The Dutch Reach technique is considered the safest way to avoid car door collisions and can minimize “dooring” risks and harms for cyclists and other vulnerable road users. Yet only two states, Massachusetts and Illinois, mandate this road safety technique that can save lives — though Washington state requires knowledge of the Dutch Reach as part of driver education.
According to government statistics, more than 700 cyclists are injured and two are killed by car doors each year, and the Dutch Reach technique could help prevent many of these accidents.
The technique works by reaching across your body for the door handle with your far or opposite hand, which forces you to turn toward the side view mirror, out and then back over your shoulder to be sure a bicyclist is not approaching.
The Dutch Reach involves five key steps: Reach, Swivel, Look out at the mirror and back, Open slowly. Drivers and passengers each use the far hand to open the car door, allowing the person exiting the vehicle a chance to check their mirrors and blind spot. The Dutch Reach is taught in some bike safety classes, professional fleet training, and is part of driver’s education in the Netherlands.
Jeffrey Zenna, a New Jersey lawyer who specializes in auto accidents and insurance law, observed that: “The Dutch Reach safety technique is a simple and effective habit that can raise awareness of cyclists, save them from the trauma of dooring injuries, and save ourselves from legal liability when we negligently injure people with whom we share the road.”
Part of the reason more U.S. jurisdictions haven’t implemented the Dutch Reach is that almost all drivers here open their car doors using their near hand. The Dutch Reach technique is considered safer and more ergonomic than the near-hand method.
There is a strong argument that it’s unrealistic to expect drivers in the United States to adopt this technique because how we open our car doors is so ingrained in our habits. It may take time and effort to educate and substitute the far-hand method for occupant exit of motor vehicles for the now prevalent and inherently less safe near-hand method. However, promoting the Dutch reach technique and encouraging its adoption can help save lives and prevent accidents.
The Dutch Reach is being adopted in many parts of the world, including Canada, where Quebec is making it a mandatory part of driver education. Back in 2019, Fast Company called the Dutch Reach “a worldwide phenomenon for not killing bicyclists.” From Berlin to New York, in jurisdictions where the Dutch Reach is mandatory to simply a suggestion, drivers are being implored to simply swap one habit for another and to save lives in the process.
