Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Bogle bomb here rear cross traffic alert,
Speaker 1: blind spot monitoring, pedestrian and cyclist detection. Automakers are coming
Speaker 1: up with numerous new safety features to help drivers, and
Speaker 1: more importantly, these features are becoming more available and affordable. Still,
Speaker 1: drivers shouldn't wait for these innovations to increase their own
Speaker 1: awareness of what's going on around their vehicles. What if
Speaker 1: there were a quick and easy way to reduce cyclist
Speaker 1: fatalities that doesn't require technology and that works in any car.
Speaker 1: It turns out there is, and it's called the Dutch reach.
Speaker 1: Here's how it works. If you're in the driver's seat,
Speaker 1: instead of reaching down with your left hand and opening
Speaker 1: the door, reach over with your right hand. Reaching across
Speaker 1: your body slows you down and forces your body and
Speaker 1: head to face the direction you're moving. You catch a
Speaker 1: glimpse of the side mirror so you can see if
Speaker 1: a cyclist or pedestrian is closer than they appear, and
Speaker 1: then you'll automatically look behind you to ensure that no
Speaker 1: one else is approaching. Put simply instead of flinging the
Speaker 1: door open with one hand and doing something else with
Speaker 1: the other like grabbing your bag, phone, coffee, whatever. The
Speaker 1: Dutch reach forces you to be more conscious of what
Speaker 1: you're doing in there were eight hundred and forty bicyclist
Speaker 1: fatalities on United States roads, according to the National Highway
Speaker 1: Traffic Safety Administration. That represents an increase of one over
Speaker 1: and as the highest number recorded since Study from Vancouver
Speaker 1: in British Columbia, Canada showed that of the cyclists who
Speaker 1: were involved in a crash with a car, most injuries
Speaker 1: were caused by doorings. When a cyclist is hit by
Speaker 1: a car door that opens in their path. It's a
Speaker 1: common misconception that doorings aren't serious because the car isn't moving,
Speaker 1: but these common crashes can easily result in a cyclist's death.
Speaker 1: That means that even if there isn't enough data to
Speaker 1: prove the effectiveness of the Dutch Reach, yet, there's still
Speaker 1: plenty of incentive to make the effort to reduce and
Speaker 1: hopefully eliminate these types of collisions. The Dutch Reach got
Speaker 1: its name because it's become second nature to drivers in
Speaker 1: the Netherlands, who are accustomed to the country's bike friendly
Speaker 1: culture before they even start to drive The Dutch Reach
Speaker 1: is also taught in driver education in the Netherlands in
Speaker 1: case anyone manages to miss the memo. Still, experts say
Speaker 1: it took some time for drivers and cyclists to coexist
Speaker 1: peacefully and safely, and the necessary changes didn't happen on
Speaker 1: their own. After time and effort, other European municipalities began
Speaker 1: to embrace this technique. That means that education and effort
Speaker 1: can make changes in the United States too. The Dutch
Speaker 1: Reach Project is an American organization that was created in
Speaker 1: in response to the preventable death of a twenty seven
Speaker 1: year old U S nursing student who died after colliding
Speaker 1: with an open car door. The Dutch Reach was first
Speaker 1: added to driver training manuals in Massachusetts, where the fatality occurred,
Speaker 1: and in Illinois. Washington became the third state to add
Speaker 1: the Dutch Reach to state driver materials as of February
Speaker 1: of twenty nineteen. In a New York Times story about
Speaker 1: the Dutch Reach, Peter Hahn, the survivor of a serious
Speaker 1: dooring crash in Washington, compared the technique to the idea
Speaker 1: of looking both ways before crossing the street. The Dutch
Speaker 1: Reach Project aims to create awareness even more, educating drivers
Speaker 1: about the technique with the hopes that the behavioral change
Speaker 1: will become a habit and the norm. At the beginning
Speaker 1: of twenty nineteen, Triple A and the National Safety Council
Speaker 1: started teaching the Dutch reach in driver's safety classes, which
Speaker 1: means that it may be on the way to becoming
Speaker 1: more widespread in the United States. The Dutch Reach Project
Speaker 1: says that it typically takes around thirty days to retrain
Speaker 1: the brain to open a car door with the far
Speaker 1: side hand. They suggest tying a ribbon to the door
Speaker 1: handle is a way to remind yourself to practice the
Speaker 1: Dutch reach every time you get out of the car. Eventually,
Speaker 1: your brain will create the muscle memory necessary to make
Speaker 1: it automatic. Today's episode was written by shers three Wit
Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and
Speaker 1: lots of other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio. For more
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