Dutch Reach: Quebec coroner recommends technique to open your car door after cycling death

A coroner's report released Tuesday is calling on Quebec to teach new drivers to open their car doors with their right hand in order to prevent dooring incidents with cyclists.

The coroner said the "Dutch Reach" method of opening a door could have helped prevent the collision that killed a cyclist in Montreal nearly two years ago.

Cyclist Jean-Pierre Lefebvre was doored in LaSalle on July 6, 2020 shortly before 6:12 p.m. and suffered severe head trauma.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate the 63-year-old man. He was sent to the LaSalle Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6:58 p.m.

While Lefebvre was one of two victims of fatal dooring incidents between 2015 and 2020, this type of collision is fairly common in Montreal.

Within that five-year period, there were 751 reported dooring incidents, according to statistics from Montreal police in the coroner's report. That works out to be an average of 150 per year or approximately one cyclist doored every 2.4 days.

Because of this, Coroner Geneviève Thériault recommended new drivers be taught by the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) to open their door with their right hand to encourage a safer blind spot check. It is currently not taught in the practical portion of driving lessons.

"It would be beneficial, in my opinion, to teach the opening of the door with the opposite hand," Thériault wrote in her report.

"It is clear that without the dooring, Mr. Lefebvre would not have fallen and would not have suffered the injuries that were fatal to him. Dooring is a problem that has existed for a long time and which persists despite regulations and actions to raise awareness among motorists and cyclists."

SAAQ officials say they will integrate this safety technique into its road safety education programs by the end of the year.

"It is already taught in the theoretical course and it will be integrated into the road safety education program by the end of the year," said Mario Vaillancourt of the SAAQ. "As drivers we have to share the road with vulnerable users like cyclists."

'I DON'T KNOW WHY IT'S NOT BEING TAUGHT'

Opening a door with the right hand instead of the left forces drivers to open the door more gradually and turn their eyes toward the road behind them — something cycling advocates like Séverine Le Page have been asking for for years.

"It's hard to understand why they're not teaching such a simple method yet because it's been since at least 2013 that we've known it's been recommended by the current coroner that this is a method that should be taught when driving lessons are given, and noted, and graded," said Le Page, a spokesperson for Ghost Bike (Vélo fantôme) Québec.

"I don't know why it's not being taught. It's just so easy just to lean over and that way you can care for the safety of everyone because so many people are doored and not all cases are reported."

On the night of the collision, Lefebvre was riding a power-assisted bicycle on a street where there was no bike path nearby. A driver who had just parked his car suddenly opened his door and struck him.

He reported that he had checked for any dangers prior to opening the door, but it is possible the cyclist was in his blind spot at that exact moment, the report said.

CORONER RECOMMENDS STIFFER PENALTIES

The coroner also recommended imposing a stricter penalty for drivers who fail to check for dangers before opening their doors, a violation of section 510 of Quebec's Highway Safety Code. The fines for this offence used to range between $30 and $60 and were raised in 2018 between $200 and $300, but that's not enough, according to the coroner. Adding demerit points to the offence "would have an additional deterrent effect," the report stated.

The coroner also raised concerns about the low fines for not wearing a helmet while operating a power-assisted bicycle. Helmets are legally required while operating those types of bikes, but the fines for not wearing one range from $60 to $100. Stiffer fines could encourage more people to wear them, the coroner noted.

She stressed, however, that such a recommendation should not impose blame on the part of Lefebvre for not wearing one.

"As coroners before me have already mentioned, disempowering motorists in the face of dooring and claiming that cyclists just have to be more careful when riding on public roads is not a reasonable proposition," she wrote.

"Wearing a helmet is a protective measure in the event of a fall, whereas action should rather be taken to prevent falls caused by dooring."

With files from CTV News Montreal's Billy Shields