Biker Crashes After Hyundai Creta Door Opens On Him: Dutch Reach Would Have Prevented This [Video]
One of the worst habits that car drivers and passengers have in India is opening the door without looking behind for incoming traffic. The result of this is that many two-wheeler riders or other car drivers crash into the door. Most recently, another example of this was shared online. In this video, a bike rider crashes into a Hyundai Creta’s door as the passenger opens it without even looking behind. Taking note of this incident, we have mentioned at the end how you can avoid such situations.
This video of the bike rider crashing into the door of the Creta has been shared on X. It has come courtesy of Divya Gandotra Tandon. It starts with a bike rider riding on a mountain road. We can note that there was a lot of traffic on the road due to a police checkpoint and a parked Hyundai Creta.
Biker crashes into the door
The police authorities had stopped a Creta on the right side of the road. What happens next is that just as the rider comes near the Creta, the passenger sitting in the rear of this car opens the door without looking behind. Due to this abrupt move, the bike rider crashes and falls on the road.
Thankfully, other vehicles on the road stop in time and do not run over this man. However, soon after falling, the rider rushes to the Creta passenger and starts scolding him. He asks what he was doing and why he was not looking behind, knowing that he was on a highway.
The Creta passenger then argues back that he only opened the door halfway. However, by this time, a police officer comes and asks the rider if he has been hurt or not. He slowly takes him to the side of the road and asks him to check his hand.
After this, the rider opens his glove, and it can be seen that his left hand had a small injury. Thankfully, he did not suffer any other major injury. During his stop, other police officers were checking up on him. Meanwhile, one of the officers accused him of speeding.
To this, he replied that he was riding at the speed of 20 kmph and that it was the fault of the Creta passenger. Soon after this, one of the police officers quickly went and grabbed the first aid kit from the Creta. He then opened it and helped the bike rider in treating his hand.
How to open your door safely? The Dutch Reach!
As mentioned above, this is not an uncommon scenario. We see such incidents take place daily. Ideally, these types of accidents can be easily avoided by applying a simple technique. This technique is called the Dutch reach, and it was developed in the Netherlands.
For those who may not be aware, the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, is known for having more cycles than the number of people living there. So in order to protect the pedestrians and cyclists from any such mishap, the Dutch reach technique was developed.
It is taught to the children in their schools as it is a safer way to open car doors without hurting pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists. In this technique, it is taught to use the far hand to open the door. This means that if you want to open the door and the door is to your left, you need to use your right hand to reach the door and open it.
The same goes for the door on your right. For this, you will need to use your left hand to open the door on your right. Now what happens is that when using this technique, your body moves towards the back. So this compels you to see any pedestrian, cycle, or vehicle approaching your car. Because of this, you can avoid opening the door and hurting anyone coming from behind.