Dutch reach

Meanings

1. A technique for opening a motor vehicle door to avoid striking (“dooring”) passing cyclists or other road users by reaching across the body for the door latch with the more distant hand.

Etymology

The term was coined by an American physician in 2016 for the purpose of promoting the far hand reach method to prevent dooring. The Dutch language has no name for the maneuver, and the Dutch historically referred to it simply as “the way one opens the car door.” The first known description of the method appeared in 1961 in a Dutch newspaper.