Now that the new verb “to door” has entered media usage thanks to cycling interests, one can see more such inventions from the same field of activity. For those who don’t read stories about “cycling safety” the latest term conveying opprobrium for a motorist is “dooring.” It means that a motorist has carelessly opened his door and knocked down an unsuspecting cyclist. Will we be likely to hear about pedestrians being “sidewalked” by cyclists? Will drivers soon report “fender-riding” or cyclists who “bus-truck” in the doubtful space between such vehicles? Yes, it isn’t a terribly happy subject. But it makes a point about how language is used to colour the facts. The Toronto Star has written a few stories about dooring and they have even transformed previously unclassified accidents into examples of dooring. The horrifying death of a cyclist on Eglinton West near Avenue Rd. a couple of years ago is cited as an example of dooring. The driver opened her door and a speeding cyclist swerved to avoid it. He lost control and went under the wheels of slow moving but lethal traffic to his left. The salient fact in this terrible accident is that the cyclist was speeding along in a narrow corridor between parked cars and traffic that was stopped for the light at Avenue Rd. This is forbidden by the Highway Traffic Act. Witnesses recounted the painful story. The driver said she just didn’t see the cyclist and maybe it was because he was going so fast. Call it dooring if you like, but be careful what you mean.
