In the United Kingdom, the so-called ‘Dutch Reach’ is included in the ‘Highway Code’. Brits should become familiar with a safer way of getting out of a car when there are cyclists nearby.
In the UK they have had the ‘Highway Code’ since the 1930s. It contains, among other things, all kinds of rules and tips to move safely through traffic. You will also find maintenance advice and instructions in it. The Highway Code is updated every so often based on new insights or changed rules. In the next edition an important tip will be added with a Dutch twist: the ‘Dutch Reach’.
The Dutch Reach is a term that allegedly first appeared in the United States, but it owes its name to a phenomenon that was found in the Netherlands. Americans apparently noticed that ‘we’ here sometimes get out of cars differently than usual. Normally you would unlock the door with your left hand and push it open, but things are different with the Dutch Reach. Then unlock the door with your right hand and push the door open with your left.
A subtle difference with a clear thought. If you unlock the door with your right hand, you turn your upper body largely towards the door and you therefore automatically look more easily to the left and towards the blind spot. The latter is the purpose of this way of getting out: you spot any oncoming cyclists and can check in the blink of an eye whether you are not opening your door right in front of a cyclist. The Dutch Reach is therefore recommended in busy streets and especially in urban areas.
This way of opening a car door is thus explained and advised in the new edition of the Highway Code. Not a luxury: according to IAM Roadsmart, 85 percent of Britons have no idea what the Dutch Reach is. Yet we are curious to what extent it is still in our system here in the Netherlands. Do you know the Dutch Reach and do you sometimes use it? Let me know in the comments.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl