That one intersection where I almost got doored and nobody cared

I was turning left onto Oak Street in downtown Portland last Tuesday when a guy in a parked SUV just flung his door open right in my path. I swerved hard and ended up scraping my handlebar against a parked van instead. How do you stay calm when drivers treat bike lanes like they're optional?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nathan24d ago

...and the thing is, even if you yelled at the guy, what's that gonna do? He'd just shrug and say "sorry" like that fixes your bent handlebar and the adrenaline spike you're still shaking off. I've started keeping a little camera on my helmet, not even to get people in trouble but just so I can rewatch later and remind myself it wasn't my fault... helps me stop replaying the "what if I had been two feet closer" loop in my head while I'm trying to sleep.

terryrobinson23d ago

That "what if I had been two feet closer" loop is the worst. I'm glad the camera helps you.