An excellent in-depth article on any cyclist's nightmare: getting doored. The Dutch reach should become second nature to every driver. And, of course, we need our bike infrastructure to go from sharrows to actual protection.
"Law enforcement will not arrest motorists who cause dooring collisions if no malicious intent can be proven." latimes.com/california/sto…
@mirijulip American drivers have made it exceedingly clear they do not care about the safety of people on foot or bikes. Any solution which depends on their good behavior is doomed to fail. I’ve become an infrastructure absolutionist. It’s the only way we will ever have safe streets.
@mirijulip I will never trust drivers to look. I will stay 5 ft from parked cars. If they don't like it, they can ask our council members for parking protected bike lanes.
@mirijulip Until so-called bicycling advocates started demanding bike lanes I could ride outside the door zone without difficulty. Afterwards motorists expected me to be in the 'bike space' which was mostly in the door zone. That's when I started avoiding streets with bike lanes.
@mirijulip I don't do the Dutch Reach when driving because, as a cyclist, I know it doesn't work on modern cars w/pillar airbags. All I see is window pillar. I'd have to open the window for the Dutch Reach to work. Outside rear-view mirror gives *much* better view of approaching cyclists.
@mirijulip They don't even use the Dutch reach much in the Netherlands. But do people not look behind them when they open car doors into traffic lanes? I'm always worried about other *cars*, bikes or no.
The Dutch Reach doesn't work, and very few Dutch people do it. The left rear pillar of the car prevents the motorist from directly behind the point where the door would open. You have better visibility by staring into your left-hand mirror as you open the door slightly, then continuing to watch your mirror as you continue to open the door. The Dutch Reach is one of many stupid ideas that bike lane advocates latch onto because they sound good.
@mirijulip Simpler solution: End parallel parking. All roadside parking should be angled back-in stalls. If there's not enough space.... NO PARKING!
@mirijulip i just did the dutch reach last night on my lady friend
@mirijulip Just don’t ride where you could get doored. That’s the tweet.
@mirijulip Now how is that possible? The city painted sharrows! 🫣
@mirijulip STOP PUTTING BIKE LANES IN THE DOOR ZONE @CityRochesterNY @realmalikevans
@mirijulip @pushtheneedle A cyclist shouldn’t be riding that close to parked cars when the lane next to it is marked for bikes.
@mirijulip @thorbites Back when I drove I always checked the side mirror and if a bike was coming (quite often, in San Francisco) I’d raise both hands so the bicyclist could see them away from the door handle. It was a good feeling seeing them visibly relax and continue on their way at speed.
@mirijulip @pushtheneedle dutch drivers dont even do the dutch reach, improvement lies in infrastructure, not begging for behaviour change
@mirijulip Surely you shouldn’t ride that close to parked cars?
@mirijulip It doesn't work. Please use a properly adjusted side mirror instead....
@mirijulip The Dutch Reach does not work.
@mirijulip Sometimes bollards aren't even necessary on the 2nd pic. Where I live we have one of these and they use bolted cones instead of bollards, and it's just as efficient.
@mirijulip We need to prohibit the use of bicycles and the problem is solved.
@mirijulip Sad to have total confidence this very obvious reasoning for this design has near zero understanding let along appeal to the most car oriented folks
@mirijulip @pushtheneedle Could you explain the Dutch reach? When I park I'm always worried about dooring a cyclist
@mirijulip we also need to remind bicyclists to not ride so close to cars
@mirijulip Side mirrors, what are they for?
@mirijulip I’ve grown up and drive a car around. I also don’t worry about doors.
@mirijulip for less than 1% of the population that cycles? Don't think so.
@mirijulip Just make this the sidewalk.
