Doored!

It was statistically inevitable, as much as I ride in Chicago, that I would be doored. (Careful, link may not be suitable for work due to language!) It happened this past Friday as I was riding home around 11:30 p.m. - some a$$hat flug open the taxi door into the bike lane, and I was skidding across the asphalt. I didn't hit my head or break anything, but I got scraped and banged up pretty good. That's the bruise on my left bicep; there's a matching one on my left thigh, and smaller ones scattered around my left arm & leg.

What really cheese me off is that the jerk excused himself for not looking first because it was "so late" and offered a measly $20 for a tuneup. Nobody thinks it's too late to look for a pedestrian or a car, but apparently bicyclists have a curfew I didn't know about. And $20 for a tuneup?!? A basic tuneup is $50 or more, which I told him and he dismissed, even though I threatened to call the cops and get him ticketed and mentioned that I'm a lawyer. I got so sick of his bull that I ended up walking away.

Well - now I'm mad at myself because I should have called the cops. I wasn't entirely confident I knew the ordinance, and the truth is it's much more stringent than I realized. Since he caused a bike crash, he should have gotten a hefty $500 ticket.

So listen up, Chicago: a copy of the ordinance is going into my bike bag. If I get doored again - which I hope I don't! - or see someone else doored, it's coming out, the police will be called, and a ticket will be issued. If you don't care about sending a bicyclist flying, maybe you'll care about the $500 fine.