I got doored again. For those unfamiliar with the term, it means someone thoughtlessly opened their car door without checking any cyclists were coming. I say again, as it’s the second time in Oxford the door has actually hit me and God knows what unholy numeral it’s been a near-miss.

Luckily it wasn’t too bad, I was able to stop and control the fall. Mainly because I cycle away from cars and kerb most of the time to force drivers to give me room. Even more commonly I’m avoiding kerbside pot-holes, which always seem to be deeper and wider than any middle of the road holes.

Now the first time it happened the guy was mortified and dutifully picked me up from the road, apologised and made sure I and the bike were okay. No such luck this time. The guy in question was being chauffeured, which is always a sign of absentmindedness if you need someone else to drive you around, when I angrily told him it was the norm to check for cyclists before opening doors his reply was he did but only in one direction. The discussion was promptly over when I realised what a complete twerp I was dealing with, he had failed to look in the direction the vehicles were moving, hit me and he wasn’t even going to apologise.

So off I wobbled, luckily all I encountered was a missing handlebar grip, which I retrieved from the road. Yes, I said that right, I did as he blindly stood and stared.

Now whenever something bad happens to you while cycling, like any life threatening incident you automatically have to tell the next three people you see. Working in a bike shop these three were other cyclists and I was greeted with retaliations of their last dooring attack. It seems most cyclists have been doored in their lifetime.

This got me wondering, is there any comeback for the doorer, and is there any recourse for the dooree? Apparently there is and I thought I would share this with you in case you are the next victim. According to legislation (RVCUR r. 105; RTA s. 42; RTOA Sch 2), it is an offence to open “any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person”. It applies to passengers and drivers alike and it is an offense to simply endanger them, so those near miss swerves are an offense as well.

Okay you have to prove causation as well, which is trickier unless you have witnesses but like all bike/car crashes it is best to get drivers’ details and registration even if you think you are okay.

I think I’ll return to cycling down the canal instead of the road. At least all that can happen is a jay walking duck will step out in front of you and you take a dip in the canal, but that’s another story.