Did You Get Doored? Here’s Why It Is Not Your Fault!

You pedal down the street, staying in the bike lane where you belong. Suddenly, a car door swings open directly in front of you. The collision happens in seconds. Your bike crumples. Your body hits the pavement hard. The person who opened the door looks shocked and says, “I didn’t see you coming!” Sound familiar? 

This scenario, known as getting doored, happens to cyclists every single day across New Jersey and New York. Many victims blame themselves, wondering if they should have been more careful or ridden elsewhere. 

The truth is simple: getting doored is rarely the cyclist’s fault.

Car doors that open into traffic lanes create dangerous obstacles that no cyclist can reasonably avoid. The law protects cyclists who ride in designated areas and follow traffic rules. When drivers fail to check for approaching cyclists before opening their doors, they create hazardous conditions that lead to serious injuries. 

These accidents cause broken bones, head trauma, and long-term disabilities that change lives forever. A bicycle accident lawyer can help injured cyclists pursue compensation from careless drivers who don’t look before opening their doors.

What Does “Getting Doored” Actually Mean?

Getting doored happens when a parked car’s door opens directly into the path of an oncoming cyclist. The cyclist crashes into the door, gets thrown from their bike, or swerves into traffic to avoid the door. All three scenarios can cause severe injuries and property damage.

Most dooring accidents occur in urban areas where cars park alongside bike lanes or busy streets. Drivers often exit their vehicles without checking mirrors or looking over their shoulders for approaching cyclists. 

Passengers also cause dooring accidents when they exit on the street side without checking for oncoming bike traffic.

Common Locations Where Dooring Happens

• Busy commercial streets with parallel parking
• Areas near restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues
• Residential neighborhoods with street parking
• Near schools, hospitals, and office buildings
• Downtown areas with heavy foot traffic and frequent car turnover

The speed of modern life contributes to these accidents. People rush from their cars to appointments, meetings, or social events. They grab their belongings, open their doors, and step out without taking a moment to check for cyclists. 

This careless behavior puts innocent cyclists at serious risk every day.

New Jersey and New York Laws Protect Cyclists

Both New Jersey and New York have specific laws that protect cyclists from dooring accidents. These laws place the responsibility squarely on the person opening the car door, not on the cyclist who gets hit.

New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 39:4-62 requires drivers and passengers to exercise due care when opening vehicle doors. The law states that no person shall open a door on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic unless it can be done safely without interfering with other vehicles or cyclists. 

Violating this law results in fines and points on the driver’s license.

Key Legal Protections for Cyclists

1. Right to Use Bike Lanes: Cyclists have the legal right to use designated bike lanes without interference
2. Presumption of Negligence: When drivers violate door-opening laws, courts often presume negligence
3. Protection While Following Traffic Rules: Cyclists who follow traffic laws receive strong legal protection
4. Right to Compensation: Injured cyclists can pursue damages for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering

New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1214 contains similar protections. The law prohibits opening vehicle doors unless the action can be completed safely. Both states recognize that cyclists have limited ability to avoid suddenly opened car doors, especially in heavy traffic situations.

Why Cyclists Cannot Always Avoid Getting Doored

Many people wrongly assume that alert cyclists should be able to avoid getting doored. This assumption ignores the physics and reality of cycling in urban environments. Cyclists cannot reasonably predict when car doors will open, and they have limited options for avoiding these sudden obstacles.

Cyclists must maintain forward momentum to stay balanced and safe. Sudden stops or sharp turns can cause crashes even without hitting a car door. When cyclists swerve to avoid an opening door, they often enter vehicle traffic lanes where cars and trucks pose even greater dangers.

The Physics Working Against Cyclists

Reaction Time Limitations
Human reaction time averages 1.5 seconds from seeing a hazard to taking action. Car doors open in less than one second, giving cyclists almost no time to react.

Braking Distance Requirements
Bicycles need significant distance to stop safely, especially at normal riding speeds. Emergency stops often cause cyclists to lose control and crash anyway.

Limited Maneuvering Space
Bike lanes provide narrow spaces with little room for sudden direction changes. Swerving into traffic creates more dangerous situations than the original door opening.

Traffic conditions make avoidance even more difficult. During rush hours, cyclists cannot easily change lanes or ride farther from parked cars. Weather conditions like rain, snow, or strong winds reduce cycling control and increase stopping distances.

Common Injuries from Dooring Accidents

Dooring accidents cause serious injuries that often require extensive medical treatment. The sudden impact throws cyclists from their bikes at high speeds, leading to traumatic injuries that affect multiple body systems.

Head injuries rank among the most severe consequences of dooring accidents. Even cyclists wearing helmets can suffer concussions, skull fractures, and traumatic brain injuries when they hit car doors or pavement. 

These injuries often require long-term rehabilitation and can cause permanent cognitive problems. Broken bones frequently result from dooring accidents. Cyclists typically suffer broken arms, wrists, and collarbones when they try to break their falls. 

Leg fractures occur when the bike frame collapses during impact. Rib fractures happen when cyclists hit car doors or roll across pavement.

Serious Injuries That Change Lives

• Spinal cord injuries that cause partial or complete paralysis
• Internal bleeding and organ damage from blunt force trauma
• Severe road rash requiring skin grafts and plastic surgery
• Joint dislocations and ligament tears requiring multiple surgeries
• Dental injuries and facial fractures affecting appearance and function

Soft tissue injuries also create long-lasting problems. Torn muscles, damaged ligaments, and stretched tendons can take months to heal properly. Many dooring victims experience chronic pain that limits their ability to work, exercise, and enjoy daily activities.

Insurance Companies Will Try to Blame You

Insurance companies representing drivers who cause dooring accidents often try to shift blame to injured cyclists. They use several common strategies to avoid paying fair compensation for injuries and damages.

Adjusters frequently claim that cyclists were riding too fast, too close to parked cars, or not paying adequate attention. They argue that experienced cyclists should anticipate car doors opening and adjust their riding accordingly. 

These arguments ignore the legal reality that drivers must check for cyclists before opening doors. Insurance companies also minimize the severity of injuries sustained in dooring accidents. They argue that cyclists exaggerate their pain, extend their recovery time unnecessarily, or require excessive medical treatment. 

Medical records and physician testimony usually refute these claims, but the process creates delays and additional stress for injured victims.

Common Insurance Company Tactics

Recorded Statements
Adjusters request recorded statements immediately after accidents when victims may be confused, medicated, or emotional. They use these statements to find contradictions later.

Quick Settlement Offers
Insurance companies offer small settlements before victims understand the full extent of their injuries or financial losses.

Surveillance and Social Media Monitoring
Some adjusters hire investigators to follow injury victims or monitor their social media accounts looking for evidence that contradicts disability claims.

Fighting insurance companies requires legal knowledge, negotiation skills, and persistence that most accident victims lack. Insurance adjusters handle dozens of claims every month and know exactly how to minimize payouts.

Evidence Collection Protects Your Rights

Collecting strong evidence immediately after a dooring accident provides the foundation for successful legal claims. The moments and hours following an accident offer the best opportunities to gather information that supports your case.

Take photographs of everything at the accident scene if you can do so. Pictures of your damaged bicycle, the open car door, your visible injuries, and the overall accident scene provide strong evidence. 

Photograph the license plate, vehicle registration, and driver’s insurance card as well. Get contact information from all witnesses who saw the accident happen. Independent witnesses provide credible testimony that insurance companies cannot easily dismiss. 

Ask witnesses to describe what they saw and request their phone numbers and email addresses.

Essential Evidence to Gather

• Photos of bicycle damage, injuries, and accident scene
• Driver’s license, insurance information, and vehicle registration
• Witness contact information and written statements
• Police report number and responding officer information
• Medical records from all treatment providers
• Documentation of lost wages and employment impacts

Contact police and request an official accident report even if injuries seem minor initially. Police reports provide neutral documentation of accident circumstances, often including witness statements and officer observations about fault.

Keep detailed records of all medical treatment, expenses, and how injuries affect your daily life. Insurance companies scrutinize medical records looking for gaps in treatment or evidence that injuries are less severe than claimed.

When to Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer

Dooring accidents often involve complex legal and insurance issues that require professional legal representation. While minor accidents with no injuries might be handled independently, most dooring cases benefit from lawyer involvement.

Contact a personal injury lawyer immediately if you suffered any injuries requiring medical treatment, missed work due to your injuries, or if the insurance company disputes fault for the accident. Lawyers understand how to build strong cases, negotiate with insurance companies, and protect your rights throughout the legal process.

Insurance adjusters often contact accident victims within hours of dooring incidents. They may offer quick settlements or request recorded statements before victims understand their legal rights. 

Having lawyer representation from the beginning prevents these tactics from harming your case.

When legal help becomes essential

1. Serious Injuries: Any injury requiring emergency treatment, surgery, or ongoing medical care
2. Disputed Fault: When drivers or insurance companies claim the cyclist caused the accident
3. Insurance Denials: When insurance companies refuse to pay legitimate claims
4. Complex Cases: Accidents involving multiple vehicles, commercial drivers, or government vehicles
5. Long-term Disabilities: Injuries that affect your ability to work or enjoy daily activities

Personal injury lawyers work on contingency fee arrangements for dooring cases. This means you pay no attorney fees unless your lawyer recovers compensation for your injuries. This arrangement allows injured cyclists to obtain quality legal representation regardless of their financial situation.

Your Path Forward After Getting Doored

Getting doored changes your life in an instant, but you have legal rights that protect you from bearing the financial burden of someone else’s carelessness. New Jersey and New York laws clearly place responsibility on drivers who open car doors without checking for cyclists.

Recovery from dooring injuries takes time, patience, and often significant financial resources. You deserve compensation that covers all your medical expenses, lost wages, and the pain and suffering caused by this preventable accident. Insurance companies will try to minimize your claim, but experienced legal representation levels the playing field.

The dedicated personal injury attorneys at Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. have recovered over $300 million for clients injured in bicycle accidents, including dooring cases. Our certified trial lawyers understand how these accidents happen and how to build strong cases that result in fair compensation. 

We advance all case costs and work on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call us at (201) 585-9111 to discuss your dooring accident and learn about your legal options. No case is too challenging or too small.