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Comment by kbouck | Hacker News Reader

I've commuted by bike in both San Francisco and Amsterdam. In Amsterdam it's a lovely (and safe) experience, whereas in San Fransisco it was positively hazardous. The key difference being the thoughtful lane designs in The Netherlands where you have dedicated bike lanes physically separated from the car traffic. In San Francisco you are often mixed with or adjacent to car traffic or parked cars - leaving you susceptible to parked car doors suddenly opening, or being caught in a moving car's blind spot.

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Cycling is safe in The Netherlands because practically everyone is a cyclist so it isn't a stretch of anyone's empathy to look out for them. Also ... cyclists are everywhere so you had better be watching for them.

There is also a behavioural solution which should be exported everywhere: https://www.dutchreach.org/

FWIW, I'm Dutch and nobody I know does the Dutch reach.

I’m also Dutch, and the only place I see the Dutch Reach being mentioned is on Hacker News every few years in articles like this one. Never ever has come up in my daily life here in NL.

The Dutch Rudder is much more commonplace.

I'm Dutch as well, and it was taught to me as part of driver's education. I still open my car door that way, also because it has the added advantage that you're better positioned to hold the door if there's a gust of wind.

The "Dutch reach" is some weird myth that you need some trick in order to not be a clueless asshole. No one I know in the Netherlands does this - they just look.

Please stop propagating this excuse and just start paying attention when in traffic.

I would say Amsterdam is one the least bike-friendly cities of The Netherlands. The streets are small, bike lanes are narrow and bike lanes are very crowded. That's not to say your opinion isn't valid, it's just that your experience would very likely be even better in any other city than Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

> leaving you susceptible to parked car doors suddenly opening

Dutch driving instructors teach 'the Dutch reach'. You get into the habit of opening the car door with your left hand, so you'll automatically look for cyclists that may be passing by.

I got a Lyft notification telling me about that the other day.

Left hand if you’re on the right (passenger seat) side of the vehicle. If you’re on the driver side you use your right.

The intent is that it forces you to twist your body to see what’s coming behind you before you open.

Unfortunately it works less well with the American style magnifying outside mirrors. The non magnifying give you a bit better overview in that case as cyclists (and pedestrians) come from everywhere where you don't expect them.

I thought the point of the Dutch Reach is that you look in the mirror and keep twisting so you're looking backwards as you open the door.

Mind you, I can't remember the last time I was in a car, so I could be getting it wrong.

«I can't remember the last time I was in a car» ← the real benefit of living in a city made for humans!

I was taught to first look in the mirror to see oncoming traffic from behind and then look over your shoulder and afterwards open the door. Yes you can force that by using your opposite hand but that is just a trick to force you to look which you should do anyways no matter what hand you use.

I've always lived in the Netherlands, but I've never seen anyone opening a door that way. We do, however, look in the rearview mirrors before opening the door.

I too live in the Netherlands and always do this. Guess it's not as common as I thought then.

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