Michael Charney's Friends

View All

Michael Charney's Page

Profile Information

What I ride:: Road, Hybrid

The kind of riding I do:: Recreational, Exercise, Commuting, Around Town, Other

What brings you to The Chainlink?: I've been searching the internet for anti-dooring campaigns, info sites etc. and found Chainlink, but no mention of the NL method for safer door opening.

This past summer after a fatal dooring blocks from where I live, I started and now run The Dutch Reach Project to promote the NL's far handed method for opening vehicle doors. Their reach method has been part of Dutch bike safety/road sharing culture for about 50 years. It is included in driver training, and you can fluke the road test if you don't use it.

As you probably know, it hasn't traveled well; certainly in part b/c it was nameless - just as our near hand push is unnamed. And they considered it just plain commonsense and not worth talking about, much as we do our unsafe method.

I gave it a name and thanks to Outside Online magazine's video and BBC World Service - The World, its gone viral -- with the video getting over 1.2 M views since Sept on their two portals alone.

I'm hoping Chainlink will review www.dutchreach.org and consider promoting the reach method in Illinois and beyond. I hope you will also try to get it incorporated into IL RMV/DMV licensing training & statutes, taught in drivers ed and included in the drivers licensing exam and road test. It could and should also be a subject of a camaign by advocates and eventually by the RMV for public re-training, just as MP Joel Lightbound of Canada is now attempting to do, and as we cyclist advocates in Massachusetts are also attempt to do by lobbying our RMV and Legislators.