Brits now have to get out of the car ‘the Dutch way’

You may not know it yourself, but in Holland we use a special technique when getting out of the car. This technique is known abroad as “Dutch arrivalor the Dutch fist.

This is how: in the Netherlands, during driving lessons, you learn to open the door with your right hand, while you look in the mirror and hold the door with your left hand. By opening the door with your “wrong” hand, you automatically turn your body, giving you a better view of traffic and preventing a passing cyclist from breaking into the door.

In the UK, where fewer people use bicycles, motorists are not used to taking cyclists into account. According to Cycling UK, more than 60 times a cyclist dies or is seriously injured as a result of a car door collision in the country.

big fine

So the organization started the campaign.”reach flag‘, to invite people out of the car the Dutch way from now on. This campaign had an effect: from tomorrow the use of the Dutch fist will be officially mandatory in the UK.

A motorist who causes a gatekeeper to be injured can be fined £1,000 (£1,200) if it is found that the car has not been used. Dutch arrival†

The new law introduces more rules to protect cyclists. For example, from now on, cars must maintain a distance of at least one and a half meters when passing a cyclist. There is also a rule for cyclists themselves: they must stay 1 meter away when passing a parked car.