Dooring crashes in California

A door swings open into the lane and there is nothing a cyclist can do — a metre of warning at riding speed is no warning at all. The rider either strikes the door or swerves into the traffic lane, and both outcomes are serious. This is general information, not legal advice.

The statute puts the duty on the person opening

No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

Two things follow. The duty to check runs to whoever opens the door, not to the cyclist to anticipate an unpredictable event. And "no person" reaches passengers as well as drivers — the person in the back seat of a taxi has the same obligation.

Sources: Veh. Code, § 22517 (opening or leaving open a door on the traffic side). Last amended Stats. 1963, ch. 162 — not amended in the last three years. Evid. Code, § 669 and CACI No. 418 (presumption of negligence from a statutory violation), Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2026 edition).

The door zone, and the argument that gets the law backwards

Expect the defence that you were riding too close to the parked cars. It usually rests on a half-remembered version of the lane position rule.

Section 21202 requires a cyclist travelling slower than the normal speed of traffic to ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge — except when overtaking, when preparing for a left turn, when approaching a place where a right turn is authorised, and when necessary to avoid conditions that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand edge, including a lane too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side.

A row of parked cars from which doors may open is exactly such a condition. Riding far enough out to stay clear of the door zone is what the exception exists for. The rider who is hugging the parked cars is the one following the myth.

Sources: Veh. Code, § 21202 (lane position and its exceptions); § 21200 (a cyclist has the rights and duties of a driver).

Comparative fault · bike-lane collisions.

Bike lanes beside parked cars

Many painted bike lanes are placed in or overlapping the door zone, which creates a genuine bind: the lane invites a rider into the space where doors open, and riding outside it invites the complaint that they ignored the lane. A cyclist is not obliged to ride into a hazard because paint says so, and where a lane's design put riders in the door zone, the public entity responsible for that design may also have exposure.

Road defects and cyclists · claims against a government entity.

Rideshare and delivery vehicles

Passengers being dropped at the kerb from a rideshare, and drivers stepping out of double-parked delivery vans, are now among the most common sources of these collisions. It matters because it widens who may be responsible: the person who opened the door, the driver, and potentially the company whose operation put the vehicle there.

Hit by a rideshare driver · delivery van and box truck crashes.

What to preserve

• Photograph the vehicle with the door in the position it was in, if possible, and the lane width beside it.
• Photograph any bike lane markings and where they sit relative to the parked cars.
• Identify who opened the door — driver or passenger — and get details for both.
• Note whether the vehicle was a taxi, rideshare, or delivery vehicle, and any livery or placard.
• Get witness names; these happen on busy streets and are usually seen.
• Keep the bicycle unrepaired — impact damage locates the door strike.

Gear as evidence — the same logic applies to a cyclist's helmet and clothing.

Common questions

Who is at fault when a door is opened into a cyclist?

Ordinarily the person who opened it. Vehicle Code section 22517 makes it unlawful to open a door on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with traffic. The duty is on the person opening, not on the cyclist to anticipate it.

They say I should not have been riding so close to parked cars.

Riding outside the door zone is lawful, and this argument often gets the law backwards. Section 21202 requires riding as close as practicable to the right edge, but with express exceptions including avoiding unsafe conditions and lanes too narrow to share safely. The door zone is an unsafe condition.

A passenger opened the door, not the driver. Does that matter?

The statute says "no person," so it reaches passengers as well as drivers. Where the vehicle was a taxi, rideshare, or delivery vehicle, the operator or the company behind it may also be responsible, which changes what insurance is available.

The door was already open when I hit it.

The same section covers that. It is also unlawful to leave a door open on the traffic side longer than necessary to load or unload passengers. A door standing open in a traffic lane is its own violation.