Open Car Door With Wrong Hand - £1,000 Fine !
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 681
Open Car Door With Wrong Hand - £1,000 Fine !
I kid you not - new rules intended to protect cyclists.
Highway Code - rule 239 aka “The Dutch Reach” - vehicle occupants must open doors with the hand that is furthest from the door handle to “encourage body twisting so as to look behind the vehicle”.
£1,000 Fine for Door Opening
I know that us old farts are prone to mumbling about the Empire while we spill our Campari and soda on our Churchill slippers - but this really is getting bloody ridiculous.
Highway Code - rule 239 aka “The Dutch Reach” - vehicle occupants must open doors with the hand that is furthest from the door handle to “encourage body twisting so as to look behind the vehicle”.
£1,000 Fine for Door Opening
I know that us old farts are prone to mumbling about the Empire while we spill our Campari and soda on our Churchill slippers - but this really is getting bloody ridiculous.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Glorious Devon
Posts: 711
You really should read more carefully. The alleged £1000 fine has nothing to do with the the Dutch Reach and is not a change.
If you injure a cyclist by opening a door then you may.be fined. I think you will find that is already true. The Dutch Reach is intended to reduce the likelihood of that happening. You will not be fined £1000 for opening the door with the wrong hand.
If you injure a cyclist by opening a door then you may.be fined. I think you will find that is already true. The Dutch Reach is intended to reduce the likelihood of that happening. You will not be fined £1000 for opening the door with the wrong hand.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 681
Originally Posted by Ninthace
You really should read more carefully. The alleged £1000 fine has nothing to do with the the Dutch Reach and is not a change.
If you injure a cyclist by opening a door then you may.be fined. I think you will find that is already true. The Dutch Reach is intended to reduce the likelihood of that happening. You will not be fined £1000 for opening the door with the wrong hand.
If you injure a cyclist by opening a door then you may.be fined. I think you will find that is already true. The Dutch Reach is intended to reduce the likelihood of that happening. You will not be fined £1000 for opening the door with the wrong hand.
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Surrey
Age: 65
Posts: 185
In the photo shown in the linked news article,the cyclist appears to be on the FOOTPATH,and the woman has her right leg on the FOOTPATH,so at that stage,is she not a pedestrian ? and therefore,shouldn't the cyclist be giving way to her ?
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Alles Über
Posts: 282
Originally Posted by ex82watcher
In the photo shown in the linked news article,the cyclist appears to be on the FOOTPATH,and the woman has her right leg on the FOOTPATH,so at that stage,is she not a pedestrian ? and therefore,shouldn't the cyclist be giving way to her ?
Surely the Dutch reach is just "good motormanship"?
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Surrey
Age: 65
Posts: 185
Yes,it's clearly a contrived photo,but I thought I'd raise the point anyway
ne of my pet hates is cyclists on footpaths,having nearly been mown down by them several times.Until now,I believed it was an offence,but it seems not!
ne of my pet hates is cyclists on footpaths,having nearly been mown down by them several times.Until now,I believed it was an offence,but it seems not!
See and avoid
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 595
I had someone, who was double parked illegally, open their door as I cycled by and caught my handlebar, sending me flying through the air. I hit my arm on the edge of their car door enroute to smashing onto the pavement.
Their comment?
”You hit my car!”
They got pissed off that I burst into tears from the pain and was still crying when the police showed up. Since they were double parked, and I hadn’t scraped myself off the pavement yet, we were both blocking traffic, so it was pretty obvious what happened.
The front wheel of my bike turned into a pretzel, and the police were kind enough to give me a ride home.
Later on, I checked in at an infirmary and they gave me an x-ray, as they thought I’d broken my arm. Fortunately, I hadn’t.
Their comment?
”You hit my car!”
They got pissed off that I burst into tears from the pain and was still crying when the police showed up. Since they were double parked, and I hadn’t scraped myself off the pavement yet, we were both blocking traffic, so it was pretty obvious what happened.
The front wheel of my bike turned into a pretzel, and the police were kind enough to give me a ride home.
Later on, I checked in at an infirmary and they gave me an x-ray, as they thought I’d broken my arm. Fortunately, I hadn’t.
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Toronto
Posts: 2,382
Safe Distancing from Cyclist
I carry a hiking pole on my walks. When not required for slippery surfaces, I tuck it under my arm so that it sticks out sideways and back with the tip at cyclist eye height. For the other side I walk next to the curb or adjacent buildings.
It works well at ensuring cyclists keep a proper distance away.
Of course with approaching pedestrians I lower to give more room after checking behind.
Oh yes, look both ways leaving a store.
It works well at ensuring cyclists keep a proper distance away.
Of course with approaching pedestrians I lower to give more room after checking behind.
Oh yes, look both ways leaving a store.
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 801
Originally Posted by RatherBeFlying
I carry a hiking pole on my walks. When not required for slippery surfaces, I tuck it under my arm so that it sticks out sideways and back with the tip at cyclist eye height. For the other side I walk next to the curb or adjacent buildings.
It works well at ensuring cyclists keep a proper distance away.
Of course with approaching pedestrians I lower to give more room after checking behind.
Oh yes, look both ways leaving a store.
It works well at ensuring cyclists keep a proper distance away.
Of course with approaching pedestrians I lower to give more room after checking behind.
Oh yes, look both ways leaving a store.
Goose, gander?
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: 5Y
Posts: 578
Originally Posted by visibility3miles
I had someone, who was double parked illegally, open their door as I cycled by and caught my handlebar, sending me flying through the air………..
……
……
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Reading, UK
Posts: 14,081
Originally Posted by Fonsini
Quite right, I was over-stimulated by the somewhat misleading headline.
Had a massive Ed Balls moment earlier where instead of forwarding an email to myself, I replied with my own email address
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Reading, UK
Posts: 14,081
Originally Posted by NutLoose
Well no that photo doesn’t, if you did a Dutch reach you would be looking more rearwards so wouldn’t see the rider coming from the front.
He's probably her ex.
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: sussex
Posts: 89
Looking at that appalling piece of 'journalism', is it not a fact that if the ?young lady? (you have to be careful these days, you know) had opened the door with the 'British Reach' she would have seen the oncoming cyclist?
Thought police antagonist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Where I always have been...firmly in the real world
Posts: 1,191
I don't suppose this could be applied to yummsy scrummsy mummies...those who open the door of the, almost invariably, upmarket marque into oncoming traffic to disgorge their divine little offspring, putting said offspring at risk in the process.. as well as holding up the traffic rather than disgorging them onto the pavement ?
Join Date: May 2010
Location: The blasted heath
Posts: 258
Originally Posted by Fonsini
I kid you not - new rules intended to protect cyclists.
Highway Code - rule 239 aka “The Dutch Reach” - vehicle occupants must open doors with the hand that is furthest from the door handle to “encourage body twisting so as to look behind the vehicle”.
£1,000 Fine for Door Opening
I know that us old farts are prone to mumbling about the Empire while we spill our Campari and soda on our Churchill slippers - but this really is getting bloody ridiculous.
Highway Code - rule 239 aka “The Dutch Reach” - vehicle occupants must open doors with the hand that is furthest from the door handle to “encourage body twisting so as to look behind the vehicle”.
£1,000 Fine for Door Opening
I know that us old farts are prone to mumbling about the Empire while we spill our Campari and soda on our Churchill slippers - but this really is getting bloody ridiculous.
I was taught to open car doors by this method more than 50 years ago.
The new UK Highway Code finally drags the country into the last decades of the 20th century; which is when many other countries adopted similar measures that put the most vulnerable first.
