| Dutch guy here. I haven't biked in the U.S, but from what I've seen, biking in the Netherlands is completely different. - Cars drive slower. 50 km/h in city zones, many places that are restricted to 30 km/h. - Our entire infrastructure is adapted to biking. Separate bike lanes, bikes get their own stoplights. We don't need to cut through four lanes of traffic just to make a left turn. We're not part of the normal car traffic on bigger roads. - Motorists are used to people on bikes. At the very least they don't hate them like they seem to do in the U.S. - Bikes are often considered equal to or even higher priority than cars. That means bikes get the right of way just as cars do. In many cases cars have to yield to bikes (roundabouts, etc). There's simply no comparison to be made between the U.S and the Netherlands when it comes to road conditions for bikes. Making any claim that "the Dutch don't wear helmets so I don't need to either" is ridiculous¹ Other than that, when I see U.S bikers in full gear on their bikes, I always have to laugh a little. Spendex shorts, special shoes, helmet, fancy racing bike. I've said this before on HN, but I think they take biking way too serious. And, but this is just a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if fancy bike makes you go a lot faster than the old dinky bikes we ride around on. And speed == danger, which is why your link points out that most Dutch people getting into accidents are wearing helmets: because they're doing recreational biking on fancy fast bikes. I don't think I'd ride a bike in a major U.S city. If I would, I'd wear a helmet. ¹) If my perception of biking in U.S cities is even slightly correct. |
Even 10 years ago, drivers would scream insults out the window, throw things at me from moving cars, and then there's the genuinely life-threatening harassment. Just for daring to be on the road at all, instead of the sidewalk. This has changed radically in the last decade, in my experience.
On most roads at less than 30 mph, cycling at 10-15 mph is fine.