A dooring happens when an occupant of a parked car or delivery vehicle opens their door right into the path of a motorcycle causing the rider to be ejected. Though it doesn’t sound that ominous, it can be a very serious accident and even result in a fatality.
Motorcycle riders often go unseen by motorists which is one of the primary reasons for a large number of motorcycle accidents. Drivers can look right motorcycle and then pull out and later swearing that they didn’t see it. A dooring is just another manifestation of this phenomenon as people just aren’t looking for motorcycles when they open their car door.
Different Types of Dooring
Several scenarios can produce a dooring accident. With each one, the severity of the crash is determined by the speed of the motorcycle and just how much of the door the bike hits. The different types of motorcycle dooring accidents are:
- Parked Car: This is the most common and it happens when a car is parked on the right side of the right lane, next to a curb or sidewalk, and then the occupant opens the car door right into the path of the motorcycle.
- Delivery/Load-Unload Zone: The same can happened when a rideshare vehicle, taxicab or a delivery vehicle has someone open their door.
- Defensive Crash: Sometimes an alert motorcyclist can see a dooring unfold and then will swerve to the left to escape the door, but get hit by a motor vehicle in the next lane.
- Lane Splitting: While illegal in most states, a motorcycle rider sometimes will ride between cars on a freeway or down the shoulder on a highway, and someone will open their door into the path of the motorcycle.
Common Dooring Injuries
A dooring accident can be devastating because of the lack of defensive opportunity of the motorcyclist. The door opens and the rider has no time to even hit the brake. The rider is almost always ejected from the bike and then hits their handlebars, maybe the car door and then the pavement.
These several impacts can cause serious injuries, and some of the more common of these are:
- Head Injuries
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Broken Facial Bones
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Writs and arm fractures
- Legs, pelvis fractures
- Nerve damage
- Broken Ribs
- uninsured/underinsured coverage.
Contact a Kentucky Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Accident victims often wonder if they need an attorney, and the answer is almost always yes. The insurance company agents have years of experience and are good at their job which is to pay you as little as possible or nothing at all. You need someone just as experienced to help you level the field.
Talk to a Louisville Motorcycle Accident Attorney you can trust to be on your side and get you what is yours under the law. The attorneys at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, have that knowledge and a combined 100 years’ experience in helping clients get the results they deserve. To discuss your case, contact Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC today, by clicking here to contact them online.
