The four-time Tour winner said he was “fooled”. “That means, while I was driving there, someone in the car parked right in front of me opened the door. It happened literally a meter in front of me, I couldn’t even brake anymore. I hit the door and flew over it.”
Better view
The 37-year-old driver appealed to the public to use the ‘Dutch handle’ when opening car doors to avoid injury to passing cyclists.
In Holland, during driving lessons, you learn to open the door with your right hand, while looking in the mirror and holding the door with your left. By opening the door with the ‘wrong’ hand, you automatically turn around, giving you a better view of the traffic and preventing passing cyclists from banging on the door.
For Froome it’s clear: “Use ‘Dutch reach’, it’s very helpful and less pain for us cyclists. And it’s very easy to do.”
In England, it has been officially mandatory since this year to use the Dutch grip. A motorist who causes injury to his doorman can be fined 1000 pounds (1200 euros) if it turns out that the Dutch reach is not used.
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