Overview

• Hamburg police report that a 28-year-old passenger opened a Ford Transit door into a bike lane, the actress struck the door, and she died in hospital on October 9.
• “Dooring” denotes collisions in which cyclists are hit by suddenly opened vehicle doors, a scenario that frequently leads to serious head injuries.
• UDV research found 18% of injury crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians relate to parked vehicles, with about half of those in 11 inner cities caused by dooring, and Cologne police recorded 120 dooring cases in 2024.
• Experts recommend wearing a helmet and keeping at least 1 to 1.5 meters of clearance from parked or stopped cars, noting riders are not required to hug the right edge if that creates risk.
• Police and safety groups advocate the Dutch Reach and vehicle dooring-warning systems, while StVO §14 imposes a duty to check before opening doors with fines and potential negligent-bodily-harm charges if injuries occur.