Cyclists without helmets.

[randomness]

There are lots of bicyclists in the Netherlands. Very few of them seem to wear helmets.

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Moreover, according to my half-Dutch co-worker, the Dutch hate hats. He says that when the laws were changed to require moped riders to wear helmets, moped use dropped off within months.

I saw some scooter riders around also. Most of them failed to wear helmets. But they drove like complete jerks just like scooter riders in most places.

[dpolicar]

Not dancing the safety dance.

[dingopariah.livejournal.com]

A helmet is just one more thing to have stolen by a junkie.

The eat sandwiches and smoke ciggies and talk on mobile phones while cycling in Amsterdam, or they did last time I was there. I was fascinated, it was like watching circus performers.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Yup, they do that still.

[theloriest.livejournal.com]

xuth shared with me once a really amusing website looking at the different kinds of cyclists in the Netherlands. Of course I can't seem to locate this website right now, but he might be able to find it again. You'd get a kick out of it.

[denyse.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because cars are less used to driving with cyclists over here, so they ram 'em more often.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

According to one of my German co-workers, if there's an accident between a car and a bicycle, it's assumed to be the auto driver's fault, unless there's some extreme extenuating circumstance. He says this is true in Germany; one of my other friends said it was true in the Netherlands as well.

That probably increases the amount of care drivers take around cyclists.

[kissoflife.livejournal.com]

THAT is way cool, that the driver is assumed at fault. In a sense it doesn't entirely make sense, considering relative maneuverability and braking times. Go them.
I have seen a very terrible 'mofa' (moped) accident in Germany, and, well, maybe there's less belief the helmet will help a whole heck of a lot. But this was a mofa vs. tandem-trailer truck 'collision.'

[sea-bound.livejournal.com]

Yes, assumed driver responsibility is true in the Netherlands.

There are two things in the Netherlands that make helmets unnecessary: the first is the infrastructure (they built a system where biking is a valid mode of transportation) and the second is the attitude of the drivers. Not sure which one came first.

I've been riding my bike here for nearly 3 months now and I have never been doored. Not even close. I've been given right of way at every intersection, even when it was an inconvenience for the driver AND when I didn't have my bike light on at night.

I'm going to miss it in a big, big way.

[bloodstones.livejournal.com]

On a completely unrelated note, I went to talk on thursday that you would have loved. Remind me to tell you about it when you're here. I really want to read the guys book now.

[kateorama.livejournal.com]

Like others here, I blame the need for helmets in the US on our car-dominated culture, which I suppose may be due in part to the size of the country, overall, and the whole "manifest destiny/pioneer/road trip" complex.

In my cycling experience (fairly avid road biking, urban, suburban and rural, over about 10 years), I find that there is a subset of drivers who "aren't used to" cyclists being on the road, but there is also a large subset who are hostile to us. They misunderstand the law (I've had people yell, "That's what the sidewalk is for!"), they get aggressive and hostile if they feel I'm blocking their way, they speed up to pass me and then turn right immediately in front of me, etc. From what little travel I've done outside the US, I'd wager that particular aggressive, self-centered, "get out of my way because I'm in a hurry" thing is more common in the US than elsewhere.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

It doesn't bug me that they don't wear helmets. The majority of my biking experience was when I grew up, not recently, and there wasn't a helmet to be seen on anyone. I guess I still think it odd that people use helmets while riding.

[muffyjo]

The US is a huge "I'll sue you, you bastard" empowered conglomerate. One person dies of a head injury that could have been prevented with a helmet and everyone's wearing em. It's declared "a standard" and enforced.

I'm sure they've prevented a few injuries and that's a plus. I think Americans are more about the "save the individual" and Europe is more about the "I'm part of the cool crowd".

[foxholeatheist.livejournal.com]

When I was in Amsterdam I saw one lady weaving through traffic with a milk-crate duct taped to her handlebars with two very young children inside. It's a special place.