Dooring - when a suddenly opened door becomes fate

In June 2025, a taxi illegally stopped on a restricted area — a practice that repeatedly occurs in the hectic Berlin everyday life. A female passenger opened the rear right door and exited, apparently without paying attention to the following bicycle traffic.

Door open — and everything tips over

Goldmann rode on the cycle path — and collided with the door. The taxi driver continued his journey despite the accident, the woman left false contact details. Since then, Goldmann's accident-causer has vanished — and with her all claims for compensation and assistance.

The consequences are serious: The extensive injuries forced Goldmann to undergo multiple procedures and lengthy treatment. The operative procedure required the removal of damaged cartilage; since then there has been bone-on-bone contact. Goldmann can no longer bear full load on the arm; sporting activities now appear irretrievably lost. In addition, the psychological burdens: fear of cycling, sleep disturbances, permanent insecurity — up to the need for a professional reorientation. The financial burdens are also high: hospital and rehabilitation treatments, medications, expert assessments, and possible income losses. A fundraising appeal explicitly mentions the burden of non-reimbursed costs; however, the responsible compensation fund is unable to help without an identified female offender.

The legal and social void surrounding the accident

Unlike some prominent cases — for example, the cyclist who was involved in a dooring accident in 2023 in Berlin-Charlottenburg and whose case was recently heard in court — at Goldmann neither the driver nor the passenger has been identified as the perpetrator.

The fact that the taxi driver drove on and the female passenger disappeared under a false identity has the consequence that Goldmann now stands completely alone. An indemnity fund, which was actually established specifically for such 'unknown accident culprits' cases, generally rejects payments when the sequence of events and the parties involved are not clearly identified or proven.

Responsibility of the taxi industry

When a driver drives on and the passenger disappears under a false identity, there is effectively no tangible place left for victims to turn to. Against this background, it would be worth considering whether taxi companies and professional associations could not introduce binding rules — for example notices in taxis, orientations for passengers, rules of conduct for getting in and out, perhaps even technical aids or warning systems.

At first glance, the industry appears to have been absolved of responsibility. Nevertheless: The lack of control over the behavior of passengers when boarding and alighting remains a gap. A glimmer of hope in 2024 was the campaign to prevent "dooring accidents" as part of the traffic safety initiative #MehrAchtung of the BVTM with the Taxen-Union Hamburg e.V. and the Hansa Funktaxi eG.