A new rule will see drivers fined £1,000 if they open the door wrong as the UK is warned about Highway Code changes.
The ‘Dutch Reach’ requires you to use the hand furthest the door to open it – if you’re the one behind the wheel, you’d use your left hand, on the passenger side, you would use your right.
Drivers and passengers must adhere to the new rule to protect cyclists instead of blindly opening a door, which campaign group Cycling UK estimates can injure up to 500 people every year in the UK.
The rationale behind the move is opening the door with the hand furthest away prompts the driver to turn their body towards the door and look over their shoulder as they exit the vehicle.
In doing so, they will see any cyclists or pedestrians passing by their car that they may have missed if they had not checked.
Under changes to the Highway Code, the new section under rule 239 will now read: “Where you are able to do so, you should open the door using your hand on the opposite side to the door you are opening; for example, use your left hand to open a door on your right-hand side.
“This will make you turn your head to look over your shoulder.
“You are then more likely to avoid causing injury to cyclists or motor cyclists passing you on the road, or to people on the pavement.”
If you injure someone by opening your door you can be punished by a fine of up to £1,000.
No penalty points can be added to the offender’s licence.
Extensive campaigning on the ‘Dutch Reach’ by Cycling UK has been key to the implementation of the new advice.
It estimate that over 500 people in the UK are injured by motorists opening a car door into someone’s cycle path every year.
