Got Doored at Virginia Sq.

[PeteD]

I guess in the realm of just reporting things, got doored by a motorist parking in front of the Virginia Square Metro this morning. Was traveling in the bike lane. Have it all on these nice camera things that I bought just last week for this very scenario.

Good: Any accident you can bike away from. Have contact information for motorist. Have all of it on camera.

Bad: Motorist not cited for Dooring under § 46.2-818.1. Any accident where perceived damage is less than $1000 is not a cite-able offense either. Got some minor contusions, did not hit my head, but afterwards I noticed I will probably have to get my front wheel trued and only later this evening did I notice I have a nice scratch on my fork — hope it’s not broken. And No, it seems that running two head lights, one high beam and one in really-freaking-annoying-any-other-cyclist-on-the-W&OD-strobe-mode and wearing reflective garments did not help in this situation.

[sjclaeys]

@PeteD 181368 wrote:

I guess in the realm of just reporting things, got doored by a motorist parking in front of the Virginia Square Metro this morning. Was traveling in the bike lane. Have it all on these nice camera things that I bought just last week for this very scenario.

Good: Any accident you can bike away from. Have contact information for motorist. Have all of it on camera.

Bad: Motorist not cited for Dooring under § 46.2-818.1. Any accident where perceived damage is less than $1000 is not a cite-able offense either. Got some minor contusions, did not hit my head, but afterwards I noticed I will probably have to get my front wheel trued and only later this evening did I notice I have a nice scratch on my fork — hope it’s not broken. And No, it seems that running two head lights, one high beam and one in really-freaking-annoying-any-other-cyclist-on-the-W&OD-strobe-mode and wearing reflective garments did not help in this situation.

Sorry to hear that and sorry for having an Arlington government that is more interested in putting in shiny bike lanes than doing the hard stuff like having the police enforce the law.

[scoot]

Glad to hear you are okay. As you know, dooring can be a lot worse.

@sjclaeys 181369 wrote:

Sorry to hear that and sorry for having an Arlington government that is more interested in putting in shiny bike lanes than doing the hard stuff like having the police enforce the law.

Nothing makes a bike lane shine quite like automotive paint swinging through it (or parking on it). And Arlington does like to keep its bike lanes shiny.

[Steve O]

We have discussed this at BAC. The police will write a report if you request it, even if damage is under the threshold.

However, I’m not sure I believe that. Running a stop light or speeding is a cite-able offense even if there is no damage whatsoever. I don’t believe issuing a traffic citation has anything to do with whether or not there is damage or bodily harm.
Did you get the officer’s name?

[Dewey]

Damn that’s down the road from me, sorry about the dooring, may your bruises heal fast.

[huskerdont]

Sorry to hear that; glad it’s not worse.

I feel like these lanes are some of the worst for dooring in the county, at least of the lanes I regularly travel. I always ride right on the line, or even in the lane when passing those stupid shuttle buses that are too wide for the parking spaces.

[scoot]

@huskerdont 181380 wrote:

I feel like these lanes are some of the worst for dooring in the county, at least of the lanes I regularly travel. I always ride right on the line, or even in the lane when passing those stupid shuttle buses that are too wide for the parking spaces.

Agree.

I guess the bike lanes on Clarendon Cannonball (especially Courthouse to Pierce) and Lynn St in Rosslyn are theoretically worse. But those ones are so horrendous that I simply take the lane all the time without a second thought.

The problem with Fairfax Drive is it’s just barely wide enough that I feel uneasy when trying to claim a whole lane. (Plus it’s flat so I’m slower than on Clarendon or Lynn.) So I also often hang right around the white line there. Which begets an additional challenge: make oneself appear unpredictable enough to frighten would-be buzzers into keeping their distance.

[consularrider]

@PeteD 181368 wrote:

I guess in the realm of just reporting things, got doored by a motorist parking in front of the Virginia Square Metro this morning. Was traveling in the bike lane. Have it all on these nice camera things that I bought just last week for this very scenario.

Good: Any accident you can bike away from. Have contact information for motorist. Have all of it on camera.

Bad: Motorist not cited for Dooring under § 46.2-818.1. Any accident where perceived damage is less than $1000 is not a cite-able offense either. Got some minor contusions, did not hit my head, but afterwards I noticed I will probably have to get my front wheel trued and only later this evening did I notice I have a nice scratch on my fork — hope it’s not broken. And No, it seems that running two head lights, one high beam and one in really-freaking-annoying-any-other-cyclist-on-the-W&OD-strobe-mode and wearing reflective garments did not help in this situation.

That’s the worst section of Fairfax Dr for dooring due to Metro and Starbuck$. I also call BS on “not cite-able,” no requirement for damage amount in the statute, more likely the “bike-friendly,” silver award level community ACPD internal policy. 😡 Besides, a scratched crabon front fork must be replaced before it shatters, new a Zipp wheel, and the Pete Beers Friends-and-Family discount, Hello Kitty sticker of approval labor costs, and your full body CAT scan to check for personal damage are sure to be over $1000. ; )

[lordofthemark]

@consularrider 181386 wrote:

That’s the worst section of Fairfax Dr for dooring due to Metro and Starbuck$.

Yup, in my opinion one factor in making some door zone lanes worse than others, aside from width, is the amount of parking turnover. One of the things that makes the southbound lane on Crystal Drive terrible. The lane on Prince is not greate, but I guess it’s at least wider, and the turnover is not quite as bad as in some other places.

At least in that whole corridor from Ballston to Rosslyn the County seems to be gradually replacing the conventional bike lanes with buffered/protected ones. Not sure if that is possible on that block.

[dbehrend]

PeteD, I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m glad to hear you came through generally ok.

I also don’t see a requirement for damages, let alone damages of $1000, in the statute. Only enforcing the law when there’s damage and/or injury undermines the purpose of the law and does nothing to change driver behavior.

[bobco85]

Glad you didn’t get any serious injuries.

@PeteD 181368 wrote:

Good: Any accident you can bike away from. Have contact information for motorist. Have all of it on camera.

Question: did you get the driver’s insurance information? When I had my crash back in July, even though I was lucky to have the police cite the driver, having the insurance information made the “paying for bike repairs” part smooth and simple. In my case, I got an estimate from my bike shop in case the driver’s insurance company wanted it. The insurance company gave me no trouble and sent a check that covered everything a few weeks later.

[Guus]

@lordofthemark 181392 wrote:

Yup, in my opinion one factor in making some door zone lanes worse than others, aside from width, is the amount of parking turnover. One of the things that makes the southbound lane on Crystal Drive terrible. The lane on Prince is not greate, but I guess it’s at least wider, and the turnover is not quite as bad as in some other places.

At least in that whole corridor from Ballston to Rosslyn the County seems to be gradually replacing the conventional bike lanes with buffered/protected ones. Not sure if that is possible on that block.

That’s totally possible. There is a ton of space on Fairfax, included a useless median. There’s no reason to have 4-lane highway right through the heart of the R-B corridor

[dasgeh]

@Guus 181413 wrote:

That’s totally possible. There is a ton of space on Fairfax, included a useless median. There’s no reason to have 4-lane highway right through the heart of the R-B corridor

For all of Fairfax Drive between Glebe and Wilson, we should extend the protected two way cycle track on the Northside of the street.

I know that sort of thing isn’t ideal on many streets, but on Fairfax, there are few driveways and lots of peds, so drivers are used to looking for peeps coming from both directions on the sidewalk, and the Northside allows the cycle track to avoid two metro stops worth of bad drivers.

Sorry this happened. Glad it wasn’t worse.

[mstone]

@Guus 181413 wrote:

That’s totally possible. There is a ton of space on Fairfax, included a useless median. There’s no reason to have 4-lane highway right through the heart of the R-B corridor

The median isn’t useless, it lowers the risk of drivers injuring themselves when speeding. (True story!)

[peterw_diy]

@PeteD 181368 wrote:

Bad: Motorist not cited for Dooring under § 46.2-818.1. Any accident where perceived damage is less than $1000 is not a cite-able offense either.

$1000 of property damage is a threshold for mandatory reporting of a collision, I think that’s likely what the officer was getting confused by. (Of course not being required to file a collision report doesn’t mean not being able to issue a citation.)

https://one.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/stateCatalog/states/va/crash.html

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