Every time you ride your bike, you decide to reduce your impact on the planet and boost your health. But, you also take on serious risk. A ride does not give you protection, other than your helmet, from the impact of a crash. A lot of cyclists can be a victim of dooring accidents, which can be quite traumatic. If you have been in this kind of accident and suffered from serious injuries, a Portland bicycle accident lawyer can help you seek compensation for them. A dooring accident occurs when a door of a car is swung open into the path of an oncoming cyclist.
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Every Driver Has a Duty of Care
Motorists who pull into parallel parking spots on one side of the road must act responsibly. When they fling their door open into traffic, they endanger an oncoming bicyclist. Every parking driver should check for oncoming traffic, including bicyclists before they open their car door into traffic.
Common Injuries Dooring Accidents Can Cause
A dooring accident can lead to different injuries that can vary in severity. Also, once you get thrown from your bike into oncoming traffic, you become vulnerable to more serious injuries. These include the following:
- Fractured bones. When a bicycle hits the open door of a car, the rider can be thrown from their bicycle onto a hard surface. Such impact often causes fractured bones, which are quite painful and do not heal quickly. Also, it leaves you suffering from chronic pain and even a permanent disability.
- Blunt force trauma. After you are thrown from your bicycle in a dooring accident, you can sustain non-penetrative injuries that can lead to serious bruising and rupturing of internal organs. Sometimes, it may not be possible to repair these injuries. Consequences of blunt force trauma can be life-threatening.
- Traumatic brain injuries or TBIs. Bicycle accidents such as dooring often result in head injuries like TBIs. Usually, these injuries are caused by a strong force or blow to the head and may result in brain malfunction. Unfortunately, TBIs can go undetected until they have worsened with time. Also, they are not easy to treat and can result in undesirable emotional and physical consequences.
- Minor injuries. Abrasions, cuts, and road rash are minor injuries that can be suffered in a dooring accident. They can occur when the skin scrapes against the surface of the road. But, even if they are milder than other injuries, they can still be painful and can develop into infection sites.
