The Dutch Reach

Habits are a key part of life. Simplicity often is the shortest way to success. With one movement, how you reach out to open your car door may save a life, or save a bicyclist from injury. Creating a new habit and retraining your movement when opening a car door can come with the full benefit. Learn the Dutch Reach — don’t knock down the bicyclists passing by you. It seems easy enough to note bicycle images on the path outside your car door. However, if people don’t bike, it’s not easy to think of potential bicyclists passing by. Maybe they have already stopped answering a text as they get off their cars, since they are responsible drivers and have left the phone alone. But in cases where people don’t have those habits, practicing the Dutch Reach is one of the best things we can do to protect bicyclists. The Dutch Reach is a movement where you reach around to open your car door with your right hand. The movement of using your right hand instead of your left hand gives way to at least glancing in your rear-view mirror. More importantly, it encourages you to look behind before opening your car door. The phenomenon of bicyclists getting hit by an opening car door is so common that it has its own term: dooring. According to a study in Chicago, as many as one in five bicycle accidents involve car doors — in total, there is an average of nearly one dooring per day in Chicago. Even when bicyclists make a sudden sideways moment, they can end up getting hit by cars. Separating bike lanes can work but it also takes time and money. Therefore, please consider the bicyclists enough. Learn the Dutch Reach and save lives.