Bicyclist dies after being doored in Somerville

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.

Head bowed

By Darkness
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 3:22am

Rest in peace.

Yet another "door zone" bike lane

By Tim Mc.
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 7:20am

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*.

The Mayor said it best

By Gary C
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 9:43am

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.”

Challenging the status quo is a weak commitment.

By peter
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 9:53am

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

Charges?

By John Costello
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:28am

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.

Jesus you love putting your foot in your mouth

By spin_o_rama
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:42am

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/T...

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.

OK

By John Costello
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:56am

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

Spin it any way you want

By spin_o_rama
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:59am

You told a lie and got called out for it.

Take the L.

I Can't Take The L

By John Costello
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 11:04am

You already have it tattooed all over your face everyday.

Insecure much?

By cinnamngrl
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 11:12am

All he did was give you the facts.

Wow

By lbb
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 11:32am

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.

To be fair

By spin_o_rama
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 12:51pm

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

Lol, lbb is such a troll

By robo
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 2:02pm

Nothing more necessary to say

lol, I love...

By lbb
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 2:21pm

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

Come on

By robo
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 3:13pm

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

But...

By lbb
Wed, 08/17/2022 - 9:14am

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

Haha, touche

By robo
Wed, 08/17/2022 - 9:15am

Well played, sir! Well played.

On Fragility…

By iamblued
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 11:44am

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.

To play devil's advocate here

By Rob
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 1:39pm

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

Johnny is a known troll, particularly on the topic of bikes

By spin_o_rama
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 3:47pm

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."

Troll - Ha.

By John Costello
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 5:46pm

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.

All for bs

By cinnamngrl
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 9:47pm

you just flame everyone nonsensically

He is not a troll

By SamWack
Wed, 08/17/2022 - 7:18am

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.

you can't open a driver's side door by accident.

By cinnamngrl
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:58am

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

Tort

By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 11:21am

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.

Jesus Christ Costello give up already

By eeka
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 1:26pm

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.

Ha Ha

By John Costello
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 2:57pm

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

Please be careful, folks. It

By xyz
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 8:01am

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

more succinctly..

By anon
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 9:07am

Inattentive Driver Kills Senior Citizen

Helpful habit for drivers to get into

By anon
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 9:15am

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.

Also, do the

By MC Slim JB
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:23am

Dutch Reach.

also

By cinnamngrl
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:27am

just follow the law.

The article linked here has a

By Anon
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 9:23am

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.

Advice for drivers

By dan r
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:45am

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.

Not just your mirror

By eeka
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 1:30pm

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.

Additional benefit

By Bob Leponge
Tue, 08/16/2022 - 4:26pm

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.

Bicyclist dies after being doored in Somerville

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