It’s so eerily flat there, it’s unsettling. I don’t understand how people can stand it.
Why do you think their bicycle infrastructure is so damn good
I’d love to have that kind of cycling stuff where I live.
The Netherlands doesn’t have good bicycle infrastructure because of the fact that the country is relatively flat - they have it because they prioritized safe streets in the 70s following the stop de kindermoord-campaign.
As far as public safety campaign titles go, “Stop the child murdering” is fucking metal! 😄🤘👌
Accidents happen in the Netherlands just like anywhere else. I’m half Dutch and my grandfather was hit by a car and killed there.
“The bicycle was the most dangerous mode of transportation in 2022, with a total of 291 fatalities. The car came in second place, with 225 victims. By comparison, that year 57 pedestrians and 20 truck drivers were also killed in traffic accidents in the Netherlands.”
I think you have to look at the rate, accidents per km. That accounts for dutch using bikes more than other countries
The numbers went up since the mass adoption of electric bikes. This caused especially elderly people to drive twice as fast as they could before, with heavier bikes they can’t control as well and they generally don’t wear helmets.
The next big problem are young people doing what young people do but now with electric assistance
I didn’t even think about that, but it makes sense why the numbers seem much higher now. My grandfather (Opa) was killed in the early 90s… somewhere around Eindhoven… can’t remember exactly
Somewhere around Eindhoven in the early 90s, you say? 🤔
Was Romário cleared before fleeing to Catalonia?😛
So, are those bikers fatal to themselves or are they killed because of other vehicles?
I’d ask but he’s dead
You shoulda seen my ex-wife!
HEYOOOO 😎🪩🍾
Simple, they stand up on flat ground
wat
You heard what I said.
Yes I did, I just didn’t understand it
flat (landscape) = bad.
Just seems weird to me. For context, I haven’t been anywhere terribly flat or mountainous
I grew up in a very flat part of England, flatness to me is the default and I get genuinely excited by hills.
I get excited by hills but it’s because they remind me of home. Out of my window was a deep valley with a huge hill and just watching the seasons pass each year was a joy. The spring lambing season when the sheep covered the hills to the winter with snow covering them and you’d know it was time to fetch the sledge!
Moved to Lincolnshire in my mid teens and it bored the absolute fuck out of me. Fields of rapeseed in all directions as far as the eye could see. Relentless wind that had no hills to block it so it never changed direction.
I found it easier biking with a BMX on hills than I did using a mountain bike in windy flat conditions.
As someone who grew up somewhere super flat it really doesn’t get to you because it’s all you’ve ever known. However, now that I live somewhere with hills it drives me crazy when I visit home.
I can relate. I never imagined I would see someone complain or not understand what living on a flat area is like- it’s super easy! It’s the mountains and hills what’s difficult!
Hills are depth. They add character to any place for free. Oh you don’t like where you are right now? Just go up
It’s even worse when the hills are alive and have eyes
I’m ok with it when music are what they’re alive with, though. As long as there’s no nazis 🤷
Notice the markings on the road make sure you don’t cross the border any faster than 09 kmph
Imagine half your backyard being in another country. Do you think they still mow it?
Wait til you find out about Baarle
“for convenience, every house number shows a flag”
I could live there my whole life and probably get them mixed up if it they didn’t do that. Not that I’ll ever even see the place, but still.
Ayo wtf? Crossing like 6 borders just to get to work and back home.
… while working remotely
It’s just a little town (no more than 10,000 people). So more like crossing six borders to visit your neighbor and come back.
The border-free zone is called the Schengen area. There are still some EU member states that aren’t included. Euronews article
“Austria has blocked the accession of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, the passport-free area that has abolished border checks between the vast majority of EU member states.”
Even some non-EU places are part of Schengen. Notably Norway and Switzerland.
Pssh, we have that all over the US, big deal
Knowing where the Netherlands begins?
(guys they mean the sudden changes in road quality)
Might want to add the /s lol
I mean… we have interstate travel and the US is massive. There are no real borders between states.
… Which has nothing to do with the post.
Except for the similarities between both places having open borders… something explicitly mentioned in the post…
This post isn’t about open borders, it’s about the contrast in bicycle and road infrastructure between the Netherlands and other countries. The open border was just the setup.
The Netherlands has very specific urban/rural (re)design standards which are quite recognizable if you know them.
Oh do they? That’s interesting, do they have standardized bikes lanes everywhere?
Well, yeah. There are guidelines for new infrastructure, but that doesn’t mean everything is up to date everywhere. There are roads that haven’t been resurfaced for quite a while that aren’t up to date. But on the whole it is very similar everywhere.
It’s only a small country though.
There is a Canadian YouTuber who lives in Amsterdam who makes videos about it: http://YouTube.com/notjustbikes I’ve lived here all my life so it’s nice to get an outside perspective on this all.
Dutch bicycle lanes? And here I thought the US was car junkie hell.
The US is giant. Some places have better bike infrastructure than others but it’s surely not the standard
No, bad bike infrastructure is the standard.
He probably meant borders.
I thought he meant poorly maintained infrastructure.
Ya, the US doesn’t have the bike lanes everywhere but there are tons of shit roads that turn into great roads due to town/county/state invisible lines.
Thanks for contributing information about your underrepresented country
You are most welcome.
The US probably has some rural bike paths, but I sure as shit haven’t seen any.
i don’t want SEX i want USABLE BIKE LANES that have enough SPACE to ride my bike SAFELY alongside other TRANSPORT MODES
Por qué no los dos? 🤷
I want sex. That other stuff is cool too
I know that place. The borders between the Ellestraat (Hulst, NL) and the Hellestraat (Stekene, BE).
The right side of the street on the Belgian part is actually Dutch for a few 100 meters. If you look around on street view the part with a bicycle lane is Belgian, the part without it is Dutch.
I knew that was a Belgian road, you can tell by all the cracks.
Caption should have been that you will always know when a Belgian road begins
the part without
The red lanes are the bicycle lanes.
Ah, Stekene. Where are the days I just went to Crammerock to smoke weed on the camping. I saw Gorki there the year Luc De Vos died.
In Europe you don’t need countries for this. The smallest federal country will have a clear difference on the road at the border of two federated entities. Worst, it can happen between municipalities in some countries.
Worst, it can happen between municipalities in some countries.
There are other countries as stupid as Germany? I thought we were alone!
Switzerland, Austria, … It’s more common than we think.
My favorite case is the resurfacing of the road in the first municipal territory and less than a year later, the second municipality does it on its side.
Belgium checking in
Car in the bike lane
That isn’t a bike lane, it is a bike suggestion strip (translated literally).
It’s a bike strip, since there is a bike icon.
A bike suggestion strip has no bike icon and has no legal status, it’s merely a suggestion.
They are different things.
It’s a shared road. Not separated lanes. Hence the dotted lines.
Dutchie here to explain why that’s not ironic:
If its a dotted line cars are allowed to use it, but only if it doesn’t impede on cyclists. So while they didn’t have to be there, it’s not unlawful as there’s no cyclists.
If it was a single line, it’s a different story.
In Germany the streets are far too often a fight for survival. I miss the Netherlands, driving there, bike or car, was so much more relaxing.
But, you know, Germans and their cars…
In my experience the bike infrastructure was great, but riding the bike in the city was more stressful than in Germany.
Cause they don’t want you driving in the city
as a car driver, i have no problems with bike drivers themselves. i hate whoever thought 1 lane and a thin sidewalk was enough road.
Gets you to slow down and pay attention to your surroundings, doesn’t it? That’s the point, if you build roads that feel cramped to drivers they’ll naturally drive slower (i.e. actually the speed limit). Building all streets like they’re highways is a good way to get people going 50-60 mph on roads with houses directly on them.
it’s also a great way to put people’s lives at risk. i don’t think anyone thought of what you’re describing.
Your feelings do not match actual reality.
No, that’s explicitly the reason for it, and it’s been shown to reduce the severity of crashes because people drive the speed limit when they feel it’s risky to go faster.
so swerving into oncoming traffic is safe? i had numerous near crashes because people overtook a bike driver coming my way. the netherlands do it better, the bikes have their own separated lane.
So, there’s a balance. If you don’t build enough room to do anything but drive slow to be safe, the moment someone is fast, the chances of a crash are very high.
If you build a road that has too much clearance, you end up with people driving faster, which is okay because there’s more room for people to be out of the way, likely reducing the amount of crashes. The drawback to this is, if people drive faster, the fewer crashes that do occur are at higher speeds, which are more deadly.
So the ratio of number of crashes to severity of crashes is what the end result is.
Granted, I live in the US where single lane country back-roads will have people in trucks going down at 50MPH randomly, so I don’t know if Europeans drive more cautiously. I know their driving tests are more comprehensive for sure.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
“The best country in the world for drivers”
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
11:17 is the timestamp that is most relevant here, separated bike paths should be the norm. and not the shitty “fahrradschutzsstreifen” bullshit they are pulling in germany. i have to swerve around people going not even 20km/h when i’m going 50. there’s no way that reduces accidents. the netherlands rock. i went on a vacation there a few years ago. public transport is so much better there. (key phrase “viable alternative”)
Oh is that a German thing? I thought it was just my Opa
My gramps used to think even looking at his cars was asking permission to drive or touch them. “Nein!”
He was gregarious at all other times, but “don’t go in my fucking garage”
Yes, the country where you see on Monday who is going to visit you on Tuesday and where the highest hills are the dikes
I don’t see who any of this is a bad thing.
It isn’t, the only bad thing of the Netherland are the drivers with caravans on the motorways and roads in the rest of the EU, ah, well, maybe their beer 🤢
Our pilsners are so so but we have some seriously good craft beer Brewers now!
Well, maybe, anyway the French beer is way worse. Best beers you find in Czechoslovakia, Germany and also in Spain
Kronenbourg is fine don’t know whats your problem.
This feels like Hertog Jan slander.
Hahaha no not at all, I do love me a HJ’tje when I’m in a beery mood, though usually I just get Klok instead 😂
Truly a man of culture.
Does our beer have a bad reputation?
It’s a laughing stock here in Belgium
There’s no competing with Belgian beer, but I genuinely enjoy a Grolsch or Hertog Jan. There’s also quite a few great local breweries.
Only insofar as Heineken is associated with Netherlands.
Why can’t we have this with Canada and Mexico?
Because America is in-between
/s
To be fair both the US and EU are a federation of states (the latter sharing aspects of a confederation as well 1. In the US all state borders do look like this, so in a way free travel among the ‘independent’ states is allowed the same as in the posters picture.
Actually if you leave Quebec towards Vermont, the pavement changes significantly and becomes pink-ish.
When you leave Quebec towards Ontario, the road is significantly less bumpy.
Depends where lol, but it’s true in general.
When you leave Ontario for Quebec, the road signs become incomprehensible.
Just tagging @[email protected]
This horse is beaten to death, but still jumping?
I mean you could look at the architecture but all you really needed is a level
