State Driver’s Manuals: Get ‘Reach’

Paths to Revise Driver's Manual & Test

Adding the Dutch Reach to the manual & licensing exam, and requiring that safe egress be demonstrated on the road test should be the goal. As the Dutch Reach/Far Hand Reach is also now taught as best practice by the American Automobile Association and the National Safety Council (& see video) the case for DOT/DMV adoption is now much easier.  But depending on political, budgetary or statutory constraints, the more difficult legislative route may still be needed or required.

 

As of May 2021, the states of MA, IL, PA, WA and the District of Columbia have added the Dutch Reach as an advisory to their state driver's manuals.  In four of the five, the DOT officials took the decision after consultation.  But in Illinois efforts led by Ride Illinois and Chicago DOT sought and won legislation to also require that questions on the far hand measure be included in the exam question pool.  As driving schools & instructors teach for - and students study for - the test, this helps assure the method is actually taught.

In Massachusetts, bike safety advocates approached the RMV Director of Licensing with the suggestion. It was added to the next manual revision eight months later in May 2017.  Illinois' amendment passed in 2018 and its revisions and pool question went into effect January 1, 2019.  In Washington, the measure was promoted by WSDOT's new active transportation planner as part of a significant revision of the WS Driver Guide issued in February 2019.  D.C. followed suit in July 2019 inserting its dooring and Dutch Reach advisory as a preface. In Pennsylvania, the recommendation came from the Pedalcycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee of PennDOT which led to it's addition in August 2019.

 

Note to activists!  Work with your state or local bicycle/pedestrian organizations where possible. Also, most all states have bicycle pedestrian coordinators (find yours' here), and some (like Pennsylvania) have appointed bike/ped or other public member commissions which consult with the state's DOT.

Even so, individual efforts can be surprisingly effective. But be forewarned: Departments of Motor Vehicles must maintain bunker-like security to protect citizen identification information. Often it is very difficult to obtain contact information for staff, such the Director of Licensing who oversees driver licensing requirements and driver manual revisions.

You can get help from your elected state officials who could on your behalf - or better, with their endorsement - submit questions & requests by authorized channels to the licensing division's staff.  In Massachusetts, the Dutch Reach Project's founder used MassDOT's online ombudsman contact form, to first contact, correspond and then speak directly with the state's licensing director to introduce the practice.

Mass. DOT Announcement

MA RMV announcement of updates to 2017 Driver's Manual sent to Professional Driver Schools & Education Programs, 5/16/17. It notes new section on Dooring Danger instructing use of Dutch Reach far hand method to look out for cyclists with a shoulder check before opening car door to exit.

MA RMV announcement sent to Professional Driving Schools & Education Programs, 5/16/17. Click to view.

2017 Driver's Manual: Dutch Reach Instruction - Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA

Teach Reach to All New Drivers -- Add to Driver's Manuals!

In 2017 Dutch Reach anti- dooring method was added as an advisory to the Driver's Manual of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  It was first to do so.   In 2018 Illinois added it to its Rules of the Road (p. 43) and will include it among questions for its licensing test.

Teaching and habituating beginner drivers to use their near hand when opening to exit is a major step forward for urban road safety. It forces drivers to turn, look in the side mirror and back for on-coming bicyclists and vehicles.  It heightens caution automatically.  Over time the far hand reach can become standard practice for more and more drivers.

Dooring injuries, deaths and damages are expected to decline as the Dutch Reach habit takes hold, sparing bicyclists primarily, but protecting drivers, passengers & other road users from heedless collisions as well.

Anti- dooring measures in the US and many other countries have focused on "Look" campaigns, cyclist door zone avoidance, separated bike tracks & buffered lanes, stronger enforcement, new technology, etc.  Adding the 'missing far hand' to the solution mix is a significant behavioral countermeasure as it directly addresses the root cause of negligence: driver or passenger habitual failure to turn and look out and back.  The neare hand habit impedes making and maintaining a shoulder check, the far hand habit enables it.

Washington State Dutch Reach Advisory 2019

Español Spanish 中文 Chinese - 한국어 Korean - Русский Russian - #Việt #Vietnamese - & 日本語 Japanese.

Washington State adds 'Dutch Reach' to 2019 Driver Guide - in 7 different language editions. See Chapter 3-p.27 - Parking.  Click image to enlarge.

Links on Dutch Reach addition to Driver's Manual: What, Why & How

Flier for State & Local Official - Features Dutch Reach section in MA Driver's Manual.

See 5/30/17 Press Release by MassDOT announcing new emphasis on cyclist safety.

Links found  under:  Advocacy Toolkit > State Level Actions > State Driver’s Manuals...  > Far Hand is Safer ... > Sample Letter to DOT, Licensing...

Links on Dooring prevention & campaigns:  Advocacy Toolkit > International Activity.  Also:  Resources > Anti- Dooring Campaigns

Add 'Dutch Reach' for Bike Friendlier State!

League of American Bicyclists Logo, tri-foil wings emanate from hub of a spoked bicycle where. Full name of LAB arcs around it from "10 am to 5 pm" around the wheel..

Click for Bike League post.

Map of Europe & Mediterranean countries with question superimposed asking: Does Your Country "Dutch Reach"?, with inset of Outside Online video screen shot of driving instructor using far hand method to initiate car door opening to avoid dooring bicyclists.

Click image for international Dutch Reach coverage by country or language.

State of Illinois Adds Reach to Road Rule Book

Dutch Reach anti dooring technique move, habit or measure is now officially part of driver education in Illinois USA.

State of Illinois Dept. of Transportation (IDOT) added the far hand 'Reach' method to the 2018 Illinois Rules of the Road. Ride Illinois & Chicago DOT advocated for Dutch Reach inclusion. Doorings are a major cause of cyclist injury in Chicago. Illinois is now the second US state to adopt the measure. Click here for IL Driver's Manual pdf. | en Español/ in Spanish: Illinois 2019 Normas de Tránsito, página 43.  Po polsku/in Polish: Illinois 2019 Przepisy ruchu, strona 43. Click above image to enlarge. For how it happened see here.

Image is a colorful state map of the continental Unites States of America with a question and large question mark superimposed asking: Does Your State Do the "Dutch Reach"? The question is posed to encourage all state and municipal bicycle coalitions and departments of transportation and traffic safety to introduce and teach the Dutch Rearch far hand method as the safest way to open car doorings when exiting to avoid dooring crashes with bicyclists.

The League of American Bicyclists has added the Dutch Reach as a criterion for Bicycle Friendly states and communities. Click image for LAB's endorsement.

Pennsylvania Dutch Reach Advisory - 2019

D.C. DMV Adds Dutch Reach to Driver Manual

District of Columbia Dept of Motor Vehicles features the Dutch Reach in the preface to its latest Driver's Manual, which is issued in 7 languages: English, Amharic / አማርኛ (an Ethiopian language),  Chinese / 中文, French / Français, Korean / 한국어, Spanish / Español, & Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt.

Text "Reach, Turn Look...It's in the Book!" together with page 109 of Massachusetts 2017 Driver's Manual which teaches the Dutch Reach far hand anti- dooring method to prevent door crash injuries & fatalities of bicyclists, as in Chapter 4,: Rules of the Road.. page 109. To left of text is a color illustration of a boy opening car door using far hand anti- dooring method, looking back over his shoulder at an on-coming bicyclists, seen through the partly opened door. A small image of the cover of the Driver's Manual is superimposed on page 109 of text.

The 'Dutch Reach' far hand anti- dooring method - now in Massachusetts' official Driver's Manual, 2017 p. 109.

State Driver's Manuals are the basis of life-long driving practice.  

Once in your state's manual, the Reach will enter your local driver education curricula.  License applicants with learner permits, driver education programs and instructors all rely on the state's driver's manual as their guide book.

Rules and laws of the road, proper and safe driving and parking practices, signaling, signage, infrastructure and driver responsibilities are all taught in the manual.  It is required study to obtain a drivers license.  In addition, state manuals are also the public reference guide to traffic enforcement, insurance penalty risk, and civil liability awareness for previously licensed motor vehicle operators.  

Once in the manual, bicycle and road sharing advocates can cite its authority in anti- dooring campaigns promoting the Dutch Reach and other safety measures.

This montage features Michelangelo's God from The Creation pointing to Massachusetts RMV Driver's Manual page 109 instructions for the Dutch Reach anti dooring method. Green 2017 Driver’s Manual cover which rests just above God's outreached arm. The Netherland’s far hand method is the safest way to open & exit cars, trucks, vehicles to protect cyclists from crashing into or hitting opened car doors. It the surest way for drivers & passengers to prevent dooring injuries, deaths & damages to bicyclists, or harm to themselves when stepping out into travel lanes, bike lanes or door zones.

Michelangelo's Creator instructs drivers on the Dutch Reach to save lives.

To avoid dooring bicyclists, Massachusetts RMV / DMV 's 2017 Driver's Manual now tells drivers to use the Dutch Reach method to see on-coming bikes. It is the safest way to open & exit cars, trucks, vehicles to protect cyclists from crashing into or hitting opened car doors. In this montage, a mock-up of the headline to reporter Steve Annear's Sept 8, 2016 Boston Globe article titled "To avoid doorings, this cyclists wants drivers to do the 'Dutch Reach'“ has been revised. The headline now says that "ma", the abbreviation for Massachusetts – no longer just a "cyclist" [Michael Charney, founder of the Dutch Reach Project ] -- wants drivers to use the far hand method to prevent dooring injuries, deaths & damages.

Thank you Massachusetts RMV! - for inserting the Dutch Reach into the official 2017 state Driver Manual.

Amending the State Driver Manual - Why & How It Happened

The Dutch Reach Project proposed inclusion of the Reach in the Driver Manual to the Massachusetts RMV's Director of Licensing Steve Evans in the fall of 2016.  We provided supporting information and documentation to make the case.   All of which material -- and more such since -- may be found on this, the Project's website.  To assist efforts elsewhere, a selection of such materials are found below.

 

The obvious safety advantages of the far hand habit, in contrast to the near hand convention, were readily appreciated by Director Evans.  Historical and more recent precedents, examples of campaigns, expert endorsements, and the viral and enthusiastic 'discovery' of the Dutch Reach across the globe, were also presented.  

Early this year, Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Richard Fries, allied bicycle and road safety advocates and legislators also voiced support and established contact with the Licensing Division. A delegation subsequently met with  RMV officials in February and held a productive discussion about other road sharing issues deserving increased driver guidance.    

After internal review the decision was taken to recommend its inclusion pending necessary bureaucratic and practical considerations. In short order, funding to expand the manual for the Reach and other amendments was appropriated.  The Dutch Reach is now part of the Rules of the Road / Parking section of the 2017 MA Drivers Manual, on page 109.

The Dutch Reach amendment to the manual proved an easy 'ask'.  It met a ready reception at the RMV.  This request also set in motion the February meeting and a wider exchange of concerns.  That discussion has  now led to further road-sharing safety progress.   A new RMV driver training video on how to share the road with bicyclists and pedestrians was proposed and is now near completion.  It is expected to be released shortly.

 

*NOTE:  The diagram illustrating the manual's Dutch Reach text was adapted from the City of Cambridge, MA  pamphlet:  Cambridge Street Code - Rules & Etiquette for Getting There Together (2016) p.9.  It was produced for Cambridge Vision Zero.   Community Development Department, graphic artist Marie Macchiarolo designed the Code booklet including the Dutch Reach diagram.  Her graphic serves as the signature image for the Dutch Reach Project website & its twitter avatar.  A left-to-right flipped version was provided to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (UK) and illustrates RoSPA's February 2017 advisory approving the Dutch Reach.  The diagram is in the public domain for all to use. Crediting Ms. Macchiarolo and the City of Cambridge is a well-deserved courtesy!]

"To Avoid Doorings, cyclist. wants drivers to do the 'Dutch Reach'. - Break through Boston Globe article by Steve Annear, Sept. 8, 2016,. It was the very first news story on the Dutch Reach effort and launched it nationally and ultimately internationally.

"To Avoid Doorings, cyclist..." - Break through Boston Globe article by Steve Annear, Sept. 8, 2016,. It was the very first news story on the Dutch Reach effort and launched it nationally and ultimately internationally.

Dutch Reach Universal Sign, Figure swivels for left over-the-shoulder check for on-coming cyclists or other vehicles to avoid dooring crashes. Silhouetted iconic human figure in solid black on white background, seated but swiveled to left with right far (right) hand extended to 'door latch', head turned back over left shoulder with arrow line of sight backwards looking, scanning, for on-coming bicyclists, cyclists, vulnerable users or other traffic or vehicles which might otherwise be doored if occupant opened car door heedlessly. Doorings can result in serious, even fatal injuries to exiting drivers or passengers as well as more commonly to cyclists. The Dutch Reach method shown in the image prevents careless exiting of vehicles. This graphic symbol is intented for traffic signs, parking signs, warning to prevent and avoid doorings by exiting occupants in or adjacent to traffic or travel lanes.

Dutch Reach Universal Sign, Figure swivels for left over-the-shoulder check for on-coming cyclists or other vehicles to avoid dooring crashes. Design: NY Bicycling Coalition. Click image for larger png. Click here for information on symbol.

"Approved by RoSPA" emblem to note the RoSPA endorsed the Dutch Reach in an advisory issued February 1, 2017 in UK.

Click image to view RoSPA's approval of Dutch Reach safety advisory.

Selected Source Material to Make the Case to Your State Licensing Officials [Under construction]

Exploring this website you can find a plethora of documents, graphics, videos, media reports and links to support inclusion of the Reach in your state's driver's manual.  In Massachusetts, the most difficult part was finding a who and how to contact the appropriate office and official who oversees driver licensing and keeps the manual current.  Once communicated, the method practically sold itself.  But substantive information and supportive materials must be provided

Here are useful links:

Dutch Reach Project

Website:  www.dutchreach.org

Sample Letter to Transportation Safety Officials:

This Dutch Reach Project's Sample Letter explains the method and anti-dooring need, and details 10 safety advantages of the far hand Reach method to the near hand's use.  The Letter requests consideration of the Dutch Reach for agency review, approval and promotion.  It is a rather dense letter written with transportation safety experts in mind, but adapt it as you will!

Prior & new professional or governmental approval and promotion of the far hand method:

The Netherlands

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (UK) - Dutch Reach advisory (2017)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA. - State Driver's Manual, Revised 4/2017, p. 109.

San Francisco, CA - LUVDS video at minute 14:30 ; New Haven, CT;  Chicago, IL - Flier; Fort Collins, CO - Bicycle Friendly Driver Program; Cambridge, MA - Cambridge Street Code, p. 9.; Somerville, MA - SBAC 2016 Annual Report, p 10 & photos at bottom.

VicRoads, State of Victoria, Australia - Safety Tips for Drivers & Passengers (2012) [nb: AU is a Left side of road country].

Albany Police Department Academy (City of Albany, New York State, USA),  Share the Road (Part 1), video to train law enforcement and the public about state road sharing laws and recommended safety practices. The two part video set was produced in collaboration with New York Bicycling Coalition and the NYS Governor's Traffic Safety Committee.  Posted on Vimeo: 27 July 2017.

The U.S. Governors Highway Safety Association recommends the Dutch Reach method as a best practice safety tip in its newest report A Right to the Road: Understanding & Addressing Bicyclist Safety.  An inset on the Dutch Reach method appears on page 58 of the study. (August 2017)

Road Safety Campaigns & Endorsements by Advocacy Groups:  

Une Porte Une Vie, Montreal, Ca; MassBike, contact Richard Fries, Exec. Dir., Boston Cyclists Union, Washington Area Bicycle Association, DC; League of American Bicyclists (LAB) - contact Ken McLeod, Policy Dir.; Vision Zero SF; We Are Cycling, UK;

 

Video demonstrations with Reach method included or featured;

Featuring the Dutch Reach:  in English / in Other languages

Including the far hand method:  San Francisco MTA's Large Urban Vehicle Driver Safety video [Reach at minute 14:30]; & Uber's Sharing the Road with Bicycles video for its San Francisco drivers. [Reach presented in first of four shorts.] The SF Bicycle Coalition consulted on both productions.

Instructive Graphics:

Miscellaneous media and prominent endorsements advancing the Reach method:

Dutch Reach Universal Sign, Figure swivels for right over-the-shoulder check for on-coming cyclists or other vehicles to avoid dooring crashes. Silhouetted iconic human figure in solid black on white background, seated but swiveled to right with right far (left) hand extended to 'door latch', head turned back over left shoulder with arrow line of sight backwards looking, scanning, for on-coming bicyclists, cyclists, vulnerable users or other traffic or vehicles which might otherwise be doored if occupant opened car door heedlessly. Doorings can result in serious, even fatal injuries to exiting drivers or passengers as well as more commonly to cyclists. The Dutch Reach method shown in the image prevents careless exiting of vehicles. This graphic symbol is intented for traffic signs, parking signs, warning to prevent and avoid doorings by exiting occupants in or adjacent to traffic or travel lanes.

Dutch Reach Universal Sign, Figure swivels for right over-the-shoulder check for on-coming cyclists or other vehicles to avoid dooring crashes. Click image for enlargement. Click here for information on symbol.

GHSA's study presents the Dutch Reach as a motorist education tip to prevent heedless doorings. (p. 38 of report). Text & line drawing of woman turned to look back out side window, far hand reached across onto door latch to open, appears in this column with a blue background and is titled: "Teach divers the Dutch Reach to prevent doorings.

Click to enlarge. Governors Highway Safety Assn (US) study recommends Dutch Reach for national adoption. Click to enlarge. Source: GHSA report "A Right to the Road" (2017), PDF, p. 58. Inset's video link: "here to watch".

In countries where drivers drive on the right side of the road, and seated at the left side, use right hand to do the Dutch Reach for a safer exit.

Dutch Reach diagram US p9 Cambridge Street Code

Far hand to latch with reminder ribbon, with Dutch Reach icon.

Memory aide to help swap out old habit for new! Reach across with your far hand to latch to initiate Dutch Reach anti- dooring method.

Dutch Rebus - A graphic montage shows the Dutch far hand method to present dooring without need for words. Images include: a hand on a ribboned car door latch; a bicyclist approaching a parked car with a driver peering back to see using far hand on door; a drawing of a woman inside a car with far hand on latch and head turned back to look, & beneath all a diagram of a cyclist getting doored with a universal 'stop' or 'prevent' symbol of a circle with diagonal slash through it, in red over-laid

Dutch Rebus. One more advantage: It's universal. No translation needed! [Except swap right for left in some countries.]

Instructions to driver to check rear & side mirrors, then use far hand Dutch Reach to swivel and look back to look for on-coming traffic. In right hand column, bike lane & door zones are defined.

Dooring prevention & avoidance illustration from "Cambridge Street Code: Rules and Etiquette for Getting There Together", City of Cambridge, MA, USA, p. 9, (2016). [Design credit: Marie Macchiarolo, Cambridge Community Development; in public domain.]