Car-Door Opening Campaign To Be Launched

A campaign drawing attention to the dangers of drivers opening doors in front of cyclists will be launched next week.

It will be launched on Thursday 15 June at 10am to raise awareness of the issue and will be directed at both drivers and cyclists.

The campaign aims to encourage drivers to look before opening doors and to encourage cyclists ride defensively. The issue of car doors opening in front of cyclists is a cause of many cyclist injuries in Christchurch. It is difficult to gauge the extent of the problem from Land Transport Safety Authority data, as many crashes are not reported. But recently in Christchurch there has been a death and one serious injury from this cause. In 1989 a survey of cyclists showed that the opening of car doors was one of the top three factors in cyclist crashes.

The sticker campaign is designed to raise awareness of the problem. Special stickers will be unveiled at the launch that will be held at the Christchurch City Council Civic Offices, Tuam Street, at 10am on Thursday 15 June.

One of the speakers at the launch will be Chrissie Williams, chairwoman of the Burwood Pegasus Community Board, who was an injury victim in a collision with a car door.

City Council fleet vehicles will be the first to have the stickers applied (this will be carried out as part of the official launch) and representatives from organisations and companies having large vehicle fleets will be invited to attend and receive stickers for their vehicles.

ENDS

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