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-   -   The Dutch Reach - A solution to dooring accidents (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/189347-dutch-reach-solution-dooring-accidents.html)

It is very common to encounter cyclists/motorcyclists facing threats from car doors suddenly opening. It is not a joke and has been proven fatal in many cases. Worldwide, this type of accident is called "Dooring". Even in India, we are all too familiar with Dooring.

This has been discussed once or twice before on this forum in a couple of threads. But I believe this requires a more wider audience to make the habit widespread amongst Indians.

The Dutch Reach is a very simple concept taught from childhood and in driving schools to the people of Netherlands. In fact, to pass a driving test, it is a required section to clear! You cannot believe how something so simple can be so important to saving lives on roads.

What is the Dutch Reach?
The idea is very simple. Always open a car door from the furthest hand to it. So in India, a driver should always open the door with the left hand and the passenger with the right hand.

This ensures that you are forced to turn your body to open the door thus allowing you to look over your shoulder. This glance will make you realise if there is a cyclist/motorcyclist/pedestrian about to pass by.

It is a campaign that is very popular in Europe and I believe we should drive one here in India to inculcate this very simple idea that could save a lot of lives and Dooring accidents.

Here is a video about how it could save lives. YouTube

Thanks for sharing. Learnt something new today! :thumbs up

I am acutely aware - and have had second hand experience - of how much damage someone carelessly opening a car door can do to a 2-wheeler. In my first IT job, during the initial training period, a colleague of mine fell victim to it. Someone opened the door without looking, and while he swerved the bike to avoid it, he couldn't go far enough to the right. Resulted in him just brushing the open door and he was thrown off a fair distance. He had to re-start his entire induction & training after 3 months of recuperating.

Since then, I have always been careful about checking in mirrors before opening the door. Also, I open the door a crack and pause, so bikers behind will know I am about to open the door to exit the car. Majority of the bikers will either honk and/or move over a bit.

Good Idea.
But, there could be a catch. In order to properly visualize traffic from behind one would need to first lower the window, then crane the neck and peep outside the window & then open the door.

Isn't it simpler, if we look at the ORVM itself and see if no one is approaching, and then proceed to open the door (using whichever 'hand' we prefer).

With the Dutch reach, I think our peripheral vision would catch the presence of an oncoming 2 wheeler even without doing all that you have written above. Of course, checking the ORVM is a good (additional) move.

Cheers,
Vikram

This sound all nice and dandy in theory. However when you are driving a car whose doors weigh as much as bank vaults like my primary ride, this ain't easy. What is easier is to look at the orvm and open the door slightly if there is no one behind. Then slowly open the door while keeping an eye on the road to make sure there is no mad biker trying to do their stunts.

It is a good practice to follow and while many of us may not do this exactly, we check the ORVM or turn around to check etc. Being a rider myself, am doubly cautious when I park my car and am about to disembark.

The irony is that the vast majority, who are not members here or are ignorant about basic safety practices or both, will still be out there, to get the next unsuspecting victim.

The whole point of teaching this habit since childhood and when driving is, because you as a driver/co-passenger has ORVM to look before you open the door. Rear passengers do not have them.

Another thing about this is that, people in a hurry do not think about looking before opening the car door. So with this habit, as Vikram rightly said, the peripheral vision when we turn around will make us aware of any vehicular presence.

It is in fact easier. Once you reach with your left hand, your body is pivoted and facing the door. This gives you a greater push as compared to opening it sideways with your shoulder/elbow.

Never knew something like this exists!! It is a good practice and should be taught as a part of driving lesson.

Since it is mentioned that the concept is taught from childhood and driving schools where majority are not fully adept to using the ORVM, looking at the ORVM might not give an accurate distance or the speed at which the biker/cyclist is coming. So this is a more safer practice to follow.

While most of us are considerate enough for other road users I see many people even blame the biker/cyclist for not looking ahead and crashing.

Thanks for sharing! A good habit to cultivate for the driver and the passengers as well. I firmly believe that the onus of safety falls largely on the one opening the door rather than equally on the passer-by who, in most of the cases, may not be looking for sudden opening of car doors.

Using the RVM should be a matter of habit. I keep a watch in the RVMs even when any of the passengers in my car is opening the door and I give a shout out if I sense any danger. I have seen people escape by the skin of teeth when the car driver opened the door without looking around and that too opening the door all the way out in one swift motion!

In addition to above, this practice allows for maintaining eye contact with cyclist of you acknowledging and assuring the cyclist a safe passage. Imagine from a cyclist point of view, he sees an occupant in the car and has no way of knowing if occupant knows his presence. The cyclist will now take defensive measure to either slow down his pace and ready to brake or swerve. This can delay the whole transaction and further cause a chain of events where an observant car driver behind the cyclist sees him slowing down and now prepares to slow down further. Unnecessary inconvenience right?

Well, I’m Dutch and I have never heard of this initiative! It’s interesting but in general I think the main difference is that everybody in the Netherlands rides a bicycle. (We have many more bicycles then people as many people will have multiple bicycles). So everybody on our roads is both a car driver as well as cyclist. Your kids will go to school on a bicycle. your 70 year old mother will be out in traffic, going for a ride, doing the shopping. My mum still rode her bicycle for her daily shopping till she was well into her 80’s.

So in general there is a lot more awareness and appreciation for bicycles.

Also, from a legal point of view, when a car and a bicycle are in an accident, just about always the car driver will be liable. Dutch law considers pedestrians and cyclist the ‘weakest’ parties on the road. So everybody else, cars, trucks, busses need to take extra care.

The last few years the number of (serious) bicycle accidents have been increasing. Not so much to do with cars. The number of bicycles is still increasing and our bicycle lanes are getting very busy. Also, the E-bikes are becoming very popular and are outselling regular bicycle. That also means the average speed of bicycles is increasing. The E-bikes have been a huge succes with the relatively older folks. So now we have people like my mum who used to peddle around at a very sedate 10-12 km/h all of sudden barreling down the road at 25 km/h. And we have a lot more of them too!

We have already seen the first bicycle paths will dual lanes. One dedicated lane for fast riders! Also, the various organisations responsible for safety are working on a special new cycle safety awareness program, including new road signs for cyclist. All to be kicked of 2018.

Here is an interesting article about cycling in Amsterdam and the mayor of Amsterdam. Who, of course cycles to work.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...yor-anna-luten

One of the best and very humorous way of a non Dutch person observing the Dutch and their cycles.

http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/

Enjoy Jeroen

Thanks for the input Jeroen. While what you are saying is absolutely spot on, the problem persists in India too, given the unruly behavior of traffic coupled with narrow streets and lots of parked vehicles. Add to that India does not have dedicated bicycle lanes so you have everyone gunning for the same space, which makes it more probable to miss them.

Leaving aside the bicycle part, India has a bigger motorcyclist problem too. Companies like CEAT are putting mainstream advertisements depicting Dooring on Indian roads as well.

Here https://youtu.be/pfjeCtXAvIo

This is something I unconsciously learned and practicing for years now. I am always scared of hitting some one while opening the door, so from the early days when I started driving, I found out that I can have better vision if I use my left hand to unlock the doors, and have been doing so till date.

Glad to know that this is an accepted practice.

I drive a Punto and have never felt this is difficult to put in practice - couple of tries and you can easily manage it.

--Anoop

The door in the v40 probably weighs 3x as much as a conventional hatchback door due to the crazy amounts of impact protection and electronics. A conventional hatchback like a polo or punto ain't a problem at all.

I am very well aware of this and have tried it. It's simply not practical to do in the long run unless you want to stress your shoulders badly each time. Also for right handed people, the left hand is the weaker hand.

Learned something new today about the V40 Door :)

What I do is, I unbuckle my seat belt, twist my body so that my chest and both hands are parallel to the door, and then use my left hand to push the door open, so that I do not end up stretching the shoulder. It may sound a lot, but in practice it is just one fluid motion.

--Anoop