The United Kingdom is introducing a new traffic rule. According to this BBC article,
A method known as the "Dutch reach" is to be introduced to the Highway Code in the UK after years of campaigning.
The practice is used widely across Europe and encourages people to open vehicle doors with their opposite hand to avoid injuries to passing cyclists.
Further down there is some explanation why this method is called the "Dutch reach":
- The technique is named after a method for opening car doors that has been standard practice by the Dutch for many years
Now this is one of the things you do quite often but not think about how you (or other people) do it; but I am Dutch, I always open the car door with the closest hand and as far as I know other people I drive with (not many since the pandemic, I'll admit) do it too. Is my experience representative, or is the "Dutch reach" really standard practice in the Netherlands?