Today the Netherlands has a reputation as a kind of bicycling paradise. Dutch people own more bicycles per capita than any other place in the world. The country has more than 20,000 miles of dedicated cycling paths. International policymakers make pilgrimages to the Netherlands to learn how to create good bike infrastructure.
But none of that was inevitable. It wasn’t something that magically emerged from Dutch culture...
@ljw An interesting article, thanks for the link. As yet I've not been to the Netherlands but I hear it's very cycle friendly - bikes having priority on roundabouts is something I'd have to get my head around when there!
I may be a tad pessimistic but I think that one key element making drivers more wary of cyclists is that in the case of a collision, the driver is initially to blame. Here in the UK if this were law I think it would increase a cyclists' safety considerably. But what do I know?
@Smarty_Undernuts I think that would be an important contributing factor, as well as more drivers in NL also being cyclists and therefore knowing what it feels like to be threatened by a car (and hopefully therefore doing that less often)
@ljw You're absolutely right, unfortunately the UK doesn't have the cycling mentality and history that the Netherlands has and as a result I think any moves toward their way will take some time and, weirdly, cause many people to complain.