What I don't get is that this is useful regardless of bikes. If you're opening your door on the street side, then a vehicle could also rip out your door/you. The "Dutch reach" prevents that just as much as it prevents killing a cyclist. I dunno I do live in the Netherlands so maybe my perception is warped, but I'd never just swing my door open street-side without checking, bikes or no bikes.
I don't know how or why this is always attributed to the Dutch. I'm Dutch. We definitely did not learn this. Not in school, not from parents, not in driver's ed. We do not open our doors this way.
The thing is that all Dutch drivers are also cyclists, that helps a lot. Also, our infrastructure is very very very VERY accommodating to cyclists. Often bicycle paths are separated from roads,which helps a lot.
When opening doors, we simply look. There's a mirror very conveniently placed for the sole purpose of looking behind you. Use it. If you open your doors without looking and thinking, you're an idiot. None of that has to do with being Dutch.
This is why you never ride in painted, unprotected bike lanes. They are exceedingly dangerous for this and other reasons. Ride in the middle of the road for safety.
Same rules apply! Edge of the road is total death. People driving in the lane and people opening car doors cannot see you as well. Not to mention stuff like people walking to the car doors, people unloading stuff, etc. The edge of the road just gives you so much less time to react to bad situations.
I've had people even throw their passenger door open in heavy traffic, where I almost flossed their door off, had I not swerved. And that was car to car!
I can't tell what's worse, the thought you just pushed a man to his death, being thrusted under a truck dazed but alive, or the thought you flattened someone you had no way of stopping from hitting. Life altering events for everyone!
If we continue to have 200lb bicyclists sharing the roadway with 80,000lb trucks, every interaction becomes lethal. THIS IS A SOLVED PROBLEM that we continue to ignore.