WASHINGTON — There could soon be a new law in Virginia that says drivers could be at fault if they open their car door and someone hits it.
“Dooring” is when a driver opening their car door catches a cyclist, a motorcyclist or even a bus. The law aims to increase overall road safety.
In the last five years, the Virginia Department of Transportation’s numbers show dooring caused 215 accidents in the commonwealth. A third of those people involved went to the hospital.
“If you’re going to have people biking to and from work, you’ve got to make it safe for them to do so,” says state Sen. Chapman Petersen, a Democrat who represents Fairfax County.
He says his bill establishes fault if there’s an accident.
“So if somebody gets hurt, the insurance company or the person who caused the injury … they will pick up the claim,” he says.
“And it’s also educational, that people realize, ‘Hey, when I open a car door, I’ve got to be careful what I’m doing and not cause an accident.”
The bill, which sets a $50 fine for the violation, passed the General Assembly and will soon be on the governor’s desk. There was no opposition to the bill in committee.
