Out here in Dakota County, we don't have to worry about this the way city cyclists do. I'm talking about riding by cars that are parked on the street. It is my experience that a lot of drivers that park on the street do not look into their side view mirrors before they open up their door. The best way to avoid an ugly end-o is to get used to looking for a head behind the wheel of the car, and always try and give yourself a little clearance of 3 ft. if possible without getting too far out in the traffic lane.

Cleve Petersen, who I raced with and against had this happen to him on the Minnehaha Pkwy. in Minneapolis a long time ago. He found out something that not many cyclists know about. In a case like this, it is automatically the fault of the driver because technically it is illegal to open up your car door on the traffic side of the street.

Here is a web site that covers the "door prize" and other common bike/car collision senerios - bicyclesafe.com