members about it being my fault etc etc.

The only way to avoid this type of crash is not to filter between stationary traffic. Because you can kid youself as much as you like, if someone decides to swing a door open immediately in front of you, there is little you can do to avoid it.

Originally Posted by svpilot

Aha, the old "should have seen it coming" argument. This happened to me recently and I have had to put up with some pretty self righteous comments from certain forum members about it being my fault etc etc.

The only way to avoid this type of crash is not to filter between stationary traffic. Because you can kid youself as much as you like, if someone decides to swing a door open immediately in front of you, there is little you can do to avoid it.

Suppose these things happen and now I know to be a little more alert. Came as a bit of a shock as I'd never seen it before, but I'm glad I was taking it easy while I was filtering otherwise I wouldn't have been as lucky!

It's been chalked down as experience, and after reading your post svpilot, I consider myself rather lucky not to have hit the car door.

It wound me up a little at the time, but I hope that myself and svpilot's posts flag this up to other forum members to take it easy when filtering. I've seen a lot of other bikers take huge risks and filter way too quickly, and now we see what can happen when you do this.

Ride safe and ride long.

This thread is yet another example of how unreasonable bikers are: expecting passengers in cars to look before they open their doors... Are they driving? Is there such an offence as 'passengering without due care and attention? No, of course, there isn't.

Don't forget the golden rule: Every accident is someone else's fault unless it involves a biker in which case it is their fault (generally for not having eyes in the back of their head*).


* Or the equivalent i.e. realising that the van in front was going to pull out without indicating/that the BMW at the crossroads was going to jump the lights/that the Mondeo behind you wasn't going to stop on time**

** Delete as applicable

Originally Posted by Jase22

but I'm glad I was taking it easy while I was filtering otherwise I wouldn't have been as lucky!

Ah, but if you'd have been going quicker then you'd have been past before the numpty opened thier door!

Originally Posted by Steve W

This thread is yet another example of how unreasonable bikers are: expecting passengers in cars to look before they open their doors... Are they driving? Is there such an offence as 'passengering without due care and attention? No, of course, there isn't.

How is this unreasonable? Whether I've driving or a passenger, I always check before opening a car door, its just common sense. Apart from anything else, you don't really want to rip the door off the car, let alone hit someone.

Originally Posted by Kate

How is this unreasonable? Whether I've driving or a passenger, I always check before opening a car door, its just common sense. Apart from anything else, you don't really want to rip the door off the car, let alone hit someone.

I think Steve W was being sarcastic, although I wasn't sure either.

Originally Posted by svpilot

The only way to avoid this type of crash is not to filter between stationary traffic. Because you can kid youself as much as you like, if someone decides to swing a door open immediately in front of you, there is little you can do to avoid it.

Agreed. If someone does it 40ft away and you're going an appropriate speed, you may well be able to move out of the way, stop in time, nip into a gap, etc. If someone does it inches from the front of your bike, you could hit it at <5mph.

All you can ever do is ensure that you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear. If someone else moves into that area, it's something outside your control (although of course you should still do your damndest to avoid an accident).

Whoops! Sorry if you took me seriously As I tried to indicate with my golden rule there seems to be a belief generally that if a biker is inolved in an accident then it must be their fault and even one or two who post on here (presumably from bikers?? You know who you are!) where it would seem that in each and every accident involving a biker(s)he is to blame.

As someone who used to ride pillion with me and be a passenger with me driving a car... 'Gosh (or words to that effect) you're a much better bike rider than you are car driver.' Sure, there are barmy bikers but most of us have a healthy sense of self preservation which IMHO makes the average standard of biker considerably better than the average standard of car driver.