It has likely happened to all of us: we’re casually opening the door of a car when another car or bike comes whizzing past, nearly hitting the door because they didn’t see it opening. Instructables user milesfromnelhu recognised the problem and decided to fix it by spray painting a warning strip on the inside of the door.
As the above picture shows, milesfromnelhu suggests painting the inside of the door that oncoming traffic is going to see first so they’re warned of the door opening. It’s true you should be looking in your side mirror before popping open the door, but it doesn’t always happen. Smaller vehicles like motorcycles or bicycles might still be invisible when you look in the mirror. This is a great way to protect both your car and oncoming traffic. If you’re not keen on painting the inside of your door with a bright coat of paint, a strip of reflective tape will also do the trick. You can find the guide to painting your door over on Instructables.
Car Door Warning Color [Instructables]
Vlat
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:01 AMYou should never “casually open the door” just like you should never “casually pull out into traffic”, “sorry I didn’t see you” is not an excuse!
Doone
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:15 AMGood idea but not a replacement for carefully looking before opening the door. In Vic there is a $100+ fine for opening a door into traffic. And thats not considering the sprays of abuse from frightened to death cylists or the cost of damage to your car.
Jackson Bison
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:25 AMHold on a freakin second… I hate cyclists just as much as the next person, but it’s not their god damned fault that you opened your door into them, and/or other oncoming traffic.
Can someone please shoot this person in the head with a brightly coloured gun (just so they know it’s coming)
Jackson Bison
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:01 AMBTW – gotta love the over-spray all over the interior…
Useless twat.
Rocco
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:28 AMThanks! I’ll do this to my Porsche Boxter!
PMac
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:48 AMWow .. I will never do this to a car. Especially one I ever plan on reselling.
Zombie
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 12:11 PMAgree, checking first is important but i still think this is a good idea as a precaution. Maybe just a strip of reflector tape might be a bit tidier (and easier to remove for resale) than spray paint.
Enzo
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 3:18 PMI reckon instead of painting, putting a sticker (reflector type) is a better idea because painting might let some people think of mysterious things when you are reselling your car.
rob
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 5:47 PMi noticed about a week ago, my girlfriend’s 88 astra has reflector stickers on the inside of the doors… thought that was clever… but seems the car is already a pile of shit why not get paint all over the inside of it :)