Last night I was getting out of the backseat of a cab that was stopped in the middle of the block at a red light. The cab was stopped along the right hand lane and I opened my passengers side door to exit next to the parked cars along the side of the street when all of a sudden WHAMMM a bicyclist slams into the door I had just opened. There was no bicycle lane on this street.
I have read in numerous other places that it is the vehicles fault if they open a car door into traffic and it obstructs traffic and it gets hit. I felt my situation is different though because I did not open my door into a "traffic" lane, but was merely opening my door in stopped traffic to exit towards the curb. Being a bicyclist myself who has had numerous close calls with being doored I felt bad for the guy, his carbon fiber bike was bent up and the cab drivers car door would not shut properly.
My question is, do bicyclists have a legal right to cut in between traffic like this? Who was ultimately at fault for this accident?
I have read in numerous other places that it is the vehicles fault if they open a car door into traffic and it obstructs traffic and it gets hit. I felt my situation is different though because I did not open my door into a "traffic" lane, but was merely opening my door in stopped traffic to exit towards the curb. Being a bicyclist myself who has had numerous close calls with being doored I felt bad for the guy, his carbon fiber bike was bent up and the cab drivers car door would not shut properly.
My question is, do bicyclists have a legal right to cut in between traffic like this? Who was ultimately at fault for this accident?