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The United Kingdom is introducing a new traffic rule. According to this BBC article,

A method known as the "Dutch reach" is to be introduced to the Highway Code in the UK after years of campaigning.

The practice is used widely across Europe and encourages people to open vehicle doors with their opposite hand to avoid injuries to passing cyclists.

Further down there is some explanation why this method is called the "Dutch reach":

  • The technique is named after a method for opening car doors that has been standard practice by the Dutch for many years

Now this is one of the things you do quite often but not think about how you (or other people) do it; but I am Dutch, I always open the car door with the closest hand and as far as I know other people I drive with (not many since the pandemic, I'll admit) do it too. Is my experience representative, or is the "Dutch reach" really standard practice in the Netherlands?

Glorfindel
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    One wonders if this is just one of those things that are extremely common in continental Europe (when I got my driving license in Italy, not doing it was ground for immediate failure of the driving test), but that the English associate to the Dutch just for proximity... – Denis Nardin Jan 27 '22 at 18:31
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    I could also see the possibility of the slang usage of "Dutch" to indicate backwards, like a "Dutch Uncle" or a "Dutch Date". – Sean Duggan Jan 27 '22 at 20:08
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    Is it just a matter of most people being right-handed and driving on the right side of the road, so the driver has their door to the left? – Marc Glisse Jan 27 '22 at 20:40
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    I lived in the Netherlands (Amsterdam) for nearly 3 years and have not noticed anything special about how the Dutch open car doors. PS - @Glorfindel - don't you live in Lindon? Or, sorry, these days, I guess Valinor? – einpoklum Jan 27 '22 at 21:42
  • @einpoklum [Ermelo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermelo,_Netherlands) - a nice, quiet town with a lot of nature at my doorstep :) – Glorfindel Jan 27 '22 at 22:13
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    I really struggled for a while to understand how the hand used for opening a vehicle door could have an effect on the risk of injuries to passing cyclists. I had to read the linked article to figure out that it referred to opening the door from the INSIDE. :D This is certainly not a widespread practice in Sweden yet at least. – jkej Jan 27 '22 at 23:34
  • @MarcGlisse: Right-handed North Americans typically use the left hand (which is next to the door) to open it; we drive on the right. So no, it's not automatic or natural for most people to reach across in order to use their dominant hand. Car door handles are designed to be easy to open from the inside, not a lot of fine motor control needed, and once you pull on the handle you can just lean into the door to push it open. – Peter Cordes Jan 28 '22 at 00:46
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    Arguably the Netherlands probably has less use for such a technique than many other countries nowadays, where cyclists are more likely to be in segregated lanes that are usually well clear of any door zones. – Crazymoomin Jan 28 '22 at 01:01
  • @SeanDuggan According to the ever reliable Wikipedia those phrases were invented during the Anglo-Dutch Wars and those were fought in the mid-17th to late 18th century before cars were invented (except Brexit of course). – Gantendo Jan 28 '22 at 02:57
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    Anecdotal, but I'm Dutch and open the door with my closest (when driving that's left) hand. I've never seen anyone do it any other way. The best way to avoid damage to cyclysts is to avoid hitting cyclists when opening your door. My car is equipped with windows and mirrors. I *look* for cyclists before opening the door. Being Dutch and thus having much experience on bikes, I know what the most dangerous locations are and never had a cyclist hit my car door. – Mast Jan 28 '22 at 08:51
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    Having this taught as a method to avoid damage seems like using the wrong tool for the job, regardless of who invented the tool. AFAIK there's nothing Dutch about it. Seems like people just need to watch their mirror better. – Mast Jan 28 '22 at 08:52
  • @Gatendo: I know that, in elementary school, I sprinkled the use of "Dutch" into my vocabulary as "opposite". Much like "fetch", it didn't catch on, but it does show that sometimes these old trends come back. :) "Dutch rub" didn't come about until the 1920s. – Sean Duggan Jan 28 '22 at 14:51
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    it's standard taught practice in all the countries where I took driving lessons, as it forces you to turn towards the outside. I suppose that's easier to remember than just generally being careful. Also, not only for cyclists, but just to avoid getting your door taken away by a passing car. (although I've never heard it call that. Just open the door with your opposite hand, that's all) – njzk2 Jan 29 '22 at 19:50
  • If this is ment as slang it is as racist as Indian giving. – Coffeeholic Jan 30 '22 at 16:05
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    @Coffeeholic: Agreed. And unlike some slang like "Glasgow Kiss", there's not even really a factual basis behind it, just meanspiritedness. – Sean Duggan Jan 30 '22 at 16:48
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    @Coffeeholic, ...to me (as a cyclist), this seems _complementary_ in nature. I'd much rather live somewhere motorists habitually are positioning their heads to see out the window while exiting their vehicles than not. "Indian giving" is unambiguously negative; by contrast, I don't see any meanspiritedness here. – Charles Duffy Jan 30 '22 at 18:51
  • (Also, one of my friends is Dutch and mentioned having been taught this while learning to drive, with failure to do so as an automatic disqualification; given the answer by Gantendo it appears not to be countrywide, but it's clearly taught in some parts of the Netherlands). – Charles Duffy Jan 30 '22 at 18:52
  • @jkej I imagined it meant opening from the inside to begin with, but it took me a while to figure out how this was supposed to help bicycle safety. I guess if you're an absent-minded American, which way your body is facing would have little bearing on whether or not you notice a cyclist out the window. Although due to the angle I expect part of the door beams (and glass reflection) would still obscure the best view, and glancing in your side mirrors while facing forward would actually be a better bet... – Michael Jan 30 '22 at 22:07
  • @CharlesDuffy Ok, you are right you might see it as a compliment. It is not deserved at all though. I looked it up in local news and was a term published in 1961 in a newspaper. The same (current) news article said, we are not doing this in the Netherlands since in some cases it turns out to be more dangerous, due to the unnatural action that takes the focus from paying attention (https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/6180537/autodeur-met-verste-hand-openen-is-volgens-ministerie-soms-juist-gevaarlijker.html#coral_talk_wrapper) – Coffeeholic Jan 31 '22 at 15:10

3 Answers3

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The so-called Dutch reach is not required during lessons or exams according to Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen (the organisation responsible).

And drivers won't be required to use the Dutch reach according to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat).

It is unclear why the Dutch reach is called the Dutch reach. It was mentioned in a Dutch newspaper in 1961.

Source

Dutchreach.org has a detailed article called "Is the Dutch Reach really Dutch?"

As a life-long cyclist in Amsterdam and surrounding areas I can confidently state that the Dutch reach is not standard practice in the Netherlands at this point in time.

Gantendo
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    Whilst the Dutch reach not a requirement during driving lessons or exams, the CBR acknowledges in the linked article that the Dutch reach can help to see other road users when getting out of the car. "That is why there are driving schools that teach their students this method". – DeltaLima Jan 27 '22 at 21:38
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    True, but someone from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management stated that while the Dutch reach could help prevent accidents, it could be difficult for people with disabilities to use the Dutch reach, and that opening the door using the Dutch reach might be difficult in certain cars, which could lead to people focusing more on opening the door than paying attention to their surroundings. – Gantendo Jan 28 '22 at 02:43
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    This answer has more-then-anecdotal evidence that the Dutch reach is not standard practice in the Netherlands. I'm a Dutch driver and had not heard about it prior to news about the new traffic rule in GB. I personally know of two very serious accidents where a cyclist was smashed with a car door. I had no idea the Dutch reach existed and could maybe have prevented them. – Ivana Jan 28 '22 at 11:25
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    Anecdotally, I had driving lessons in the Netherlands with two separate instructors. Neither of them taught me about the Dutch reach, and I never heard about it in the 9 years I lived there. – Eric Jan 28 '22 at 16:48
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    I'm Dutch, been driving cars since the early 80's and when I first heard the term "Dutch Reach" a few years ago I had to go to Google to find out what it was all about. Never heard of it. Nobody around me knows about it either. – Tonny Jan 29 '22 at 10:19
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    My driving lessons are almost 20 years ago in the Netherlands. I was never taught a "Dutch reach". But i was taught to "look before you open the door". And in such a way that you might cause to fail your exam if you didn't, even in an empty parking lot. – ontrack Jan 29 '22 at 10:46
  • ditto, got my Dutch driver's license 30 years ago this year and had never heard of it until some news article mentioned it now being promoted as the standard in the UK... – jwenting Feb 02 '22 at 12:27
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I am from the Netherlands and I specifically learned it during my driving lessons from my driving instructor. I thought it was a standard thing. I still consistently do it. In my town if you don't do it, you have a high chance of hitting someone coming a long.

I didn't know it was a specific Dutch thing, this is the first time I heard it's called 'Dutch Reach'.

bananenheld
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  • Welcome to Skeptics! This is an anecdote. The Internet is full of untrue anecdotes, and we have no way of assessing whether one is true and whether it always applies. Therefore, they are not acceptable here. The answer [has been deleted in accordance with policy](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/1054). Please edit it to add references to empirical data and flag it for moderator attention in order to get it reinstated. – Oddthinking Jan 31 '22 at 00:48
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    I am Dutch and never learned it or seen it done by anyone who has good use of the arm nearest the door to them in decades driving and being a passenger. – jwenting Feb 02 '22 at 12:25
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It probably falls, and I hope it will, into the same category as the other sayings like: "Going Dutch", "Dutch courage"... Actually there is a whole post related to sayings with 'Dutch' in it:

https://www.iamexpat.nl/expat-info/dutch-expat-news/english-expressions-and-idioms-word-dutch

As you can see there are also examples of other good so-called Dutch behaviour...

Saxasmu
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    This is not an answer. The etymology of the phrase *might* share a similar source of these other words. Does it? Or the etymology *might* come from the practice originating or being popular among the Dutch. The question is about the latter. – Oddthinking Jan 31 '22 at 00:47