The swinging door

[250learna]

[QUOTE=Beemer]

Two things (both generalisations, and if I offend anybody, sorry. Or not.):
[list=1][*]Women (generally) have poorer spatial awareness than men, so theye have trouble estimating how much room is between their car and other cars/obstacles. (However, they do make up for this by being (generally) prettier than men, and having more smoothey bits and nicer boobies. Mmmm.... booobies...)
Don't believe me? If there's a gap betwen vehicles, a man will (generally) look at it, go "Yup" and cruise through, or "Nup" and stop. A woman will (generally) dither around, and not go through, even if the car in fornt of her has susccessfully negotiated it.[*]Asians (generalisation), both sexes, as for (1).

VAST generalisation here and you need to be denied access to boobies until you've learned not to generalise! Yes, some women are terrible (isn't this something to do with men telling them 'this' is 12 inches... ) I think in the main this is due to many women not driving much - because their men drive them everywhere or they only use the car to collect the rugrats from school - a journey of what, 500m each way? I was a sales rep for years and soon learnt how small a space I could fit a Sierra station wagon into - I had to, or drive around Wellington for hours looking for an angle park! I got to the stage where I could do a u-turn into a park on the other side of the road, so I think my spatial awareness is fine, thank you very much!

And I usually freak people out by moving through gaps that others are wary of negotiating - comes from experience, and I bet many young guys are just at wimpy as some women when it comes to this!

As for car doors opening, it's a fact that MOST people, regardless of their sex, DON'T look before opening their car doors - or if they do, they just give a perfunctory glance to make sure there is nothing big like a car coming - which is why cyclists often cop it. Rule of thumb, if there is a car on the side of the road, EXPECT someone to open a door in front of you and allow enough room for this!

well tell that to my mother who has driven all her life and still has no idea where she is on the road
i think she has effectively shortened my life through stress while i was too young and poor and didnt have my own car

[Wolf]

coz they have the attention span of a newt, the awareness of a 3inch rock, ten foot underground and the reaction times of a sloth on prozac!! and those are the alert ones!

You reckon they're that aware, huh? I'd've thought they weren't that sharp.

This thread is the best advert for "stick to the right hand tyre track" I've ever heard. Still well within the lane, but not as prone to hitting car doors or wankers who have to stick half the car out into the lane to see if anyone's coming...

Of course, cornering with the right lines necessitates getting dangerously close to the outside of the lane once or twice, so that's the place you'll be screwed...

[jazbug5]

Had a similar thing happen to me when riding a pushbike in London.
I've learned over the years to give parked cars a pretty wide berth, but this was rush hour, the car was on its own outside a school, and *seemingly* empty. You guessed it- the extremely short driver chose the exact moment I drew up to it to throw her door open (yes, it was a woman... dammit).
A 'Look Ma, I C'n Fly' moment ensued for a few seconds, followed by the inevitable faceplant and fun trip in an ambulance.
Still have an interesting scar on my leg from the door.
A note: always get their details. She got away with it because I wasn't compis enough to- b*tch.

[250learna]

Had a similar thing happen to me when riding a pushbike in London.
I've learned over the years to give parked cars a pretty wide berth, but this was rush hour, the car was on its own outside a school, and *seemingly* empty. You guessed it- the extremely short driver chose the exact moment I drew up to it to throw her door open (yes, it was a woman... dammit).
A 'Look Ma, I C'n Fly' moment ensued for a few seconds, followed by the inevitable faceplant and fun trip in an ambulance.
Still have an interesting scar on my leg from the door.
A note: always get their details. She got away with it because I wasn't compis enough to- b*tch.

thats it im saving up for a goldwing and riding right next to all the parked cars i see, that will teach them

edit: i might be saving for a while tho

[Wolf]

A note: always get their details. She got away with it because I wasn't compis enough to- b*tch.

Kinda hard being compos mentis when you've just used your face as a braking surface.

You've usually got a lot on your mind at the time and your agitated state is not conducive to memorising details even if you do think to grab the rego/description of car.

You really need to have some means of recording the info then and there - but how many people carry pad and pen or dictaphone in a handy location when they're riding down the road to the shops? I suppose that you could always send yourself a text on your cellphone - if you're in a fit state to do so.

[jazbug5]

True enough.
At the very least, you could try to insist that the police attend (they are supposed to by law in the UK, but this is London we're talking about..) and that they get the details. Failing that, you could try to get the ambo crew to (if you can talk out of your mashed face, that is...).

[Ixion]

If you hit the open door square on and braced there is a good chance you will rip it off and emerge relatively unscathed. The impact will (hopefully) break the little link thing that stops the door swinging back past a certain point and will fling the door back past it's normally fully open position. And then maybe break one of the mounting points.

You should be able to remain upright.

[Wolf]

If you hit the open door square on and braced there is a good chance you will rip it off and emerge relatively unscathed. The impact will (hopefully) break the little link thing that stops the door swinging back past a certain point and will fling the door back past it's normally fully open position. And then maybe break one of the mounting points.

You should be able to remain upright.

Square-on and braced - what if the door is still at an angle to your path (not fully open) or you scarcely have time for your sphincter to clench, let alone brace yourself?

Have heard of people taking the door off, wobbling a bit then being able to come to a halt and sort out what to do about the "fetchingly redecorated" front mudguard - on a motorbike, not a pushbike. I'm not keen to get into that situation, though - rather not put it to the test.

[Ixion]

Square-on and braced - what if the door is still at an angle to your path (not fully open) or you scarcely have time for your sphincter to clench, let alone brace yourself?

Have heard of people taking the door off, wobbling a bit then being able to come to a halt and sort out what to do about the "fetchingly redecorated" front mudguard - on a motorbike, not a pushbike. I'm not keen to get into that situation, though - rather not put it to the test.

Angle is a problem - the impact will be along the axis of the door which is very strong. But if it's only open a bit you have more chance to swerve round it.
Agreed with preferring not to put it to the test. I am terminally paranoid about cars that stop. Either they are intending to hang a U turn in front of me, or to swing their doors open at me. Either way a solid horn blast is called for.