How Opening Your Car Door like the Dutch Could Save Someone’s Life
Achieving High Performance Project Execution on a Joint venture Project, delivering on cost, schedule and Goals, Resulting in a Smooth Transition to Operations
March 1, 2017
JMJ is a Proud and Honored Supporter of the Fourth Inaugural Construction Safety Week 2017—U.S. Safety at Work Activity
March 29, 2017
March 5, 2017
The Dutch Reach is a simple driver procedure to ensure safety for cyclists, pedestrians, drivers and passengers
Many car drivers do not check their surroundings while opening the door of their vehicle. Seeing if something is coming from behind before opening the door is crucial, one way to make sure that you always check your surroundings is to adopt and practice the simple technique called “Dutch Reach”.
Now, what exactly is ‘Dutch Reach’, and how does it save lives?
Subscribe to Receive Our Insights in Your inbox & Get a FREE Toolbox Talk!
The Dutch Reach is a safety practice which is taught in driving schools in the Netherlands.
The Dutch Reach technique is opening the car door using your 'far hand', allowing your body to pivot to look behind, for example, if you’re sitting on the driver seat and you want to get out, use your left hand to pull the door handle instead of the right. Then open the door slowly, remaining vigilant.
Using this technique will automatically ensure that your head turns towards the door, with your eyes glancing for moving obstacles. This way, you’ll be able to spot if some other vehicle, cycle or pedestrian is approaching from the rear.
Something simple that we can all do!
