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Cycling UK and Uber team up to teach Dutch Reach to drivers and passengers

App users will see 3D film warning of danger of not looking before opening door

Cycling UK and ride-sharing firm Uber have teamed up to teach drivers and passengers the Dutch Reach technique to help prevent cyclists from being doored.

The technique encourages car occupants to use the hand furthest away from the door to open it, meaning that their body naturally twists round so they are naturally looking over their shoulder and thus able to see any cyclists approaching.

While the technique is taught in the Netherlands and elsewhere and has been covered in the press here after Cycling UK campaigned for it to be introduced to the driving test  following the death of Leicester cyclist Sam Boulton, who crashed into the path of a van when a taxi passenger opened a door into his path, it is still little-known here.

A poll commissioned by the charity found that among the general population, only 12 per cent knew what it was, with 22 per cent believing it was a Dutch beer, 19 per cent a handshake and 15 per cent a yoga pose.

 A 3D virtual reality film produced by Cycling UK in partnership with Uber, shot from the perspective of aa vehicle passenger, shows a collision resulting from the driver opening a door, and how using the Dutch Reach would have prevented it from happening.

The film – which you can view in the 3D version here, with the 2D version shown above, will be shared with more than 5 million users of Uber’s app in the UK, as well as its 60,000 drivers.

In London, Uber is also launching a cycle alert feature which warns passengers to look over their shoulder before they open the door of the vehicle. The alerts will use digital mapping to warn users when their drop-off point is close to a cycle lane or on a shared cycle route.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK, said: “We know 60 cyclists are killed or seriously injured across Britain every year by car dooring incidents.

“We also know from a survey that 40 percent of people say they are put off from cycling because of the fear of car dooring, so it’s of vital importance to educate anyone who uses a car to check before opening their door.

“The Dutch Reach is such a simple technique, that if everyone learned it from a young age, it could make a real difference to safety on our roads.”

Uber’s head of new mobility, Fred Jones, commented: “Using a simple Dutch Reach technique can save lives and we’re proud to be working with Cycling UK to make this a habit.

“Together, we can combine education and technology to increase road safety awareness amongst the millions of people who use the Uber app across the UK.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
1 like

If we made the offence a crime against a person rather than a motoring offence as in common assault all the way up to manslaughter with the appropriate penalties then motorists might think a little bit more.

Dutch reach won't do shit, it's a waste of time IMHO, just like minimum passing 'laws'. There is ZERO evidence that 'Dutch reach' works and in fact the full methodology of Dutch reach isin itself  flawed.

Telling drivers to open the dor with their right hand, release the door release handle, open the door a small bit with their far hand and look in the crack of the door they've opened, what absolute load of tosh!

Look in the rear-view and wing mirror and THEN look over your shoulder, this is massively greater head rotation than the pathetic 4 degrees extra for using a far hand door opening AND importantly it is a deliberate head movement to look and see! Using your far hand to open a door means the head rotation is simply a physical movement with no thought behind it, it doesn't even mean the person will look or see even, or see more even if there is (a minute) increase in head rotation i

It needs the person exiting to actually want to look AND see (in which case they are already likely to do so). Also the only testing done, which was in Nottingham last year and was limited to the head movement, reaction times and how participants felt about comfort/awareness/safety (to opening a car door) shows that participants in the test that were in the passenger seat had no increase at all in safety awarenes nor head movement whichever hand they used.

So if you think a potential extra 4degree head movement (on the drivers side only) is going to change matters then you're as daft as a brush!

Avatar
JohnBrooking | 5 years ago
2 likes

There is a very important aspect of dooring which never seems to get mentioned in these articles, but really must be.

All cycling education curricula teach cyclists that the only reliable way to avoid getting doored is to avoid riding in the door zone. As far as I am aware, no country or region legally requires cyclists to stay so far to the right as to endanger themselves. Even mandatory use laws generally include an exception for safety. While bicycle educators try to reach cyclists with this message, an important learning for motorists is that cyclists are NEVER required to ride in the door zone, even if there is a bike lane there, so you MUST tolerate cyclists in the general travel lane.

There are many reasons that a cyclist may be legally operating in the travel lane, in some cases even in the middle of it. The presence of parked cars without any kind of buffer is one of the biggest reasons. Motorists, EXPECT AND RESPECT cyclists in the travel lane. They’re doing it for their own safety! Don’t squeeze past them, just slow down behind and wait for a safe passing opportunity.

And pass it on to the cyclists in your life: NEVER RIDE IN THE DOOR ZONE!

https://youtu.be/CudJvSbS2aY

Avatar
matthewn5 replied to JohnBrooking | 5 years ago
3 likes

JohnBrooking wrote:

Motorists, EXPECT AND RESPECT cyclists in the travel lane. They’re doing it for their own safety! Don’t squeeze past them, just slow down behind and wait for a safe passing opportunity.

And pass it on to the cyclists in your life: NEVER RIDE IN THE DOOR ZONE!

https://youtu.be/CudJvSbS2aY

Most drivers won't even drive in the door zone. Watch them, they leave at least a metre or more when they pass parked cars. But when cyclists won't ride in it? Screaming blue murder.

Avatar
ex_terra | 5 years ago
1 like

There’s one even more practical thing Uber could do and that’s to:

1) automatically calculate when one of their drivers has been speeding by using published speed limits to estimate the minimum legal journey time

2) add a safety reporting feature to the app so that passengers can highlight when an Uber driver is not driving safely.

I use Uber a fair bit and have had to ask a number of drivers to slow down and observe the 20mph limit.

Avatar
aegisdesign | 5 years ago
6 likes

Cycling UK teaming up with Uber?

Top cabbie trolling. laugh

 

 

Avatar
ktache | 5 years ago
2 likes

I tend to think that they are aiming this slightly wrong, don't make it about the cyclist, a lot of them couldn't give a proverbial about cyclists, make it about protecting their precious car from getting its door ripped off by a passing motor vehicle.  Self-interest is always a better persuader than the greater good.

Avatar
Kendalred | 5 years ago
4 likes

It's about time this country brought back Public Information Films - this film needs to be burned into the retinas of everyone watching prime-time commercial TV, not just Uber pasengers and drivers.

But...Chapeau to Uber for doing this, at least it's a start.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Kendalred | 5 years ago
0 likes

Kendalred wrote:

It's about time this country brought back Public Information Films - this film needs to be burned into the retinas of everyone watching prime-time commercial TV, not just Uber pasengers and drivers.

But...Chapeau to Uber for doing this, at least it's a start.

"Charlie says don't ride in the door zone!"

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