The Santa Monica Patch has reported that a Los Angeles man recently died from personal injuries that he sustained in a Santa Monica bicycle accident. The 40-year-old cyclist was injured after he crashed into an open car door in Santa Monica’s Sunset Park neighborhood.
The cyclist apparently flipped over the car door and landed on the pavement head-first. The cyclist was not breathing after he hit the ground and it is unclear whether he suffered a severe neck injury or traumatic brain injury. He died approximately two weeks after the crash.
It is more common for bicycle accidents to involve cyclists who are struck by inattentive drivers, but door-opening crashes are not a rare occurrence.
Drivers and passengers often create these crashes by failing to check for cyclists before opening car doors on busy streets. Some cities have sought to reduce the number of such crashes by installing bike lanes that are between the sidewalk and marked lanes.
No criminal charges were filed in this case as it appears that the cyclist’s actions are the primary factor behind the crash. The car’s driver apparently had the car door open for several seconds before the crash happened. The cyclist was also legally intoxicated at the time of the crash and was not wearing a helmet.