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Bicyclist dies after being doored in Somerville

Cambridge Day reports a Somerville bicyclist died after an SUV driver opened his door on Broadway on Friday just as the bicyclist was passing by.

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Range Rover, not just any SUV.

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Where is the gender of the driver ever mentioned?

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Sorry, it was in a link from that story:

The preliminary investigation suggests that the cyclist, identified as Stephen Conley, 70 of Somerville, was traveling westbound in the bike lane on Broadway when the operator of a Land Rover, that was parked, opened his driver side door.

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Rest in peace.

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and this time killing someone, not just badly injuring them. Awful.

I want charges to be filed, but I also want the city to *fix the bike lane*.

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Conley was the sixth person over the age of 60 killed in the past decade while biking in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, according to data from MassBike and other safety advocates. He was killed only a month after Cambridge cyclist George Clemmer, 71, was hit by a truck.

“No words can ease the pain of the victim’s family, friends and loved ones,” Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said in a press release Monday. “And now is a time to grieve, but we must also commit to action. Our full community must commit to saving lives by challenging the status quo.”

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Talking about commitment in the abstract is pointless IMHO. Commit to specific actions, with timelines and a way to be held accountable.

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Just playing devil's advocate here.

What charges? Do you think this was on purpose to cause harm, or an accident?

I can see possibly involuntary manslaughter but that, knowing our judicial system recently, this will get ruled an accident. Opening the door on your car is not a crime.

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https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/sect...

No person shall open a door on a motor vehicle unless it is reasonably safe to do so without interfering with the movement of other traffic, including bicyclists and pedestrians. Whoever violates the preceding sentence shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.

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Thank you. The person will most likely face a $100.

I asked a simple question and you answered it like the Bike Mafia creep you are. Nice.

Read this while you are at it:

https://www.massbike.org/laws

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You told a lie and got called out for it.

Take the L.

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You already have it tattooed all over your face everyday.

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All he did was give you the facts.

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you answered it like the Bike Mafia creep you are

He answered it with a simple citation of the relevant law, with no invective added. If that's how "Bike Mafia creeps" behave, you might consider becoming a Bike Mafia creep some day.

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I did make a point to ensure the subject line was a direct insult.

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Nothing more necessary to say

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...living rent free in your head. So spacious!

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There’s no way my head has more room that your western MA house. Land’s like $1/acre out there.

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...your head's so empty...

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Well played, sir! Well played.

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Opening the door on your car is not a crime.

I asked a simple question

Except you didn’t. You made a false statement and were corrected.

like the Bike Mafia creep you are

Well, that escalated quickly. You seem nice.

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To play devil's advocate here.... he did say "What charges?" and "Do you think [___]?". Those are questions.

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So he loses the benefit of the doubt with regards to questions being in good faith.

Especially when he tries to frame this as either something done on purpose to cause harm or it was an accident. Its coded language that you usually see when trying to frame blatant negligence that causes harm as just an accident, ie "they didn't wake up that morning intending to kill someone."

I only addressed his false statement that opening a car door is not a crime. He chose to throw the temper tantrum about "i'm just asking questions."

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So, someone who opposes your point of view is a troll. I guess, but really no.

I can't decide who are more unwilling to accept any view other than their own, Trumpies or Bicyclists. You all turn into a bunch of self centered brats once someone offers a differing point of view.

Like I have said before, I am all for bike lanes, proper bike lanes but that appears to be lost on you. Poor lad.

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you just flame everyone nonsensically

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he is a crank. They are entirely different species. He may be irritating, but that isn't his goal in life. He is sincere in his crankiness.

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You can look for traffic and open it safely, or you can open it recklessly without looking.

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Wrongful death.

Intent is not required. All the tort elements are present here:
-Duty (the driver was required by law to verify it was safe to open his door)
-Breach of duty (he didn't)
-Injury
-Proximate cause

The bereaved family should sue the pants off the driver.

That may have the effect of increasing safety for other bicyclists through the case's publicity.

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You're an idiot and so are the 15 people who upvoted this.

I hope you don't drive a car, since you don't realize there are laws requiring you to look and make sure an area is clear before moving any part of your car into it.

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It is hysterical that you invoke Jesus Christ when he suffered less in life than you do apparently everyday.

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Please be careful, folks. It only takes a fraction of a second to look before you open the car door.

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Inattentive Driver Kills Senior Citizen

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When opening your car door, start by opening it just a bit. 4-5 inches. The intention of the door coming the rest of the way open is now obvious to everyone. Pause. This pause is a great time to finish grabbing your purse/keys/phone/dunkin cup/mask/whatever. Double check your lights are off, verify you aren't leaving something meltable in the hot car, again, whatever, take these 3 seconds for yourself. THEN open the door, although don't shove it so it goes flying.

Maybe I grew up watching too many 90s sitcoms but the idea of just kicking open the car door from zero to sixty immediately always gives me nightmares of passing traffic slamming into it and ripping it off. Even if you don't gaf about bikers, I don't need major body damage because I was in a rush and so was the car in the travel lane.

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just follow the law.

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The article linked here has a photo of Broadway with one car parked in the bike lane and another partially blocking it with the rear of the car.

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When you’re in city traffic, opening your driver-side door with your RIGHT hand, and not your left, encourages you to check your rear view mirror. This can help prevent doorings.

Edit: This is the “Dutch Reach” linked to above.

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You need to turn your head and directly view the lane to ensure no one is approaching the door.

You also need to do this when changing lanes, turning across a space, or reversing, unless you have one of those new cars with the cameras AND you understand what they do and don't cover and how to use them properly. Mirrors exist to extend our view for added safety, but we generally need to turn our heads and look at the space into which we are planning to move our vehicle or any part of it.

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An additional benefit of the Dutch Reach is that if an oncoming vehicle strikes your partially opened door, the impact may be more likely to spin you back into the car rather than yanking you into the crunch zone.

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