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by catonmylap
1400 days ago
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Yes, when you once lived in a city in The Netherlands you never want to go back into any other country, where are cars are used as main transportation inside cities. Everybody cycles here and it feels very safe to do it, however the infrastructure is the most important part. Cars are second class citizens most of the time and people driving them know this. |
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As someone who's never been able to afford living in a Dutch city, but has worked there, this is very true. Driving through Amsterdam is like driving through a mine field. Cyclists seemingly pop up out of nowhere and always take the right of way. This has become such a custom in the Netherlands that (at least in Amsterdam) cyclists even have the right of way even when running a red light. Courts have decided in favor of cyclists who were hit by cars while running red lights, because when driving in Amsterdam, you need to expect this to happen as a driver.
I'm not opposed to this at all, since cyclists are much more vulnerable than drivers. However, I've noticed that this is becoming much more dangerous with electric bicycles taking over. You used to be able to estimate quite well whether you can cross in front of a cyclists by the type of bike and the person on it... But not anymore. A 72 year old who used to cycle maybe 15 km/h is now casually doing 25 km/h and not slowing down for crossings. This is also visible in the statistics, with the number of cyclists involved in fatal accidents rising.