[Ep. 1020] The latest Dutch traffic statistics became available. While people cycle more, there were also many more cyclists fatalities in traffic in 2022 (the latest year for which figures are available). The majority of those people were killed by drivers of motor vehicles. Although the Netherlands is still one of the safest countries to cycle in, relatively, the absolute figures do require action. As far as the Dutch Cyclists’ Union is concerned the (to be formed) new government in the Netherlands should invest one billion euros to improve cycling safety in the next 4 years.
More information in the blog post: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p=25266
New figures about Dutch traffic became available. The good news is… that the Dutch are cycling the same distance again as they did before the pandemic. Even though the total distance travelled across all modes of transportation… remains below pre-pandemic levels. Surprisingly, in 2022, the latest year for which figures are available,
The Dutch traveled less distance than they did a decade earlier, in 2012. The bad news is that road deaths increased by 20% in the Netherlands, with cyclists accounting for the largest group of traffic fatalities in 2022. What do the latest traffic figures for the Netherlands tell us?
In total the Dutch cycled 17.9Â billion km in 2022. An increase of 13% compared to 2021. Bringing cycling back to 2019 levels. The distance cycled on e-bikes has significantly increased over the years… from about 5% in 2012Â to 37% in 2022.
The distance travelled by public transport remained below the 2019 level. Attributed to a significant increase in working from home since the covid-19 pandemic. Despite the total distance driven being 87.9 billion km, in 2022, the distances travelled by car drivers remained below the level of 2019.
In 2023, there were over 8.9 million cars in the Netherlands. With older people owning a majority. Nearly 6 out of every 10 private cars (or 58.4%) are owned by individuals over the age of 50. While approximately 1 out of 10 (or 9.7%) is owned by someone under the age of 30.
However, individuals between the ages of 35 and 50 cover the most distance. Averaging 22.15 km per person per day. The Netherlands boasts a total of 153,000 km of paths and roads welcoming cyclists. With most in excellent condition, according to the Cyclists’ Union. When people cycle they encounter few obstacles.
Most paths and roads are surfaced with asphalt or concrete (58%) or paving stones (25%). Nearly 70% of the cycleways have street lighting… and 40% are cleared of snow and ice in Winter. However, 60% of the Dutch cycling network consists of roads with mixed traffic.
Potentially leading to accidents between bicycles and cars. Of all journeys in 2022, 42% were made by car, 28% by bicycle and 22% on foot. In the four largest cities in the Netherlands… cycling is most prevalent in Utrecht (42% of trips), followed by Amsterdam (36%), The Hague (31%), and Rotterdam (26%).
Among the next 20 largest cities Leiden and Groningen (both 44%), and Zwolle (43%) top the list for cycling trips, while Zoetermeer and Almere lag behind, with 24% and 23% of all trips, made by bike respectively, they still outperform most cities outside the Netherlands.
Destinations are generally closer in densely populated areas, making cycling a viable option. On average most destinations are within close proximity in the Netherlands. With groceries accessible at less than 1 km on average. Primary schools are around 800 metres away, secondary schools an average of 2.5 km.
Cafés and restaurants can be found between 800 metres and 1.5 km. A family doctor and pharmacy can generally be reached in a little over 1 km and hospitals are at 7.3 km. No wonder the Dutch cycle so often! But Dutch traffic led to 737 deaths and 134,000 injuries in 2022.
With 27,700 individuals hospitalized, including 8,300 seriously injured. Cyclists accounted for the largest group in traffic fatalities, in 2022, with 290 cyclists deaths, mostly from collisions with motor vehicles (206). Out of all cycling deaths 150 were over the age of 75. While experts emphasise the importance of further investments in cycling infrastructure for safety
Some people call for helmet laws. However, experts in the Netherlands… generally oppose such “blaming the victim” measures, arguing that mandatory helmets lead to fewer people cycling… which has more negative health consequences than a helmet could prevent.
In a collision with a car at 50 kph a cyclist has little chance of survival… even with a helmet. Instead, preventing crashes is deemed a much better policy. Therefore experts advocate for improved infrastructure… such as better intersections, and separating cycling from motor traffic at speeds over 30 kph.
As one expert put it: “For a safe and healthy future we don’t need mandatory helmets, but rather a national obligation for cycling paths.” The government anticipates continued growth in cycling, projecting a 20% increase by 2028… compared to 2019. To ensure safe cycling… further investments in cycling infrastructure are inevitable.
35 Comments
A lot of comparisons are made between the Netherlands and other countries with regard to the amount of cycling. One of the most important factors is never mentioned, namely that the Netherlands is totally flat. This inevitably makes cycling more attractive without considering any of the other factors. Those of us who have hills to deal with in rural areas are much less likely to find cycling relevant. I live in such an area and the only cyclists we encounter are using the road as a playground whilst the rest of us are just trying to get on with our lives.
In general terms cyclists seem to believe in give and take, as in they take but everybody else gives. It is rare for them to show much thought for anybody else. There are a few who do, but they are pretty rare.
at those distances you could just walk everywhere. I have to cycle 35km each way to reach grocery store.
E bikes…average speed is way faster than a pedal bike. Segment the data that way and get back to me.
Reading the reactions I am curious how much e-bikes and/or bigger (SUV) cars are to blame. Follow up video?
The oft-claimed "Safety in Numbers" is a fallacy …
Helmets in the Netherlands are a horrible idea. The Dutch cycle everywhere and helmets just aren't practical. When you go to the store you don't want to have to walk around with a helmet. The Dutch use bikes as a method of transportation, and helmets, that you can't really store on the bike itself, would be a massive inconvenience. And convenience is the reason why people cycle all the time. It's not even that the Dutch love cycling so much, it's just that it is the most practical and convenient option a lot of the time. I don't want to have to walk around with a helmet when I do the groceries. And kids don't want to have to use a helmet when going to school, schools would have to find whole new solutions the store all the helmets every day (the vast majority of children go by bike to school, the amount of bike parking needed at a school is basically the same as the amount of kids at the school.) It would decrease the convenience of cycling, which is hugely important. And in the end cycling saves way more lives than it takes. On a given cycling trip the likelihood of dying is still less then 1/17.500.000 (less than 1 person dies per day, and the Dutch cycle more than 1 once per day on average), and the health benefits of cycling places compared to going by car are pretty substantial. Also with more cars and less cyclists, the roads become more dangerous for the cyclists that do remain, since practically all cycling deaths are car on bike collisions. Bike on bike collisions have a near 0 death rate. It's cars that are dangerous, not bikes!
I recently found something interesting in German crash data: Of cyclists getting killed while crossing a road out-of-town 77% (!) are over the age of 60 and 50% are over 75 years old. So older people might far to often underestimate the gap in car traffic needed to cross these roads.
It would be interesting to compare statistics with several or other countries
I really think elderly people should wear a helmet. But I also don't think helmets should be mandatory for the reasons mentioned in the video 🙂
I'd be interesting to see if e-bikes have something to do with the increase in fatalities. I see a lot of old people cycling rather fast on those nowadays but they're not as aware of their surroundings as younger generations while at the same time being far more likely to be seriously injured in a crash.
Thanks Mark for these statistics
Name the coller of the people who make most accidents, i rest my case.
Wearing helmets wouldn’t hurt them.
Well, far far more people are nationwide killed by smoking , obesitas or drinking, so keep on cycling ….!
So I wasn't able to understand the most interesting thing IMO from this video:
what is a percentage of Netherland's citizens who are normally able get a driver's license (i.e. not underage) who commute by car vs those who don't use one for their commute?
driving kilometers are not very useful because it's much harder to bike long distances than drive, and owning a car is not the same as using it. Bike stats alone are not sufficient either because people tend to use mixed modes of transit i.e. bike+train+tram+walking, although car+train+walking is also a thing
I just pulled out of Dutch Brothers Coffee and the traffic there was terrible.
Interesting: In Germany cycling without helmet is deemed like committing suicide.
1) Lousy infrastructure and maintenance. It's mostly mandatory and often mainly serves to get cyclists out of the way of drivers.
2) Unpunished road raging by car drivers since the "vroem vroem" party is in power. Either because they are into pampering drivers or because the police is busy with all the migrants, take your pick. This doesn't just apply to cars, but also to 25 kmh mopeds (96% exceeding their speed limit, last official figure). Add to this the still lacking legal minimum passing distance that the UK, Belgium, Germany all have.
Asshole car driver behavior is also why the majority of the 45 km/h ebike (Speed Pedelecs) riders aren't riding on the main road but on the cycling path (that is banned for them). The police just allows that too, since it suits car drivers.
3) There are still municipalities (Doetinchem) tearing up asphalt cycling paths and replacing them with brick and paved paths. What outcome do you expect from that? I know… less cycling yet more "accidents". There seem to be no legal minimum standards for designing cycle paths except after injury through the courts…
4) We also lack a court ruling that the Germans do enjoy; that insanely crappy bike infrastructure may never be mandatory. Gronau (Germany) and Doetinchem (Netherlands) are two comparable cities. Doetinchem is on a 20 year spree making cycling infrastructure worse, while Gronau removed the 'mandatory bike path' signs from their (defacto) sidewalks and gutters and applied marking and signage to make clear the cyclist can ride on the nice asphalt. German drivers behave. Dutch drivers (even when in Gronau) mostly don't.
5) Newer cars are unsafe by design. To pass the more stringent side impact tests they made the side windows smaller. A lot of newer cars will offer a view of an insanely high blind doorpanel instead of the outside world when the driver is looking over his shoulder. Also the high up SUVs and Pickup trucks (common in the USA) that are incompatible with human life yet seen in ever increasing numbers in Europe too.
6) Insane influx of foreigners that apparently never learned how to ride a bicycle yet still do, have a culture that is ok with drink driving, ride according to the deadly standard of their country of origin, etc.
7) eBikes with motor in the front hub. Having the motor go berserk based on just crank rotation instead of torque is just a dumb system and it's showing up in a lot of accident… When I look around… pretty much everyone with a front hub motor ebike that I know has had one or more nasty crashes with it. Yet of the mid-drive motor ebike riders… almost nobody.
Interesting statistics. I'm curious at a conclusion made with cycling injuries. To lower injuries you need more cycling infrastructure. But how about better cycling habits? What part of those accidents were the fault of the cyclist compared to and /or poorly designed infrastructure and/or the fault of motor vehicle drivers.
As a cyclist I have noticed, anecdotally, here in Montreal Canada with increased infrastructure and cyclists comes more bad cycling habits and lack of respect for road safety or basic road laws, like who proceeds first when two people arrive at an intersection. If one never learns how to ride on a street then the chance of accidents goes way up when they have to share the road or when roads and cycling paths intersect. I don't own a car and I've been cycling for over 40 years.
Love these statistic videos 🙂
the numbers at 1:50 should be put in perspective. How is the total population split between these three brackets?
hey buurman, wist je dat Nederland meer inwoners heeft dan Denemarken, Noorwegen en Finland bij elkaar? en dat terwijl zij bij elkaar ongeveer 20x meer landoppervlak hebben.
So interesting, great video! I live in a bike friendly town in the US and there is an elderly couple who ride their electric trikes to get around. It is so sweet. I am glad they can get around so easily and wish more people who can’t or don’t want to drive had that option! It is probably much safer for them than driving with poor reaction time! And the trikes are very safe so they won’t fall.
Every day I cycle past so much car traffic on my way to work, all stuck in traffic with their little cages. I can't go back after selling my car, sure cycling in the rain isn't ideal, but the hassle and stress of dealing with traffic is honestly worse. Not to forget how expensive having a car even is.
I live in Utrecht and they are narrowing roads or scrapping them all together all the time. At first, I was mad since traffic increased dramatically. But now, I started using the bike and bus more often and I realise that cities are optimal when there are no cars in the city center at all
I mis the impact of the of electric bicycles.?..
Cyclists demand for more respect, but they must to be more respectuous with pedestrisns, and more in Nederlands
At first i tought it would be a video on how Dutch people approach bad news os traffic mistakes, it was only a tip from the video full o last years data.
206 killed of which 150 over the age of 75. I understand no victim blaming but surely someone with half a brain should notice a pattern… and try to understand it before the knee jerk reaction leads to spending money on solutions that might not help the particular group.
Ist there any knowledge about how many of the increased bicycling fatalities happened on traditional bicycles, and how many on E-Bikes? Have the injures and/or fatalities on traditional bicycles increased, or can the increase attributed to the increase in numbers of E-Bikes?
Might it be a good idea to make helmets mandatory for E-Bikes, but not for traditional bicycles?
I also think turbocharged cars, hybrids and e-vehicles play a part. When I was a kid, cars were naturally aspirated and most models had below 100hp. Premium makes had 100hp+, some super sporty ones had 200-300hp max (very rare). It took time to accelerate, nearly everyone was driving more cautiously because they knew their car had to first get to the revs. This lead to a more relaxed driving style. Only the pure idiots would always drive with high rpms like a misguided race driver. Nowadays nearly all cars are so powerful and without any lag there is instant power. Even in smaller models. That oftentimes leads to digital driving, like 100% acceleration (positive or negative) but not a socially compatible driving. It is really scary in Germany with far worse infrastructure riding a bike. Even having green light at a traffic light you almost always have to stop because someone drives full on aggressively and only stops like 1m in front of you if they stop. Totally hostile and annoying climate. I encountered this multiple times a day on my commute which is why i take a 2km detour to nearly eliminate any riding on car dominated streets. So now I only get near death experiences every second commute
I will never wear a helmet for a bicycle and if they ever adopt that as law, they will just ignore it.
Dutch ppl and EVERYBODY, HELMET ON!!!! i'm from belgium and do wear this every time when riding my bikes. There needs to be european law/rule for this "notwantowearahelmet"-issue.
The amount of bike casulties in my opinion is also (not) helped by the increasing number of crossings where bikes get the right of way. Even at poorly overseable crossings. Bikers will just blindly take the right of way, often with their headphones on, just expecting for the cars to stop. Until the car doesn't stop. I am a car driver and a cyclist, so I see the situation from both sides. Luckily I live in a town where cyclists don't get the right of way everywhere, only at a few roundabouts. In a town not far from here, not long ago they started converting bike crossings so that they have the right of way. Almost immediately the accidents started to happen.
And old people on bikes are of course more vulnerable. So give them space and be patient. If they crash all by them selves, that is sad. But better than to keep them tied to their homes (like during the pandemic). Let them choose for their selves if they want to take the risk and enjoy the freedom. At least they are not driving a car with all the risks for other people.
Love the Netherlands. Love the Dutch.
But the helmet argument does a disservice to the children of Erasmus. It is faulty logic.
It isn’t an either or choice. Improve road safety environment AND wear a helmet.
And the utility of a helmet is to decrease brain trauma. So to say that it doesn’t prevent fatality at 50k/hr is irrelevant.
Funny that when the Dutch rejected helmets, the Emergency doctors, neurosurgeons and pediatricians alll supported their use.
As an aside, I always wear one when cycling. Seen too much irreversible brain damage.