Saw a woman open a door into a bus

[y_p_w]

I just noticed that the driver was coming in kind of close to the car, but still a good foot at least when veering right to get into the bus stop. I saw the door opening and then jerking back as it collided with the side of the bus. The driver stopped and I needed to stop anyways for something and watched. The woman looked at her door kind of with disgust, like "why me?"

Of course she probably didn't look out her rear view mirror or even out the window. She could have just as well opened her door into a bike, a motorcycle, or another car making a right turn. It was clearly her fault for not paying attention when she opened the door. Heck - I would have thought I'd notice a bus driving by and wait to open, even if the bus is a good three feet away.

 

[supton]

Kinda hard to miss a bus. Sometimes one is just oblivous. This sort of mistake worries from time to time, not just as a sometimes cyclist but from the perspective of, i'd hate to be the one to forget to look. I generally park only in my driveway or at work, once in a while at Walmart--very rarely on a street, like you'd think in a city. Stupid easy for me to forget to look before opening my door.

Stupid mistakes happen. Couple of weeks ago I nearly backed into a friend. He followed me home, and I didn't check that corner of the car before I backed up--I always back into my driveway, whereas everyone else just pulls in. Luckily we both braked. It would have been my fault, and I still feel bad for not looking (I looked in one mirror and not both).

 

[Kira]

Always remember, "Only the mediocre are always at their best".

But, as it should be, the mistakes we make should BURN. It means we're thinking responsible people.
Don't get paralyzed over a near miss; just be grateful and move on.

I watched a "cool cat" in a Golf fling his door open on an insanely busy street and his door was immediately struck by a cab.
I felt so sorry for the cab driver.
The Golf driver should've been kicked in the lower stomach and thrown down the stairs.

 

[NateDN10]

I saw a similar thing happen once -

A guy in a run-down Ranger parallel parked on a narrow city street and opened his door without looking... right into a brand-new BMW that happened to be driving by.

 

[eljefino]

Jeez, is parking that tight? I try and give parked cars 3 feet but could get it if your roads are real narrow. I carry over door-opening paranoia from bicycling to car-driving.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Jeez, is parking that tight? I try and give parked cars 3 feet but could get it if your roads are real narrow. I carry over door-opening paranoia from bicycling to car-driving.


It was pretty wide. Two lanes in each direction with a wide center median. However, the bus was approaching a stop, and it looked the driver wanted to get in closer. The way she opened the door, I think the door still would have hit the side of the bus even if it were two feet away. She was perhaps lucky that the bus was already past the door, or else the bus would have ripped off the door.

And everyone who saw it knew it was her fault. I'm pretty sure she knew she was at fault. It appeared to me that the bus driver could tell it happened. It looks like he told all the passengers to get off and was waiting for someone to take a report. At least nobody was hurt.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: supton
It would have been my fault, and I still feel bad for not looking (I looked in one mirror and not both).


When backing up, I always look backwards, never use the mirrors for backing up. That's just lazy and the mirrors will let you see someone just before you hit them whereas by looking backwards you will see cross traffic.

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Jeez, is parking that tight? I try and give parked cars 3 feet but could get it if your roads are real narrow. I carry over door-opening paranoia from bicycling to car-driving.


Boy 3 feet is way too much room, it's way too tight here, you're lucky if you get a foot or two. Plus people would probably be mad at you as that would cut into the number of cars that can park on the street. There's about 2-3 times as many cars for the neighborhood around here as there are parking spots.