News Archive: Sept – Dec 2016

Dutch Reach Diagram - City of Cambridge, MA:

Image from above of cut-away car showing view of driver with far right hand on door latch, torso turned and field of vision directed back to see on-coming cyclist before opeiing door fully, thus avoids dooring the bicyclist.

Cambridge Street Code's diagram of driver using Dutch Reach far hand method to look back over shoulder for oncoming traffic, thus avoids opening fully and dooring cyclist. Credit: Marie Macchiarolo, Cambridge Community Development; image is in public domain.

CITY OF CAMBRIDGE, MA ADOPTS 'DUTCH REACH'

Cambridge, Massachusetts may be the first U.S. city to officially advise all its drivers to use the far-hand reach method when exiting motor vehicles.  In December 2016 the city issued a guide to promote safe road sharing, addressing drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.  "Street Code - Rules and Etiquette for Getting There Together," is part of Vision Zero Cambridge.  Two pages of text and diagrams are devoted to dooring prevention for drivers and cyclists, and includes the formerly anonymous Dutch technique. (pp. 8 & 9).

The guide is the product of a collaboration among four city departments - Police, Traffic & Parking, Community Development, and Public Works [Design credit: Marie Macchiarolo, CCD].  Its publication followed several high profile bike/vehicle fatalities in Cambridge including the dooring-related death of nursing student Amanda Phillips at a hazardous intersection last June, whose death triggered an outpouring of protest and city-wide resolve.

Doors Are Dangerous - Cambridge Street Code

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), PDF [Design credit: Marie Macchiarolo, Info: Cambridge Community Development; in public domain.] Click image to enlarge.

And Prime Minister Trudeau Agrees!

MP Joel Lightbound's call for drivers to adopt the Dutch Reach to prevent bicyclist deaths and injuries by opened car doors, is supported by Justin Trudeau, PM of Canada via tweet.

MP Joel Lightbound's call for drivers to adopt the Dutch Reach to prevent bicyclist deaths and injuries by opened car doors, is supported by Justin Trudeau, PM of Canada via tweet.

CANADIAN MP CALLS FOR 'DUTCH REACH' ANTI- DOORING CAMPAIGN

Sécurité routière : le député fédéral Joël Lightbound fait la promotion du «Dutch Reach» (VIDÉO)

Canadian MP Joel Lightbound calls for a national stccampaign to prevent doorings using the Dutch Reach.

Canadian MP Joel Lightbound calls for a federal safety campaign to teach the Dutch Reach to avoid dooring bicyclists, using The Dutch Reach Project's line drawing for stickers. Nov. 14, 2016

 

Road safety: MP Joël Lightbound promotes "Dutch Reach"

by Catherine Lévesque,  14/11/2016 23:40 EST

http://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/11/14/joel-lightbound-dutch-reach-cyclistes_n_12976600.html

Canadian MP Joel Lightbound displays bilingual Dutch Reach educational outreach card to teach the far hand anti dooring method.

Joel Lightbound MP Ca displays bilingual Dutch Reach card to promote the method, at press interview after his Nov 14, 2016 speech before Parliament. YouTube screen shot.

CTVNews.ca

How using your right hand could save a cyclist's life

Video broadcast. Updated Friday, October 14, 2016

Treehugger - Canada

Here's how drivers can help save cyclist lives: Do the "Dutch Reach"

Lloyd Alter, Oct 3, 2016

MP WANT ALL CANADIANS TO ADOPT THE REACH BY SPRING

A bicycle safety campaign that can be traced back to a doctor from Cambridge has gone international, and was promoted this week by a member of the Canadian government. Member of Parliament Joël Lightbound on Monday announced a sticker campaign about the “Dutch Reach,” a safety measure that encourages drivers to use their right hand when opening a door to exit a vehicle. The motion forces motorists to swivel their bodies and unintentionally look into the rearview mirror for oncoming cyclists.

‘Dutch Reach’ bike goes viral, Boston Globle, 17 Nov 2016, by Steve Annear. Canadian MP whose best friend & campaign manager was killed in a dooring starts a bilingual Dutch Reach sticker & driver retaining campaign. Initial online title: ‘Dutch Reach’ bike campaign crosses borders to Canada.

 

UK Transport Minister Doored Cyclist; Failed to Report.

Video footage has emerged of the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, knocking over a cyclist and sending his bicycle crashing into a lamppost, in an incident that left the rider in a state of shock by the roadside. News of the Dutch Reach was just emerging & was noted in a Letter to the Editor of The Guardian shortly after this incident.

UK Transport Sec. Chris Grayling revealed to have doored cyclist in Parliament Square two months earlier by bike cam. Grayling concealed his identity, failed to report, nor arrange medical help nor indemnification. Grayling blamed the victim of speeding. Click here or image, for article & video.

BRITISH TRANSPORT SECRETARY DOORS CYCLIST

Here's a teaching moment for road sharing, Door Lanes, the Dutch Reach and more, courtesy of Britain's Secretary of Transport  Chris Grayling.  His dooring offense and subsequent comments raise debate on behavior, enforcement, infrastructure and policy:
 
THE INDEPENDENT, UK - 12/16/16:
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling faces calls to quit and for prosecution after knocking cyclist off bike
A cyclists' defence fund has also called for his prosecution
 
NPR  - 12/16/16:
 
THE GUARDIAN, UK - 12/16/16:
Letter:  How to safely open a car door, Dutch-style
 
DAILY MAIL, UK - 12/15-16/16:
Grayling opens his car door and sends a cyclist flying into a lamppost - just a week after lashing out at London cyclists for being 'unwilling to obey road signs'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4038136/Cyclist-knocked-bike-TRANSPORT-Secretary-Chris-Grayling-s-fault.html#ixzz4TUrWpH8d
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THE GUARDIAN, UK  - 12/15/16:
Chris Grayling sent cyclist flying with his car door, video shows
 
 CYCLING WEEKLY, UK - 12/06/16:
Cycle lanes cause problems for road users, says Transport Secretary
 
 
 

Letter Tells Grayling: Dutch Reach!

How to safely open a car door, Dutch-style. The Netherlands has found a solution to the problem of car doors and cyclists (Transport secretary knocks man off his bike, 16 December). Dutch motorists are trained to open the car door with their opposite hand. This forces the body to swivel, and your eyes to look backward, thus spotting a passing cyclist.

Letter to The Guardian in response to Chris Grayling's dooring offense, informs readers of the Dutch safety move. Likely first print appearance of the Dutch Reach in Britain - 16 Dec 2016.

Display: Trois Livres Canons, Quebec

Dutch Reach sticker promotes far hand D;utch Reach method to prevent doorings. Pictures woman reaching across to door latch handle, starting action for the method.

MP Joel Lightbound's Dutch Reach winter driver re-training campaign stickers on display at Livres de Trois Canons bookshop in Quebec, Canada.

QUEBEC BOOKSTORE ADOPTS THE DUTCH REACH CAMPAIGN

 

Doing the ‘Dutch Reach’ could save lives