Teach the Reach Act one step closer to becoming law in Ontario

A private member's bill aimed at making roads safer for Ontario cyclists is one step closer to becoming law.

The Teach the Reach act was introduced by Davenport NDP MPP Marit Stiles. It would require the Dutch Reach method be included in driver's education programs.

"No cyclist should have to fear for their safety," Stiles said.

"No driver wants to make the mistake of opening their door and seriously injuring a passing cyclist — or worse. This is a simple addition to training and testing that will protect cyclists' safety."

The chair of Bike Sudbury Rachelle Niemela says the Dutch Reach is a simple change for drivers.

"It's a maneuver that is taught to car drivers, so that they reach over with their right hand in order to open the door," she said.

"[This] forces them to actually look over their left shoulder and therefore see anything that might be coming up in the lane beside them, whether that's a car or a cyclist or pedestrian."

Niemela says she's pleased the bill recently passed second reading.

"Anything that would allow a car driver to be on the lookout and to be consciously thinking about, you know, making sure there's nobody there before opening their doors is positive," she said.

Niemela says "dooring" is not a big issue in Sudbury, yet, but adds as more cyclists start hitting the roads, it will become more of an issue.

She says currently, the biggest issue in Sudbury is motorists crowding cyclists and not sharing the road.