HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

30

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO INCLUDE THE "DUTCH REACH" OR FAR HAND METHOD IN DRIVER'S EDUCATION CURRICULA.

 

 


     WHEREAS, in Hawaii and many major cities in the United States and around the world, an increasing number of environmental initiatives have encouraged people to ride bicycles as a means of transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are many residents and visitors in Hawaii who ride bicycles for transportation and for recreation, and they are vulnerable to severe injuries and death due to drivers and passengers negligently exiting their vehicles into traffic, bicycle pathways, and sidewalks; and

 

     WHEREAS, recent studies confirm that cyclists crashing into, over, or beside an obstructing vehicle door, also known as doorings, account for up to twenty percent of the most common accidents between bicycles and vehicles in major cities; and

 

     WHEREAS, the act of dooring is found to be a problem of negligence in which the careless, impulsive, and rapid opening of car doors and over-reliance on mirror views compromise driver and passenger vigilance and awareness; and

 

     WHEREAS, dooring can be lessened or even eliminated by teaching safer behaviors in driver's education courses so that these behaviors become the habitual practices of citizens learning to drive in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Dutch Reach, or far hand method, is a safer behavior that involves using the far-side hand to open a car door rather than the closest hand to the door; and

 

     WHEREAS, because reaching across one's body to open the door with the far hand forces one's torso and head to swivel to view the side mirror it provides an unobstructed view backwards to watch for oncoming cyclists and traffic; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Dutch Reach also naturally results in a slow and gradual door opening; prevents sudden, widely pushed or flung doors; and allows a person to more easily and quickly retract the door; and

 

     WHEREAS, widespread use of the Dutch Reach will make people exit vehicles in a safer manner, improving overall bicycle safety and significantly minimizing the number of accidents involving bicycles and vehicles each year; and

 

     WHEREAS, with early instruction and continuous use, the Dutch Reach will become the usual practice of more vehicle users; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Transportation is urged to include instruction on the Dutch Reach in driver's education programs in the State; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation.

Report Title: 

Bicycle Safety; Dutch Reach; Driver's Education