“Left door, right hand”.

Here is the reflex to adopt when you are a motorist.

Through two short videos posted on the Internet, Road Safety launched a campaign to raise awareness of this technique, which has been used for a long time in the Netherlands;

reports

Le Parisien

.

It's a simple gesture that can save the lives of many cyclists.


To better drive around town alongside them, drivers can remember this very easy method: open the left door with their right hand and the right door with their left hand.

“This change of hand mechanically causes the rotation of the shoulders.

The motorist preparing to open his door to get out of his vehicle is then naturally in a much better position to check in his rear-view mirror and towards the back of his car that no user emerges from the blind spot”;

explains Road Safety.


A simple reflex to protect #cyclists from door accidents: motorists, to get out of the car, open the door with the hand opposite to it: left door, right hand;

right door, left hand.

pic.twitter.com/TiM4f3zTvY

— Road Safety (@RoutePlusSure) October 14, 2022

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A “simple” and “effective” gesture

On the contrary, if you open your left door with your left hand, vision is much reduced.

And a cyclist can suddenly crash into our door, risking serious injury.

“This campaign is both simple because the gesture it wants to popularize really is, and effective.

However, this type of accident is very frequent and particularly dangerous for all types of two-wheelers”;

says Florence Guillaume, Interministerial Delegate for Road Safety.



Accidents involving cyclists are becoming more and more frequent.

In 2021, 227 cyclists died in traffic accidents, an increase of 21% compared to 2019, the reference year before Covid.

Nearly 44,000 were injured, including 3,000 seriously.

In addition, 24 users of motorized personal transport devices (EDPM), scooters or monowheels, lost their lives last year (+ 14% compared to 2019).

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