Nearly two years ago, I experienced one of a cyclist's worst nightmares: I was "doored."
At least the woman who opened the door into my path stayed with me as others--including a man who ran across the street to a drugstore for rubbing alcohol and bandages--stayed with me--helped in one way or another. The woman apologized profusely and called me several times after the incident to see how I was. The worst thing I can say about her is that she was careless.
The same cannot be said for the man who opened his door into the path of Trev Walker. The British cyclist was pedaling along a road in his native Yorkshire on 2 September when a driver, passing at what appears to be high speed, flung his door into Walker's path, slamming into his left hand.
The incident was recorded for posterity--and the local police--on a camera affixed to the rear of his bike.
Walker is a paramedic, so when he felt pain and saw swelling in his hand, he went for an X-ray. When the pain didn't subside, he went for another, which revealed a fracture. He says, "it could have been worse." But I can just imagine the emotional trauma he might be experiencing: If he is re-living the incident, it could be worse my reliving my experience because the driver who "doored" him did so deliberately.
But he summed up the seriousness of what happened to him the way I, and others, summed up mine: Opening a car door on a cyclist could result in someone being killed.
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