When people talk about the Netherlands there are a couple of returning subjects that come to the table;
Apart from the windmills, tulips, wooden shoes, and the continuous fight against the water since a large part of the country is below sea level. Also cultural things as the directness and stinginess is well known.
But since this post is in the Cycling Community I'll focus on the Dutch cycling culture.
I've already talked about the Dutch cycling culture in previous posts, but I thought it might be interesting to dedicate a post to it.
I also made a video clip of one of my bike rides to work which should give an nice insight on the Dutch cycling culture. In my blog I'll refer to some points in the video.
# 1 cycling country of the world
Although there are a lot of other countries doing really well , the Netherlands is still the cycling country in the world. There is no other country where cycling is so embedded in the culture as here in the Netherlands. Here are a couple of cycling facts about the Netherlands that might surprise you. I gathered these facts from a couple of sources on the internet, so I don't know if they all are 100% accurate, but they should at least give you an idea.
- There are more bicycles than people (approximately 23 million bicycles on 17,7 inhabitants)
- Around 36% of the Dutch population cycles every day
- The average Dutch person cycles about 1,000 kilometers per year (620 miles)
- The Netherlands has an extensive network of cycling paths (approximately 35,000 kilometers)
- The city of Utrecht has the world's largest bicycle parking facility with space for 12.500 bicycles
- The Netherlands has one of the lowest rates of cycling fatalities per capita in the world
The history
The first bicycles appeared in the Netherlands in the 1860s.
The Netherlands is a relatively small country and mostly flat, so ideal for cycling.
Cycling became more popular. After World War 2 there was a rise in car ownership which lead to a decline in cycling.
Cities started to prioritize car infrastructure which resulted in an increased number traffic accidents involving cyclists.
The oil crisis in 1973 led to a renewed interest in cycling.
There was also a social movement advocating for safer cycling conditions after a high number of child fatalities in traffic accidents.
The Dutch government responded by investing heavily in cycling infrastructure. They created dedicated bike lanes, traffic-calming measures and bike parking facilities.
The government also started to promote cycling.
In the 80's and 90's cycling became integral to Dutch urban planning. A tax benefit for purchasing a bicycle through your employer was introduced.
In de last 20 years many more innovations were introduced like bicycle highways and smart traffic lights (that will reduce waiting time for cyclists).
And now it's time to watch and analyze the video...
Lot's of cyclists
As you can see in the video there are a lot of cyclists. I went to work during peak hours, so there are a lot of fellow commuters and kids going to school.
Since a lot of people are allowed to work some days from home after the Covid-19 crisis the number of people that need to go to work have declined a bit, but on the 'office days' Tuesday and Thursday it's even busier on the cycling paths.
Cycling infrastructure
A lot of the cycling paths are dedicated for cyclists. On roads where cyclists and cars share the road often there is a lane reserved for cyclists. It's almost always marked with white stripes and sometimes even painted red and marked with a bicycle sign. You can see them in different parts of the video.
On busy intersections often tunnels or bridges are created especially for cyclists so they don't have to wait.
You can see a few of them in the video as well.
And then there are also roads where the cars are guests. There roads that are painted red are dedicated for cyclists. Cars must always give priority to cyclists on those roads.
Speaking about priority
The default traffic rule in The Netherlands is that traffic coming from the right has priority unless otherwise indicated by signs.
At 0:45 you see me riding on a roundabout. The so-called shark teeth on the road (painted white triangles) indicate together with a sign that the car driver needs to give priority to cyclists which the driver of the white van does.
Unfortunately not all roundabouts have the same rules. Cities can make their own decisions about that which can make it confusion sometimes.
Later on in the video (2:26) you see me riding on a dedicated cycling path (painted red) and on both sides the 'shark teeth' indicate that the crossing traffic, even though they come from the right, have to give priority to passing cyclists.
These priorities make life so much easier for cyclists. It's much easier for a car to stop and go than it is for a cyclist. The Dutch cycling infrastructure is designed to keep the cyclist riding most of the time.
The different cyclists and their behaviours
With so many people cycling there are also a lot of different cyclists and bicycles.
What you may have noticed is that many people do not wear helmets while cycling. The Dutch have been cycling way before bicycle helmets were invented. We have learnt to ride a bike at a very young age and are very experienced. A large part of all cycling infrastructure is dedicated and other traffic is used to have many cyclists around. The number of head injuries always was very low.
And I say was because the introduction of electric bicycles had a negative impact on this figure. The number of head injuries and even fatal ones rose dramatically in a few years time. Especially among elderly people.
Although the only electric bicycles for which wearing a helmet is mandatory are the speed pedelacs that can go upto 45 kilometer an hour, there is a change going on where more and more cyclists of 'slower' electric bicycles start wearing helmets too.
But on 'regular' bicycles people hardly wear helmets. Except for small kids that still need to learn how to ride a bike.
Another hype are the so-called fat bikes. These electric bicycles are very famous among teenagers. They have very wide wheels and a lot of kids remove the speed limiter which makes them to over 40 kilometer an hour easily.
Combine this with headphones and the use of smartphone while riding and you can imagine why I hate these bikes.
Conclusion
I dare to say that The Netherlands is the best country in the world for cyclists. Cyclists are prioritized and protected in many ways. And the investments in cyclists hasn't ended. New innovations keep coming and policies like banning cars from city centers are in favor of cyclists too.
Dutch cycling culture is an inspiration for many other countries.
I'm proud to be a Dutch cyclist!
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