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You’re NOT opening the door of the car correctly [Video]

You’re NOT opening the door of the car correctly [Video]

Thursday, April 23, 2020 IST

Even though cars are a machine but they are definitely not seen under the same lens as you’d see any other heavy machinery. Especially in a country like ours, driving schools are hardly given any importance. Most people driving, have learnt it from their family or friends. Even with hardly any formal training to drive or use a car, citizens are issued driving license and they operate their cars fearlessly. Let’s read on to understand how drivers go wrong with something as basic as the opening of the door of your respective car.

The basic mistake, as we would already know is basically opening your car door suddenly, without checking for motorists or pedestrians approaching your vehicle. There is plenty of evidence that this simple step of opening your car door carefully also goes wrong with a lot of people. This kind of mistakes are not only common in our country but in all other developed countries as well, where the drivers are considered to be more disciplined and well versed with all safety precautions that they’re supposed to take on the road. Here is a video that would explain how this common mistake can be highly damaging.

The footage shows a car parked at the side of a busy road. The car was parked well, it was not interrupting the traffic. However, the driver of the car opens the door and it gets in the way of a cyclist. Obviously the cyclist falls but is lucky that he got away only with minor injuries.

Had the driver, looked around before opening the door, the cyclist would not fall. He would have let the cyclist pass and then opened the door. Most of us don’t check the rearview mirror, while the car is in motion, let alone when it is parked. It’s a huge mistake, in both cases. In many countries, there a traffic rule to avoid such accidents, where it is illegal to open the door on the side of the road. Sadly, we are still waiting for such stringent rules to be applicable in India as well. Until then, we should just practice road safety ourselves.

Dutch Reach

They say there are more cycles in Amsterdam than the population. Therefore the need to protect the pedestrians and cyclists from potential accidents from other automobiles is even more. Dutch Reach is taught in every school in the Netherlands. It is nothing but a technique to open the door of your car in a safer way. If everyone starts practising Dutch Reach, such accidents can be easily avoided.

The video explains the Dutch Reach. It encourages you to open your car door safely. Instead of using the hand closest to the door, reach across with the hand furthest from the door. By using this method, you naturally tend to turn your body towards the window, helping you to get a complete view of your, otherwise blind spots. It also slows down the speed at which you open the door, rather than just swinging it open at one go. It’s easy, next time you park your car and are about to get out of your car, practice the Dutch reach.