NYT article on dooring

[wheelswings]

Here is an interesting NYT piece on dooring, in case anyone missed it.

The Dutch Reach: A no-tech way to save bicyclists’ lives.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/smarter-living/the-dutch-reach-save-bicyclists-lives-bicycle-safety-drivers.html

The article notes that bike fatalities are on the rise and that dooring is likely a major contributor. The author urges Americans to adopt the “Dutch Reach,” which means opening the car door with the FAR hand while rotating your body to check for cyclists on the road. The Dutch Reach is included in driver training in The Netherlands and is a requirement for licensing… if applicants don’t open the door with the far hand, or if they do it incorrectly, they fail the driving test. (Licensing standards are a lot more rigorous in Europe…) This far-hand reach is recommended for all passengers on both sides of the car.

[phog]

That would be an improvement over blithely flinging a door open with the left hand, but many Americans may be too corpulent and inflexible to turn around sufficiently to have a look. A glance in the side-view mirror before exiting may work better.

[dbehrend]

Thank you for sharing. I liked the quote at the end – “The Dutch have evolved into a culture that respects the right for everyone to get home safely,” Dr. Charney said. Incorporating road safety into Dutch elementary school curriculum must have a profound impact on building and sustaining that culture (“They learn the importance of shared roadways to make sure that both drivers and cyclists are aware of each other and know each other’s rules . . . .).

[mstone]

Yeah, so that won’t work here, where we’ve evolved a culture with a visceral refusal to recognize any rights (or even basic humanity) for people in another tribe.

[Crickey7]

I drove yesterday for the first time in months. Every intersection, the box was blocked.

Drivers won’t even be considerate to help themselves.

[Yule]

The author urges Americans to adopt the “Dutch Reach,” which means opening the car door with the FAR hand while rotating your body to check for cyclists on the road

Okay, could work, but in a place where people are all…let’s say “on the same page.” I could see Iceland, for example (a place I have never been) mobilizing towards this, getting this done as a cultural change. I am afraid that not enough residents of the USA would ever get the memo, or care.

The better solution on “dooring” is investing in more protected bike lanes with parking on bicycle lane’s left side(from the perspective of bicycle movement) and pedestrian sidewalk to the right: Still not foolproof as passenger side doors also dangerous, but likely to save lives over the long run. I assume most dooring happens on busy but wide-enough roads that, given different spending priorities, could have had protected lanes on them. Wilson Boulevard between Rosslyn and Courthouse in Arlington recently put these in, and I feel the dooring risk there is a lot lower over what it was last year.

[Author]

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