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50 Founders Plaza
East Hartford, CT 06108
50 Founders Plaza
East Hartford, CT 06108
In recent years, biking has become a popular form of transportation for many Americans who live in urban areas. Not only does it provide an easier and sometimes faster way to get from place to place, but it also offers great health benefits. According to Statista, there were 47.5 million cyclists in the United States in 2017. While this form of transportation has become popular, it has also proved to be dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were around 840 bicyclists who died in traffic accidents in 2016. One of the most common types of bicycle accidents that occurs in urban areas is what is called “dooring.”
Dooring accidents occur when the occupant of a motor vehicle suddenly opens the door of the vehicle in a bicyclist’s lane of travel, causing the cyclist to collide with the door. Most of the time, dooring accidents occur purely out of the negligence of the motor vehicle driver or passenger -- he or she simply did not look around their vehicle before they opened the door. Dooring accidents are hard to predict and harder to prevent, because they rely solely on motor vehicle occupants to pay closer attention to those who may be on the streets, bike lanes, and sidewalks around them.
In many cases, a dooring accident simply results in some scrapes, cuts, or bruises. In other situations, however, dooring can result in much more serious injuries that could have a major impact on the bicyclist’s life. Depending on the cyclist’s speed, they may be seriously harmed by a fall to the pavement. In some cases, a bicyclist can be thrown from their bike and into moving traffic, and serious or fatal injuries are likely to occur if they are struck by a vehicle.
Some examples of serious injuries that could result from a dooring accident include:
Getting into any kind of bike accident can be extremely dangerous, especially if you are involved in a collision with a motor vehicle. Dooring accidents may seem trivial, but they can cause serious and sometimes fatal injuries to unsuspecting bicyclists. If you or a loved one have suffered an injury from a bicycle accident, you should contact a Hartford, CT personal injury attorney immediately. At the Woolf Law Firm, LLC, we can help you determine whether or not you have a case and how to best proceed. Call our office today at 860-290-8690 to schedule a free consultation.
Sources:
https://www.dutchreach.org/dooring-problem-prevalence/
https://www.bikeleague.org/content/bike-law-u-dooring
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812507
https://www.statista.com/topics/1686/cycling/
50 Founders Plaza
