When cyclists matter

In the Netherlands cyclists are not only protected by Dutch law but they also matter in the eyes of the general public. The reaction to a road incident in 's-Hertogenbosch (a.k.a. Den Bosch) makes this very clear. Drivers misbehaving and endangering cyclists or pedestrians are considered road-pirates and such behaviour is not tolerated.

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[Phantasmotronogun]

Couple of questions:

1:- At 0:12 we see two cyclists trying to cross a stream of traffic, including other cyclists. How did they end-up there?

2:- At 0:50 we see a cyclist emerge from the far side whilst other vehicles, including cycles, remain stationary. I thought there could be a filter but the lead car is signalling right and doesn't move. So, probably not.

[markenlei]

The answers are simple: all three run red lights. That happens all over the world so in the Netherlands too. It is a badly designed junction, bad infra design provokes bad behavior.

[downfader2]

Great film! Really inciteful as to how another country see's its road infrastructure. I'm absolutely amazed at how low the injury rate is. Is it a national figure or a local one?

Nationally here we have 17,000 injuries a year, nearly 1000 serious, 120 average deaths and approx 5 million cyclists out of a 70m population. I'm just in awe at how good your figures are.

[markenlei]

the figures are only for the municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch, which has a population of 137,777 right now.

[Paul Martin]

Great coverage, Mark. I don't think the public reaction was over the top at all. I think that we have come to accept this sort of sociopathic, murderous behaviour as somehow acceptable in Australia.

'Trucks' like that are all too common here and few are used for rural work - they are badges of honour for people with small brains. I note that the vehicle in the incident had bullbars - what on earth is a 'car' like that doing in The Netherlands!? Scary.

[markenlei]

these trucks are very uncommon. Wikipedia reports there is 'no market' for them in the Netherlands. Only a handful were sold. For all we know this might be the only one with a bullbar.

[KrunchyJD]

Outrage against a motorist with a big pickup for hitting cyclists. Thats not over the top, that is how it should be. Instead, here in Australia, we blame cyclists, its crap.

[MrCol123456789]

20 years? I like your optimism ;)

[MrCol123456789]

I wish this were the case here in the UK!

[MrCol123456789]

The media does what it does best, which is pick up on emotive points which help them to emphasise their story in order to maximise readership. The 'Big american car' simply helps to create an image of an uncaring driver, he doesn't care for vulnerable road users safety (greater chance of injury from the high bumpers and heavier weight) nor does he care for the environment (gas guzzling. Global warming and rising sea levels a very immediate problem in the Netherlands).

[MrCol123456789]

Recently in the UK a Scottish Judge, on sentencing a driver who had just killed his 2nd cyclist (the first being a hit and run he got caught for), mentioned that the cyclist showed contributory negligence as she hadn't been wearing a helmet despite acknowledging that wearing a helmet or not made little or no difference to the outcome of the collision, and that the collision was in no way the cyclists fault. What a difference. I dream of a Dutch type society being adopted here.

[EpicFishFingers]

Not really, to be honest. The size of the car could just be something the driver could try and hide behind in court, as he "couldn't see them". Smaller cars still weigh in at around 1 tonne of metal and will cause a similar amount of damage. I guess the only reason the size of his car mattered is if he was using it as a cock extension, which he clearly was if he was stupid enough to pull this shit.

[gearbuzz]

In America we have sympathy for the driver, even after they kill. Thank you for these insights from another galaxy.

[BleedingSunday]

No they wouldnt.

Smaller car, lower car, less mass, easier to control when control is lost, no the size of the car really does matter.

[LateralJim]

I'm in the UK and I'm always curious as to why anyone needs these in towns/cities. They are so commonplace now, they ought to be taxed of the roads - only reason you'd need one is if your a farmer! Almost got taken out by one the other day :(

[04smallmj]

American pick-ups also always stick out like a sore thumb in European countries because they're so big.

[Blahb27]

Because speaking for the Netherlands, in my general experience, American cars like that are typically driven by overagressive chavs with near zero road skill and penis compensation complexes.

Also, bull bars like he had mounted are completely unnecessary, and have been proven to increase the fatality rate of pedestrians and cyclists in case of collissions. There was talk of a ban of bullbars in 2006.

We could safely say that there's a relation between such cars and poor/dangerous driving.