As cyclists in this city know, getting doored happens more often that you think it does. Just last weekend our very own fearless blogger KevMo was doored by taxi on Sanchez St, which resulted in a swollen knee and a higher than usual bar tab later that night. I was doored by SFPD on my birthday 2 years ago. Commuters and messengers get doored on Market street on a weekly basis. But not everyone walks away with only minor injuries and a dented front wheel when they get doored. Recently, San Francisco resident Melissa Moore had a harrowing experience on Polk Street which left her in immense pain. As she told Streetsblog:

Just before 9am, I was going east on McAllister about to turn left onto Polk Street. I waited for a car to take a right onto Polk before I made my turn. About halfway up the block, the car pulled into the bike lane in front of me and then parked (despite the fact that there was an available driveway less than 10 feet in front of him). I maneuvered out into the street to circumvent the car. When I reached the driver side, he swung open his door into my bike. (I later learned that the door caught my right pedal.) I crashed into the street, pretzeled with my bike. There was a white flash and a feeling of something snapping, then darkness. I heard muffled voices asking if I was okay. Unable to speak or move for a couple minutes, I searched for my breath and assessed if the snapping was my spine breaking. It hurt immensely and I expressed that to the anonymous voices. The driver asked if I wanted him to call the police and I said “yes.” Then I felt hands on me, pulling me up off the ground.

Melissa goes on to recount when the police came, her going to the hospital, etc., but the worst is what happened when she filed a claim with the drivers insurance company, Geico. They claimed that she was 20% at fault in this accident because, as Geico puts it, she “failed to control [her] speed in order to avoid an accident and lost control of [her] bicycle.”

Let that sink in for a minute. A cyclist, going uphill on Polk street, failed to control her speed, and crashed into a door.

I don't personally know Melissa, so I don't know how fast she is on a bike or how strong a of climber she is, but I'm betting that she did not accelerate into the door while sprinting uphill on her mountain bike. And I know that I am not wrong because there is a video of the entire accident. Watch for yourself:

As you can see, she suddenly accelerates to Lance Armstrong on EPO speeds and completely rips off the drivers side door due to the force of the impact, all while screaming HULK SMASH. Or at least that's what Geico sees this as. Unbelievable.

I'd also like to point out that California Vehicle Code 22517, as mentioned in the Streetsblog article, is very ambiguous. While the code states that you cannot open your car door into traffic unless it's safe to do so, it offers no protection for cyclists who have to weave in and out of traffic because of drivers that do stop in the bike lane, taxi or private car. It does, however, does apply when a cyclist is riding to the right of the car in a non-designated bike lane, like on Market St.  This law was made to protect cyclists, but it cannot protect cyclists in all situations, so what could be changed to better protect cyclists like Melissa and everyone else who rides bikes?

[Streetsblog]

Evil-doer.

Our all-time favorite TV journalist Stanley Roberts has turned his nanny cam back onto San Francisco's ever-increasing population of two-wheeled criminals.  But this time he's not waging war on the Wiggle; rather, taking a look at the the 3-way intersection at 18th and Harrison.  Witness:

Now, it might be worth pointing out that the offending bike lane and ghost rider in question doesn't actually cut through traffic, as they ride beside parked cars like it was any old stretch of road. (Might I add that it's incredibly common for motorists not to be required to stop in such cases either.)  But I suppose nuance and reason is irrelevant in the media's war on bikes.

Following last week's widely-circulated story about an attempted rape on 23rd and Guerrero, there was a lot of concern that there was no official police sketch of the suspect for people to look out for.  Fortunately, SFPD just released that sketch.  Via Facebook:

On Jan 6, 2013 at approximately 2:40 in the morning, the victim, a 31-year-old San Francisco woman, was walking westbound on 23rd Street toward Church Street. The victim noticed the suspect walking toward her eastbound on 23rd a half block away. As the suspect got closer, she became aware that he was staring at her.

The victim tried to avoid the suspect but he lunged at her, grabbing her by the head and throwing her to the pavement. The suspect then straddled her and slammed her head onto the concrete. In the struggle, the victim was able to free herself and screamed for help. A person in the neighborhood heard the screaming, looked out the door and yelled at the suspect to leave the victim alone. The suspect then ran eastbound on 23rd toward Valencia Street.

The suspect is described as an Asian or Hispanic male, 25 years of age, 5’10”, 160lbs, with a buzz haircut and slight beard growth. He was wearing a dark hooded shirt and dark pants…

Anyone with any information is urged to contact San Francisco Police anonymously at (415) 575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 with SFPD typed in at the beginning of the message.

Following the string of brutal rapes in the fall of 2011 at the hands of Frederick Dosier, a.k.a. The Mission Rapist, everyone in the area has been left on their toes.  And, thankfully, the vigilance helped one woman escape a recent attack, just over a block away from one of Dosier's most violent assaults.

This woman's story has been circulating on local email lists and is now making its way onto neighborhood blogs, via Noe Valley SF.  As of right now, there are is no police sketch of the suspect, nor a verbal description.  However, details are still emerging.

Emphasis is ours:

If you're getting this email its because you are a female friend in my circles, live in my neighborhood-ish, or have a large circle of women friends. I wanted to spread the word of what happened to me so hopefully you and your circles can be more aware, street smart and vigilant about your personal safety.

On Saturday evening I was walking home from a friend's potluck through the Mission when I was attacked - an attempted rape. I was actually being quite conscious of those around me due to the fact that I'm heading to Nairobi in several weeks and personal safety has been on my mind. As I turned up 23rd Street, I noticed a man walking to me that 'zero-ed' in on my presence, locking eyes on me. There was no side street to turn down, and I didn't want to turn around, exposing my back to him, so I kept walking. As we neared each other, I tried to walk around a tree quite close to the curb, before I could do so he lunged at me.

He knew what he was doing and how to attack someone. He went first for my eye socket with his thumb and put his other hand in my mouth to stifle my screams and slammed me down to the ground. He was using the hand in my mouth and on my jaw to try and slam my head on the concrete, presumably to knock me out. Once I was down on the ground he straddled me pinning down my arms. After about 15 seconds of struggling just to avoid him knocking me out, I was able to use all my strength to surge up on my right side to unpin that arm. Since I'm a climber, I'm strong, and I don't think he was expecting this and was unprepared for that maneuver. Luckily through this move and some biting, I was also able to get his hand out of my mouth and started screaming - first just yelling and then screaming for help. I struggled with him while screaming and trying to avoid him knocking me out for another 30s until a couple in a house several houses down the street threw open their window and turned on lights. This scared him away.

The cops came and while we drove around looking for him for awhile, we were unable to find him. This means that someone who clearly knows how to attack swiftly and effectively is still out there in our neighborhoods. This happened at 23rd between Guerrero and San [Jose] - the fringe of the Mission and Noe.

I'm incredibly lucky that I had the strength to keep him from delivering a knock out blow and to fight for so long until someone came to help. I'm incredibly lucky that those in the houses around me didn't fall prey to crowd think and assume someone else was going to help. I'm walking away from this with a bruised eye, scratches on my face, road rash on my shoulder and sore/bruised back, shoulders, jaw and ribs. It could have been significantly worse.

I wanted to spread this around not to try and get attention or your sympathy, but to hopefully make you aware of the fact that attacks, and 'bad things' can also happen to people in your circle. We live in a big city and the best thing you can do is be incredibly conscious of your surroundings at all time. Please - walk in groups, or with a male friend, take taxis and dial up those street smarts…

Feel free to send this around to other females that could benefit from a dose of reality.

Be vigilant, everyone.

[Noe Valley SF, via Patrick Connors]