Now even taxi passengers have to yield to cyclists.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is issuing bright orange-and-white stickers that will be placed on cab windows warning passengers to “LOOK! for cyclists” as they exit.
The stickers — which feature little pupils in the two Os in “look” — are intended to cut down on instances of “dooring,” the term for when a cyclist is smacked with a car door as it opens.
“Old-timers used to say the rule of thumb used to be you’d have to replace one door a year because of dooring,” said TLC Commissioner David Yassky.
He said that number has gone down, but even one is too many.
Seven cyclists have been killed by dooring since 2007.
The stickers won’t be mandatory, but many cabbies are expected to apply them because replacing damaged doors is extremely costly.
The TLC will also run videos on Taxi TV reminding riders to be on alert for bicycles opening doors.
“There’s no city officials [in the video] because I want people to actually watch it,” joked DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.