The Dutch reach

[swee'pea99]

Imagine anything this enlightened becoming part of the driving test over here...

 

[Drago]

I almost didn't click on this thread. The title sounds like a gay porn film manoeuvre.

 

[TVC]

I almost didn't click on this thread. The title sounds like a gay porn film manoeuvre.

Glad it wasn't just me then.

 

[RedRider]

Almost didn't but you did. Dirty boy.

 

[Drago]

I was, er, curious!

 

[jefmcg]

That's a TMN to @Philhh. Even though it's in a different thread, it's the same point about the same incident.

My niece from Brighton points out that in part of the driving test in holland is that you open a car door with the hand furthest away from the door -sounds silly- but it causes you to swing round and see what's coming along side of you-now that makes sense-think it's called the Dutch lean- and it would make good sense for us to adopt it.

 

[Dayvo]

And I STILL want to know why the Dutch call bikes 'fiets' (once and for all, not just maybe).

One of my colleagues is Dutch and he doesn't know, neither does his dad who's a cyclist.

Any simple manoeuvre to benefit cyclists' safety gets the thumbs up from me.

 

[raleighnut]

I always thought the 'Dutch Reach' was when someone passed it from the left.

 

[Drago]

What if you've got a hand missing, or you have vertebrae fused together? would they fail you then? Orthopaedically it doesn't wound clever.

 

[ColinJ]

It's an interesting idea. Perhaps it could be taken further and force drivers to do it ... I suggest putting a small digital display in such a position that the driver could only read it by turning and facing back towards the traffic. The display could show a random 2 digit code needed to unlock the driver's door.

A driver in a parked car ahead of me today opened their door without looking and almost had it taken off by a passing truck ... I think they heard it at the last moment and quickly slammed the door shut again!

 

[Dayvo]

[QUOTE 4605534, member: 259"]I know you'll be able to understand this!
http://m.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20120221_174[/QUOTE]

More than you'd realise.

And with a bit of detective work, I found this:

Origin of the word "bicycle" after 140 years "Revealed"
Posted by Jan-Wolter Smit February 23, 2012

• in Citizens and steam engines , Remarkable
• Tags: ersatzpaard , bike , Gunnar de Boel , Vize-Pferd

The word "cycle" refers to the German 'ersatzpaard': the bicycle is a replacement horse or Vize-Pferd. Professor Gunnar de Boel of the Department of Literature at the University of Ghent makes his discovery raging an end to an etymological discussion since 1886.



The breakthrough came after the professor of comparative linguistics cider donated to German friends. "I learned that while cider in the southern Rhineland 'Viez' hot, pronounced" bicycle ", says the professor. "Viez is taking a short head shape 'from' vice Vinum 'as' auto' for 'car'." Cider is there so considered 'vice wine', 'ersatz wine "or" replace wine' so.



Professor De Boel explained the link with the bike, which is also called steel steed, in other words, a 'ersatzpaard. According to Professor of Linguistics Duitste Luc De Grauwe the word "Fitz" and "Fietse" for older German dialect streams.



"The German is, unlike the Dutch, vice sometimes used once jokingly prefix, precisely to express the notion of replacement," the professors. "Likewise, the bike in some areas in the northwest of Germany, with a deformation of the Veloziped ',' Vize-P (f) e (r) d 'be called. This term was then like Viez 'cider' is abbreviated to 'Viez', a German as "bicycle" pronounce. "



But the jocular folk etymological distortion was unrecognizable when she crossed the border with the Netherlands, but a glass of cider brought so changed that.

 

[Milkfloat]

It's an interesting idea. Perhaps it could be taken further and force drivers to do it ... I suggest putting a small digital display in such a position that the driver could only read it by turning and facing back towards the traffic. The display could show a random 2 digit code needed to unlock the driver's door.

I think it would be far easier to move the door handle further towards the back of the car.

 

[Alex H]

I think it would be far easier to move the door handle further towards the back of the car.

I think it would be easier to replace all cars with these

 

[ColinJ]

I think it would be easier to replace all cars with these

View attachment 154880

But then the driver would leap out in front of us so we would hit him/her instead of the door!

Perhaps the safest solution would be to have a sensor fitted to each car which would detect objects moving into the 'dooring zone' and prevent the door being opened until the road behind had cleared?

 

[Yellow Fang]

I think it would be easier to replace all cars with these

View attachment 154880

Or even better: