Read===>NYC Taxis Get Friendlier for Bikes with Anti-Dooring Decals — and A Taxi TV Video | Transportation NationNew York is dreaming of a world where taxis and cyclists can be friends.
In addition to new logos and a brighter yellow color, the city’s taxi of tomorrow will also come with anti-”dooring” decals.
And so will the taxis of today, according to Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairman David Yassky.
“We believe the stickers and video will really resonate with riders and inspire them to pause for that critical second before they open the door and exit the taxi,” said Yassky. “It’s that moment of pause that could make all the difference in the world to both a bicyclist and the taxi passenger alike.”
The message not to fling cab doors open without first checking for bicyclists will be hammered home in a video message that will play on all 13,000 Taxi TVs (assuming passengers don’t turn them off first). “Take out a friend,” reads the message on the video. “Take out a date. But don’t take out a cyclist.”
Getting doored is rightfully high on the list of fears for any urban cyclist. When a car door opens in a cyclist’s immediate path it can not only injure him/her, it can fling the biker into the path of oncoming traffic. It can be common and even deadly, though few studies track dooring.
Illinois began what we believe to be the first statewide effort to track dooring last April. We’ve asked the Illinois DOT for the figures from that effort and will report back as soon as we get them.
A 2010 survey in NYC counted bike-related infractions at 11 locations found that dooring (including near-hits) is a pervasive phenomenon with 77 infractions over the two days of measurement, 19 of them on one street alone.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin enacted an anti-dooring law in 2009 that switched culpability from cyclists to motorists for dooring accidents, and added a $40 fine for striking a cyclist with a car door.
Taxis, with their frequent stops and passengers exiting from both sides, are at high risk for causing dooring incidents.
Since there are never any taxis on Ocean Parkway dooring cyclists can be left to motorists on the OP service roads. Cyclists who use the service roads as their route of choice put themselves at risk for dooring because of the very tight corridor especially when cars are parked on both sides. Stick to the bicycle path to keep safe.
ReplyDeleteSo who will be legally responsible if a cyclist is seriously injured by a dooring incident. The motorist (taxi driver) or the passenger exiting. It seems that this message is not just for bike lane incidents...it's for everywhere.
ReplyDelete