Doored on Your Bike in California? Who Is Liable and What to Do

Daniel D. Geoulla
August 20, 2026
Bicycle Accidents

You are riding legally, close to the parked cars because the lane demands it, and a door swings open directly into your path. There is no time to brake. “Dooring” is one of the most common serious bicycle crashes on California city streets — and one of the most misunderstood, because injured riders often assume it was somehow their fault for riding too close. California law says otherwise.

Dooring is against the law in California

California Vehicle Code section 22517 states: “No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic.”¹ The same section prohibits leaving a door open on the traffic side longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

Two things about that rule matter for injured cyclists. First, the duty sits on the person opening the door — driver or passenger — not on the rider approaching it. Second, “moving traffic” includes bicycles. A cyclist traveling in a bike lane or riding legally near parked cars is traffic, and the person opening the door is required to wait until it is reasonably safe. (For the full picture of who belongs in a bike lane and when, see our guide to California bike lane laws.)

Why the “door zone” is a trap built into the street

The strip of roadway within about three to four feet of parked cars is what cyclists call the door zone. Riders are routinely pushed into it: California law generally requires cyclists moving slower than traffic to ride as close as practicable to the right-hand edge of the road, subject to exceptions that include avoiding hazards.² Many California bike lanes are painted squarely inside the reach of an opening door. When a rider gets doored inside a marked bike lane, the argument that they were somewhere they should not have been usually collapses on the paint itself.

Who can be held responsible for a dooring crash

The person who opened the door

The driver or passenger who opened the door into your path is the most direct defendant, through the vehicle owner’s or their own insurance.

A rideshare or delivery company

Many dooring crashes involve passengers stepping out of rideshare vehicles mid-block, or delivery drivers opening doors in bike lanes during a stop. When the door was opened in the course of commercial work, the company’s insurance may be in play — a question worth investigating early, because commercial policies typically carry far higher limits than personal auto coverage.

Sometimes, the second impact

Riders thrown by a door are sometimes struck by a passing car. That second collision is analyzed separately: the following driver’s speed, distance, and attention all matter, and more than one insurance policy may apply to the same crash.

The insurance company will still try to blame you

Expect the arguments: you were riding too fast, too close, at night, without a light. California applies pure comparative negligence, a rule adopted by the California Supreme Court in Li v. Yellow Cab Co.³ — meaning that even if a jury assigns you a share of fault, you still recover the rest. A cyclist found 20 percent at fault with $100,000 in damages still recovers $80,000. The practical fight in a dooring case is usually about those percentages, and it is won with evidence: the door’s position, the bike lane striping, witness accounts, and the physical damage pattern.

What your claim can include

Dooring injuries tend to be the over-the-handlebars kind: broken collarbones and wrists, facial and dental injuries, shoulder damage, and head injuries even with a helmet. A claim can seek medical bills (past and future), lost income and reduced earning capacity, your damaged bike and gear, and non-economic damages for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment — which in serious cases are the largest part of the claim. On the helmet question: California only requires riders under 18 to wear one,⁴ and an adult’s choice not to is not a bar to recovery, though insurers may raise it on head-injury damages.

Deadlines: two years — or six months

Most California bicycle injury claims must be filed within two years of the crash.⁵ But if any public entity is involved — a city vehicle’s door, a government employee on the job, or a claim that a public bike lane was dangerously designed — you must first file a government claim within six months.⁶ That short deadline catches injured riders by surprise constantly. If there is any public-entity angle to your crash, treat the clock as six months, not two years.

What to do in the first days

Get medical care the same day and describe every symptom, even ones that seem minor. Photograph the scene while the vehicle is still there if you can: the open door, the bike lane markings, your bike against the car. Get the driver’s and any passenger’s information — in a dooring, the passenger who opened the door may be the responsible person, not the driver. Ask nearby businesses about cameras before footage is overwritten. And do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer before speaking with a lawyer.

Talk to a bicycle accident lawyer — free, in English or Spanish

B&D Law Group, APLC handles bicycle accident cases across California from our Los Angeles office. The consultation is free, there is no fee unless we recover for you, and we can usually tell you in one call whether the door-opener, an employer, or more than one policy should be paying. Contact us here.

Frequently asked questions

Is dooring automatically the driver’s fault in California?

Not automatically, but Vehicle Code section 22517 places the duty on the person opening the door to wait until it is reasonably safe. In most dooring cases that duty, plus the physical evidence, puts primary fault on the door-opener. California’s comparative negligence rule then adjusts for any share assigned to the rider.

What if I was doored by a passenger, not the driver?

Section 22517 applies to any person opening the door. A passenger can be personally responsible, and if they were exiting a rideshare or working vehicle, a company policy may also apply. Identify everyone in the vehicle at the scene if you can.

I was riding outside the bike lane. Do I still have a case?

Often, yes. California’s ride-to-the-right rule has exceptions, including avoiding hazards — and the door zone itself is a hazard. Riding outside the lane may affect your percentage of fault, but under pure comparative negligence it does not erase the claim.

How long do I have to file a dooring claim in California?

Generally two years from the crash for a personal injury lawsuit, but only six months to file a government claim if a public entity is involved. Tolling rules can change these dates in specific situations, so confirm your deadline with an attorney promptly.

Sources and notes

California Vehicle Code § 22517 (opening and closing doors), text as current through January 1, 2026, read at FindLaw and public.law during preparation of this article.
California Vehicle Code § 21202 (position on roadway); its exceptions include avoiding conditions that make riding at the right edge unsafe. See our complete guide to California bicycle laws.
Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804 — California adopted pure comparative negligence by decision of its Supreme Court.
California Vehicle Code § 21212 — the bicycle helmet requirement applies to riders under 18.
California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 — two-year limitations period for personal injury actions. Tolling and delayed-accrual rules can move this date; confirm your specific deadline with an attorney.
California Government Code § 911.2 — claims against public entities for injury generally must be presented within six months.