DRIVER

‘Dooring' Incident in Cambridge Highlights Bike Safety

As police search for a driver who hit a biker with a car door earlier this month, safety advocates are calling for more precautions after yet another accident.

The incident happened earlier in May in Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A 23-year-old was biking when the driver of a blue BMW suddenly swung open his door on Massachusetts Avenue causing the biker to hit the door and fall onto Sydney Street, according to Cambridge police.

“The next thing you know, the driver hopped back in their car, escaped, fled the area," Cambridge police spokesman Jeremy Warnick said.

Investigators say a passenger in that car took off running after the incident.

“Dooring is a really serious problem and we can do so much better,” Michael Davidson said.

Davidson is part of Cambridge Bike Safety, a group pushing for more dedicated bike lanes after this incident and the June 2016 dooring incident in Inman Square that killed 27-year-old Amanda Phillips.

"Dooring is the second leading cause of crashes in Cambridge so it's not surprising that we see so much dooring in the city," Davidson said.

“It is extremely controversial,” Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern said.

This issue is personal for McGovern, whose son was injured in a door incident. More bike lanes means less parking in a city already facing a crunch, though.

“I'm willing to sacrifice my own inconvenience, if it means people are going to be safer and I hope other folks in the community would be willing to do the same,” he said. 

With the start of Bay State bike week, those involved say this incident is a reminder for both drivers and bikers.

Investigators say they don't have much of a description of the driver or passenger involved but they are checking with businesses for surveillance video.

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