Dutch parents and kids on bikes in Amsterdam

(rain)

(or shine)

I should probably post these to Flickr instead, but then again why bother? Nobody goes there anymore...

This is a collection of Dutch parents and kids on bikes, all taken in Amsterdam except for the final film. Use and peruse them to your heart's content.

I guess the only thing I want to say about them is that these are completely normal here. The bikes with boxes up front, "bakfietsen" are about the equivalent of owning a luxury car, and cost upward of $2000.

 

(the "suicide" position)

 

(front and back)

 

 

 

(cheaper alternative)

(tandems also come in numerous variations)

 

 

 

(yes, some people wear helmets)





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A new plan for bike safety in the Netherlands

This is intended as a companion post to the previous one.

The Dutch biker's union (fietsersbond), which is quite a strong lobby here, has noticed that bikes tend to "lose" in bike-vs.-car collisions, and has started agitating for cars to be equipped with EXTERNAL airbags.

(Fietsersbond logo; it says "collision-friendly cars")

Yes, that means, airbags placed on cars so that when they run into a bike, the airbag will inflate to protect the biker. They'd be placed on the front windshield, where the head usually strikes.

Here's a series of photos from a report compiled by the scientific research organization TNO, which carried out a study for the Fietsersbond.

An accident w/o airbags:






As expected, head injuries are the worst source of fatalities; hospitalizations are usually broken legs and arms according to the report (in English).

The new plan:




The Fietsersbond estimates this would save 60 lives per year.



Drivers of course have screamed bloody murder (in Dutch) about the idea because it would increase costs on the already highly-taxed automotive experience in Holland. They suspect the hand of a corporation is somewhere in all this.

Even as a somewhat pro-bike biased observer, I wonder whether the money wouldn't be better spent elsewhere. For instance strengthening dikes.

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Bike Injuries and Deaths in the Netherlands

Spotted today along the banks of the river Amstel. The caption on the sign reads: "(Park) only in the spaces."

Well, my previous posting on bike accidents and murders in Amsterdam proved one of the most popular I've ever done. So I'm updating it.

With all the bikes in Holland _ and hardly anybody wearing helmets _ how many people get hurt or killed here while biking?

Before I hit you with the numbers, the summary: the odds of being killed while biking are extremely low. Here are some illustrative fun facts:
-After a recent decline in the murder rate, you are now fractionally more likely to die while biking than to be murdered in the Netherlands!
-In Amsterdam, you're still more likely to be murdered, though.
-You're also more likely to die by murder in the U.S. as a whole than by biking in the Netherlands.
-You are also more likely to drown here than either die biking or be murdered, especially if you are a child.


In 2007, 189 people died in bike accidents in the Netherlands, about half of them hit by cars. Another 7,240 were injured badly enough to merit a trip to a hospital. Those numbers are from traffic ministry data released in April 2008.

That's out of a population of 16.3 million. The Dutch own 18 million bikes, a little more than 1 bike per man, woman and child in the country. Around half the population rides a bike once a day. The average distance traveled by bike PER PERSON PER DAY was 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) in 2006, according to the Central Bureau for Statistics.



Car travel comes out to 16 kilometers (10 miles) per person per day.

Bikes injuries were a substantial amount of the total traffic deaths and serious injuries:
In all there were 791 traffic deaths (including cars, pedestrians, scooters and bikes), and total hospitalizations were 16,750.

That means 25 percent of traffic accident deaths were bike traffic deaths, and 43 percent (!) of traffic accident hospitalizations were bikers.

After the MORE: some perspective.



One could conclude from all this that traveling by car is safer than traveling by bike in the Netherlands. That's true on a per-kilometer basis. Of course, bikers are making lots of short trips; if they were to switch to cars, car injury and death figures would rise.

Despite the increasing distances covered by the Dutch, the bicycle has retained its popularity. The bicycle is used for almost a quarter of all journeys. In fact for distances up to 7.5 km, the bicycle is the most popular means of transport. In 2005, 35% of all trips up to 7.5 km were made by bicycle.

-Transport Ministry

Bikes are used in almost a quarter of all journeys; and they account for around a quarter of all deaths. Bikers are more exposed (yes, head injuries are the worst threat), but cars are usually going faster when they crash.

Some international figures here:

Overall traffic safety in the Netherlands continues to be the best in Europe, with 45 deaths per million inhabitants per year. That compares with 90 per million traffic deaths per million average in Europe. The 'worst' country in Europe, Greece, has 145 deaths per million, which compares with 147 deaths per million average in the United States. Canada is at about the European average, 91, while Japan is only slightly worse than the Netherlands, at 57 deaths per million.


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Amsterdam trash recycling and a Refrigerator on a Bike

For reasons I find difficult to explain, people in Amsterdam don't really have garage sales much or bring used stuff to the Goodwill/Salvation Army very often.

Instead, they throw things away on the street, and scavengers (myself included) have absolutely no scruples about rummaging through big piles of trash to see what treasures they may find.



Actually I think this kind of recycling can be pretty cool; it's just strange that when Dutch people want to resell something they don't need anymore, in classified ads they always ask for 90 percent of the original purchase price. In the U.S., one day after purchase = at least 50 percent off.

And of course, dumpster diving is something to be ashamed of.

But I digress. These are pics and clips of one of the better biking feats I've seen for a while. This guy found a small refrigerator in a trash heap and decided it was worth taking home.

I think you'll agree the clips show he found it no sweat balancing the 'fridge.



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TNT Post Customer Service

(whiskeytangofoxtrot)

I needed to mail a document quickly to a friend of mine in the U.S., and I went down to the post office yesterday to get it done. Dutch mail has been privatized, and the former monopolist is now a corporation called "TNT Post."

Leaving aside the somewhat odd name (why not "Anthrax Mail," one wonders), the company has a pretty good reputation.

Here was the conversation (abridged) I had with the guy behind the counter, which was good-humored throughout. I felt like I was in a Monty Python skit:

TS: I'd like to mail this with your fastest service.

TNT: I'm sorry meneer (=sir), our express service is closed for the day.

TS: Oh. Well, let's just get it ready so you can post it first thing
tomorrow.

TNT: I'm sorry meneer, we can't do that.

TS: You can't just put it in your pouch for tomorrow's mail?

TNT: No.

TS: Oh. Well what are my other options?

TNT: Where are you sending it?

TS: The United States

TNT: I'm sorry, we don't have anything but regular mail service to the
United States.

TS: Priority mail? Can it be sent registered mail?

TNT: Yes.

TS: Okay, let's do that.

TNT: How do you want to send it?

TS: (pause) I was thinking _ in an envelope.

TNT: Okay. (Very long pause).

TS: Can I buy an envelope?

TNT: I'm sorry, we don't sell envelopes.

TS: (Looks around shop, notices all manner of bric a brac, but no envelopes. Laughs).

TNT: Yeah, we find it funny too, meneer. We get a lot of complaints
about that.



TS: How much for a box?

TNT: It depends on what size.

TS: Smallest size.

TNT: I don't know, it's written on the display.

TS: (retrieves small box for EUR1.70). Okay, let's send this.

TNT: Can you take it over there to fill out the address information?
Then I can help other customers.

TS: (returns after waiting in line again). Okay. Here it is.

TNT: (takes box). The United States...that'll be 11 euros.

TS: So it will be there in what, 3-5 days?

TNT: (Laughs). That's optimistic.

TS: So what's pessimistic?

TNT: Where's it going?

TS: The. United. States.

TNT: It will arrive within 5 days, but it may take longer than that to be delivered.

TS: Come again?

TNT: Everything has to be sniffed nowadays, meneer.

TS: What's the worst case scenario?

TNT: (Shrugs).

***

According to TNT's web site, it should take 5-7 business days to arrive. We shall see...

(geoff coupe)


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Bike Accident Deaths in Amsterdam. And Murders.

(photochiel)
((note: New post on this topic in April 2008.))

I've been wanting to do this for so long _ years actually _ and today I actually took 15 minutes and did it.

Ever wonder how many people die in bicycle accidents in bike-lovin' Amsterdam, or the Netherlands generally?

Answer: fewer than you might think.

Nationally there were 180 bike deaths in 2004, 181 in 2005 and 216 in 2006.
In Amsterdam there were a total of 19 bike deaths in that entire three-year period, so slightly more than 6 per year.

For some damn reason the city doesn't break it out individually by year (a privacy thing?).

I also found an official city publication that put the number (somewhat optimistically in the light of my data) at 5 per year and around 300 injured.


(.m for matthijs)

Anyhow, from here on out this post is all about perspective. There are roughly 16 million people in the Netherlands, and 750,000 in Amsterdam.

There are slightly more than 1 bikes per person nationally and slightly fewer than 1 per person average in the city.

On average, half of Amsterdam's population rides a bike at some point every day.

The Dutch have the safest overall traffic record in Europe, and around 800 or so die in accidents each year (including the people killed on bikes). So you could say that roughly a fourth of all traffic deaths in the Netherlands are bike deaths.

In Amsterdam it's slightly worse: there were 19 traffic deaths (of all kinds including bikes) in 2004, and 20 each in 2005 and 2006.

That puts around a third of traffic deaths in Amsterdam as bike deaths.
More perspective: a little MORE than a third was pedestrian traffic deaths, so don't think you would be better off walking. Fatal car accidents were a little less than a third and scooter deaths (amazingly!) were a rounding error.

(stefano m)

Conservatively estimated, you have a 1 in 500,000 chance of getting hurt in an accident when you step on a bike in Amsterdam, and 1 in 20 million chance of dying.

More perspective: let's talk about getting killed on a bike versus being murdered.


(Theo van Gogh had the incredible misfortune to be murdered while riding his bicycle. What are the odds of that? But, he turned out totally justified in not "quitting smoking" until he did it the hard way).

There were 20 murders in Amsterdam in 2004 (including one that was big international news), 32 in 2005, and 16 in 2006. So, say roughly 20 a year _ about the same as the total number of traffic deaths (including cars).

Conclusion 1: you are more than twice as likely to be murdered in Amsterdam than killed while riding your bike.

But is getting murdered in Amsterdam a likely thing, then? Well, it depends on what you compare it to.

Amsterdam is the most dangerous crime city in the Netherlands (along with Rotterdam) _ somewhere around 4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants annually.

In the United States AS A WHOLE, however, that figure is 5.6 murders per 100,000. Don't ask about U.S. cities, it gets ugly quick.
The Dutch national average, for reference, is around 1.3 murders per 100,000.

Conclusion 2: you are more likely to be murdered while living in the United States than while in the Netherlands, and a fortiori, certainly more likely to be murdered while living in the United States than to die while biking in Amsterdam.

(photochiel)

Now, you may be wondering how to avoid dying at all, while either living or biking in the Netherlands. I have one tip in each category.

Murder: Don't have anything to do with drug dealers. Almost half of Amsterdam's murders are gangland killings related to drugs. Most of the rest are family affairs.

Biking: Watch out for trucks turning right. In 2006 four of the six (6.33333333) people who died in Amsterdam bike accidents were killed by trucks turning right.

Helmets, lights? If it makes you feel better, but not really worth your time.

Finally, a short note for "the researcher who shall come after me."

The trick to finding the traffic death numbers is to search on "verkeersdoden." It took me a while to figure that out.
(juaniloo)
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Het Fietscafe / The Bike Cafe

I'm planning on taking some shots of classic Amsterdam sights, and especially bicycles. This here is one of the more unusual bikes you'll see around town: het fietscafe, the bike cafe. Everyone pedals, everyone drinks. The matrons on the bike were definitely inebriated.

From the company's website:

"You need a sober driver and of course, the best bartender looks after the beer and drinks."

This doesn't really need translation, but just in case you English speakers are feeling lost: they get stuck at a bridge, and the tram is not sure whether it can pass. People on the bike are shouting: 'push!, push!' and then, 'what now?' Finally people start shouting 'push ladies, pedal, come on!' and then they do and the bike starts moving again (and the tram decides it can pass). One lady says to me 'nice for a photo, huh?' I couldn't think of a snappy comeback. The music (of course) was the worst kind of Dutch folk music.

Dutchies: sorry, I mean: that peerless Dutch composer, Andre Hazes, pride of the lowlands.

Incidentally, this clip also illustrates some of the bike lights I referred to in bike light controversy.

Surprise unrelated bonus clip after the 'MORE'



These horses go riding around town sometimes _ They're obviously an advertising gimmick, but I'm not really sure if they don't actually deliver some kegs sometimes. For some reason I usually bump into them while I'm on my way to work. Here they are leaving Weteringcircuit (Vijzelstraat) heading toward _ what else _ the Heineken brewery.
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Dutch nation wracked by Bike Light controversy

(photo:mioi)

The Dutch are in open revolt against plans thought up by some council of police chiefs to fine people for having "substandard" lights on their bikes.

Only in Holland!

Rewind a few years.

In the old days, every Dutch bike was outfitted little generator on the side of your tire that was supposed to power a little light on the front and back of your bike. (you can see one of those generators in the photo above, just below the fender).

And either the light would break, or the wires would get torn, or the generator would be too loosely pressed against the tire to work.
And if it all actually did work, then you would have to pedal about 10 times as hard as normal because the generator was pressed so hard against the side of the bike.
In any case, you'd get your hands greasy flicking the generator back and forth in the morning or evening.

So when the police first started ticketing people (EUR50 a pop) for not having working lights on their bikes (like 2001?), vendors saw a gap in the market. They started selling little battery powered lights that you could mount to your bike or better, clip on to your clothes.

These have advanced quickly over the years to become cheaper, and most of them have the option to flicker, and some are colored. Basically they've become expression of a person's individuality and freedom of choice while achieving the basic aim of not getting hit by cars.


(a short clip of bikes crossing near the Museumplein Thursday night. I've figured out how to compress videos by the way, so my page should load faster in the future.)

After the clocks were set back for Daylight Savings Time last weekend, the cops began their annual warning/ticketing campaign. But this time, for no apparent reason other than that they are fascists, the top cops said they wouldn't accept anything but unblinking lights, attached to the bike, white on the front and red on the back.

This morning, one newspaper had a story about how even some police officers were refusing to enforce the rule, and by tonight, it was the top story on the six o' clock news.

The Interior Affairs minister, Guusje ter Horst sensing that this was a stinking loser, politically, said that the country should have just one rule.

"The most important thing is that you're visible. I'm already happy if a biker has any kind of light."

Victory!
(photo: sindandune)
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Comic Relief

Just in case you were worried I don't have any sense of humor.

A Dutch designer has created a Tanja Nijmijer t-shirt. (see earlier post on Tanja featuring similar Balkenende t-shirts.
He doens't say how much they cost, but I'd like to buy one myself for my collection.


And, a hilarious link to an American's amazement at the Dutch biking scene. (A foretaste:)


I couldn't have said this stuff better than myself (note my son, in "suicide position") in photo at upper left hand corner of page.
(Thanks, Norma!)

That's All, Folks! MORE

I want to ride my bicycle

Obviously, I need a little work on my camera skills.

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down, especially when both come at once.

However, this is the kind of story that's extremely easy to write.



This is also one of the things that I love about Dutch culture, without reservation, and about my job: my commute is 10 minutes by bike through scenic Amsterdam.

"Bakfietsen have been around for decades, used mostly by left-wing Amsterdam residents and squatters. Since the turn of the century however, they have become mainstream.
In the wealthier neighborhoods, having a high-quality model has become something of a status symbol among young urban professionals, who deck them out with chrome finishes and various accessories. Rain covers are a must.
``I see more of them all the time,'' said florist Samira Sindaba, a bakfiets owner who runs the ``Happy Flower,'' a stand on a busy corner in the east of Amsterdam. ``My daughter - she's 6 - she thinks it's fantastic.''
Her bakfiets, a top model, cost $2,700 new, and it's insured like a car. "
-Associated Press

Guardian story
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