BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is recommending a new way for drivers, and others, to open car doors to protect bicyclists.

The department announced Tuesday it has added the door-opening technique known as the “Dutch Reach” to its driver’s manual.

The technique requires motorists to use their right hand to open a car door. The idea is to force drivers to turn their bodies, a motion that will help them see oncoming bicycles.

Getting “doored” — crashing into a door that is thrown open just as a bicyclist is nearing the car — can result in injury or death for bicyclists, especially in urban areas.


Massachusetts transportation officials have posted a one-minute video online explaining the maneuver, the preferred method for opening car doors in the Netherlands, hence the name.