Systematic Safety: The Principles Behind Vision Zero. [522]

This video is an explanation of the Dutch 'sustainable safety' policy by prof. Peter Furth of the Northeastern University of Boston, who feels Systematic Safety would have been a better name. Concept and narration: Peter G. Furth. Filming and editing by Mark Wagenbuur. Video for a United States audience, hence not metric.
More information: www.northeastern.edu/peter.fur...

[@rubenhoed]

As a Dutch person I take these things for granted and see them as normal. I did not know it was that bad in the rest of the world.

[@vincentdelporte]

Worse.

[@nicoschprs4376]

You should grab your bike an start a little tour over to Germany. Every time I visit the Netherlands, for me ist like visiting the future. Your Infrastructure in Comparison to the german is insane

[@RedbadvanRijn-ft3vv]

@@nicoschprs4376 Its the mind set. Back in the late 70s.the started this anti car policy. I just had my licence,and hated our government fore there anti car policy. How litle did i know back then. That came in the years on that. Sitting on a terras,and see several times,the same cars driving by,looking for a parking spot. I was thinking,,,hey i am doing the same,like these idiots,,,looking for a parking place.

[@thedutchretrogamer]

same here

[@atexnik]

You should visit Armenia, you'll be shocked on how things can be that worse. The only priority here is cars, cars, cars. They even open right turn lights for cars sacrificing pedestrian safety, not speaking of any cyclist, which are just few here because of extremely dangerous traffic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4vLeYdsidd7rtk

[@asdkfjasdl_kfjas]

'And a system that is safe only if people don't make mistakes, is not a system that is made for humans.' Insightful quote :)

[@CoenFierst]

The elephant in the room is that cars don’t have technologies onboard to protect their environments and to avoid collisions. Trains have, airplanes have, even e-bikes are speed-limited. Only cars can be as lethal as their drivers intend. Who’d allow for such vehicles if invented today?

[@difuxin7226]

@@CoenFierst Cars are the deadliest weapon for those with bad intentions. It is causing millions to death while bicycles won't. With the Dutch-made high quality bicycles and a wonderful bicycle infrastructure, cars can be banned from short-distance commute there in Netherlands I think.

[@anchorageccl7081]

"...we are human, and a system that is safe only if people don't make mistakes, is not a system that is made for humans." Thank you for that clarity!

[@gocharlieo]

Very well done! Thanks for gearing this for the US. We need to keep pushing our city and state governments to adopt these practices. I will pass the word!

[@allardfreichmann3733]

Good luck and stay safe.

[@TheJenniferKK]

Thanks!

[@mourlyvold7655]

How's that going for ya, Charlie? Any progress (4 years later)? I know quite a few municipalities had delegations visit the Netherlands to gather insight in our systems. Anything set in motion that you know of? Keep it up, you're in for a long ride. We were, it took us 50 years to get where we are. Greetings.

[@badrouter501]

this situation makes it sound like ur stuck in the 60's

[@gocharlieo]

@@mourlyvold7655 Progress is slow. Our mayor is fighting the highway department right now to get a protected intersection on our Main St. Just sent this video out again this week to two Vision Zero Coordinators. Little by little and 50 more years and we will be there!

[@Johnnisjohnnis]

Last year, no children died in traffic in Norway.

[@RudyBleeker]

Road safety goals

[@deldarel]

That's great! Keep it up, Norway!

[@gengis737]

@@KleineJoop Norway is also mountainous which much less room to separate traffic. Great achievement

[@SkribbleNL]

@@KleineJoop There are places specially put aside for free camping without commodities in the Netherlands. But I do agree it would be great if we had the nature/right to camp in it but I do understand that the nature we do have is all protected. Edit: Nevermind apparently they closed down the "paalkamperterreinen" due to increasing misuse so we don't have any legal free wild camping places anymore.

[@maxwellvigil6084]

L M that’s understandable but no kids deaths is still very good

[@limsaniful]

5:03 That Toyota driver needs an extra lesson on parking.

[@maozedong44]

I doubt one is enough ;)

[@Dear_Mr._Isaiah_Deringer]

He thought it was a smart car 😂

[@sanderjansen5187]

Small car, big parking space. No skills

[@Markuden]

The only logical explanation would be that she wanted to turn the car. Otherwise..... what was she thinking? Has it ever worked like this?!

[@OP-1000]

I think he might have been trying to turn.

[@Ricmaniac]

It's soo nice to see this explained like this where as a dutchman you don't think one second about it while taking part in traffic :P You suddenly appreciate what we have so much more

[@chorton38305]

This will be a very hard sell in the U.S. as we have developed the attitude that cars have the God-given right to go anywhere, and as fast as we want to and everyone and everything else has no right to get in our way or impede our progress, especially pedestrians and bicycles. We have built our whole infrastructure for the benefit of automobile traffic, not for people.

[@kai663]

well, let's change that attitude, lets change the infrastructure for the people.

[@Zoza15]

That's very unfortunate for Americans having a negative attitude on cycling..

[@ireneusztrzcinski7209]

It is exactly the same attitude in Poland. The road infrastructure is built with the only aim to allow as much car traffic as possible at the cost of pedestrians mainly - sidewalks are made narrower to accommodate more car traffic. Bicycle infrastracture means a normal narrow sidewalk being made a mixed pedestrian/bycicle area which is good for neither the pedestrians nor the bikers. It means a lot of conflict between pedestrians and bikers. And drivers often drive on sidewalk if they think it is justified - like driving children in front of the entrance to the building in which they live instead of walking the children some 100-200 metres from a parking lot.

[@ALPHAHXCORE]

I mean theres also the rational reason, that the distances are much larger in the US than in europe. With that said you could drive a heck of lot less, but u cant draw a clear parallel.

[@Kratax]

But if you put cyclists into their own lanes, then they wouldn't get in the way of cars so much. If cyclists jiggle on the roads, sure it is a hazard for everyone. But yea, these systems are more prevalent, where is denser population and shops are close by.

[@ireneusztrzcinski7209]

I wish we could have that approach in Poland. In Poland, the streets have been designed to accommodate as much car traffic as possible. The powers-that-be always want to cut down the expenses of the public transportation and they encourage people to use their private cars as the main transportation means in towns and cities. Recently, new streets have been built with some bike paths but the paths are narrow and not especially good for travelling on bikes. They seem to have been built with the main aim od shoving byciclist off the main traffic lane and because there's a refund from the UE for a new road if you build a bike path. The traffic lanes in Poland are very wide and 70 kph (40mph) is not an usual speeds od cars on one lane per direction streets. This is even on local streets which should be subject to the 30kph (20mph) policy. A local street in the neighboring residential area was renovated in 2015 and lights were mounted at a pedestrian crossing near a school because it was so dangerous to cross the street there. Despite a 40kph (25mph) speed limit, most drivers drive at least 60kph - the traffic lane is very wide and "encourages" them to drive fast. There's also the mentality. Polish drivers have been used to drive fast in the streets with very little chance get punished for that. Now, if you want to impose a 30kph speed limit on local street, they say "I will now travel faster being stationary". Bycicle has become much more popular recently (last 8-10 years) wth the popularity still rising but it is still not popular overall and bicycle is considered mainly as a hindrance for car traffic. And it is quite dangerous because drivers don't heed the bicycle traffic enough. Here comes the mentality again. Most drivers think bikers have to be much more carefull because they are going to get hurt in an accident and not the drivers. The most advised-for safety measure is wearing a crash-helmet (some Polish bikers think a crash-helmet is much more important than being carefull when biking). I have watched many films about bycicling in the Netherlands and no one wears a crash-helmet riding a bycicle and - in spite of that - it is one of the safest countries for bikers.

[@blokkadeleider]

To Poland's credit however, the situation has improved a lot over the last 15 years. I'm Dutch and I have literally cycled thousands of kilometers through Poland over the years. Polish motorists tend to be very considerate and polite nowadays, much more so than the Dutch. As for cycling infrastructure I've seen everything between catastrophic and so great that it makes a Dutchman jealous. What does shock me is that so few Polish cyclists have lights on at night. That might just be one of the main causes for the many accidents. But Poland is a rather large country. Change will take decades and there's nothing to be ashamed of considering what has been achieved already. You'll probably only notice when traveling there for a few weeks once every two or three years, like I do.

[@lucaleone3863]

I love how he said "Sweden and the Netherlands" when there are actually only Dutch examples :D

[@iWhacko]

Yeah seems most of it was filmed in Utrecht

[@declan8577]

And when the dutch roads really can't be compared to anything around the world

[@markbrouwer150]

UUUU

[@Mortomes]

@@iWhacko All the U-OV buses make that kind of obvious :P

[@qqleq]

Because the narrator is from the US. The cameraman i, however, clearly from Utrecht. Can't expect him to fly to Sweden for a few shots on a cheap KZbin vid.

[@Modro69]

In counries like Slovakia is traffic safety "solved" by high fines...ofcourse it doesn't work. This Dutch style should be implemented in every country in the world

[@vnyggi621]

Tomas Modrovsky but fines get the government money, while the dutch system costs a lot :D

[@meandmyself1600]

Less incidents means less spendings for the health system -> doesn't save the government money but your fees will get lower. More bikes and less cars means less street maintenance -> saves the government some money

[@rogerwilco2]

Fines and penalties never have an effect. The chance to get caught is the main deterrent, usually independent of the actual penalty. A criminal who thinks they can get away with it, will not care about the size and severity of the penalty.

[@ronrolfsen3977]

@@vnyggi621 The Netherland reduced the death of children in traffic from 400 to 14 from 1970 to 2010. That means that in 380 people survived that would otherwise have died. These kids will on average be responsible for about a million euro in tax. Just 2010 alone would be responsible for eventually an extra 380 million euro's for the state (very roughly an extra 5.5 million every year these kids manage to become adults and work for a living). These numbers are most likely a bit high, but this is only the kids that survive because of the improvements. Imagine all the extra tax the government is earning today because of the lives (kids and adults alike) that have been 'saved' in the last few decades because of better infrastructure and awareness.

[@marcvanderwee]

@@ronrolfsen3977 Not only what you write, but also less spending on the NHS and less traffic congestion in the cities. However, sometimes we have the luxury of bicycle traffic congestion. That is something most cities and countries only can dream of...

[@harshbarj]

This is really what I would love to see here in the states. Problem is some bike groups are against this kind of infra. Our local "advocacy group" Omaha bikes has made it quite clear they don't support dedicated infra, and would rather people bike on the street as cars. A neighbor city has installed a quite good separated bidirectional path, that while not quite up to dutch standards, is close. Yet several key members of the group made a point in a recent blog post how they felt it was unsafe and that people should just ride in the street. While their site officially says they support dedicated infra, their words tell another story. If we can't even get the people who are suppose to be fighting for better infra to do so, what chance do we really have. It's enough to make me want to start a new group that will actually fight for change, without fear of upsetting a few drivers.

[@edkroketje1]

I would say start one, I will support you (although I live in the Netherlands). I actually invest quite a lot of time into this (way more than I should), from helmets to infrastructure and more, I am always interested in these kind of things.

[@chicks-on-the-loose]

Seems to me that "advocacy group" Omaha bike has been infiltrated or is a form of controlled opposition. No real bicyclist would say something like that.

[@ZealothPL]

You seriously havent seen any spandex tryhards on carbon bikes taking up entire lane on a high speed 2 lane road where there are ASPHALT, separated wide bike paths?

[@emiel1976ep]

@@edkroketje1 you mean that they must stop wearing helmets I hope. Because it's a fact that people that wear a helmet, are more likely to have an accident and get killed or get injured then people that don't wear a helmet.

[@emiel1976ep]

That's because they think that they loose surten rights. It's just like the gun laws. Many Americans choose a gun above a human life. They think that they loose freedom, where they don't even know what freedom really means. Many Americans are only thinking of them selve and don't care about others. If they can get something out of it, then they don't even care if it can costs other people's lives. I know that not all of the are like that, but many are. There is a lit wrong with the USA and the American dream is a dream and noting more. The reality is a nightmare.

[@anewlife5846]

I just cannot thank you enough for this video on your channel. I was so much delved into it that for a moment, I felt like I am right there and kept on smiling while watching it. I hope you could understand, I am living in India and it is well known across the world how poor or worst it is in terms of infrastructure. People in Netherlands are blessed literally.

[@aliaguerin1266]

Yes might be, but you stil use bikes good on you:).

[@Markuden]

We gave the example, all India has to do is copy or follow it or give it its own twist. It will raise the quality of life.

[@cynthiamolenaar770]

Dutch engineers are very willing to be of help advising other countries on how they can accomplish this. The hardest thing will be changing attitude of people and maybe finance by the gouvernment...

[@diegogarces6931]

here in NYC, vision zero merely decreased the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph in local streets. it's missing so many of these key principles

[@robertjarman3703]

30 mph streets aren't inherently bad. Pretty much any speed limit or even a total lack thereof isn't inherently bad. The question is whether the street or road is properly designed to handle such a speed. Roundabouts at intersections, a median with plants, and separation from cycle traffic, those mean that a 30 mph/50 km/h speed is, assuming no other factors are present, safe, but put in the wrong context, can be very dangerous.

[@bishplis7226]

the difference between a 20 and a 30 mph street, is 80% less traffic deaths.

[@goalie9198]

Nope. Where are you getting this very inaccurate info?

[@nicholaslofa8867]

it doesn't help anything. people just keep speeding; i see it in my parents, someone will be going the speed limit and they'll scream at them and go around them with a dirty look on their face. people have no respect for pedestrians here because there aren't enough of them in the whole country. where i live in the city is much more suburban than the other five boros, and even when my mom will go to get her nails done just a few blocks away, she drives the two minutes. even in manhattan, people constantly park in the bike lanes and leave entire intersections blocked while trying to get across lanes in a 3 lane avenue. the problem with driving and road safety in america is not merely one about quality of infrastructure or a policy that was implemented in a shitty way; it's about the way people perceive others on the road and walkability in general. it's seriously one of the largest issues in the country, and i hope that we're able to change it and fix the problem once and for all. (and i know this is a year after the comment was posted, but whatever)

[@BrazenNL]

@@nicholaslofa8867 That's why in areas where the speed difference would be too great between modes of transportation (ie. bike/car), you use only one way for the car, taking away their opportunity to speed while overtaking. You just can't overtake. And if they still go too fast, use speedbumps, chicanes, etc. If that road is a through way, then you can't mix modes of transportation and cars get multiple lanes and the bike lanes should be separated by a physical barrier like a shoulder, grass+trees, etc. You can't park on those roads since they're through roads, however, if there's no other way bikes are still separated from the faster traffic. It's not hard science, you just have to commit. Now, if your city and its inhabitants want to do that, that's a whole other story.

[@bergonius]

Great explanation, theese basic concepts should be adopted everywhere.

[@C0deH0wler]

Are you trying to mimic the speaker? ;) "Greaaaat explanation', theeeeese basic concepts should be adopted everywheere."

[@yipperdeyip]

If Americans can't educate their cops, teachers and thus young generations, then I don't think they'll even bother with proper road infrastructure lol. The US has bigger problems and she's called Karma

[@mourlyvold7655]

@@yipperdeyip We all have Karma (for lack of a better word)

[@dannyU2g]

"If any other industry had a death toll like that it'd be shut down immediately" *cough*tobacco*cough*

[@btudrus]

And not to talk about sugar industry. Sugar kills much more than COVID-19 even in the most affected countries..

[@NLTops]

*cough* alcohol *cough*

[@ivoivanov7407]

@@btudrus Soo, you idea is to ... prohibit manufacturing and trade with sugar? Or what?

[@mato8225]

>cough*tobacco*cough you should consider quitting smoking

[@Philippe620]

I'm not sure what you mean, tobacco is banned in public already. Cars endanger the lives of everyone even those who never drove one.

[@KarlPlesz]

This is a great, simple yet profound introduction to the concept of sustainable safety. Great job. I'll be showing this to a lot of people.

[@TomZ23]

5:03 Someone turned the wheels a bit too sharp. Yikes!

[@driewiel]

No no she turned correctly. But the parking spot suddenly changed location. In fact the whole world. You can't see that because the camera moved with it. So not the driver's fault.

[@Aimless6]

Yes, but screw ups like that are to be expected in a parking zone. That is why all traffic that does not need to be there, gets diverted around the shopping district.

[@edkroketje1]

That is why the Netherlands has bike paths everywere. So that woman who need to do the shopping aren't forced to drive cars thus removing a lot of parking problems that would otherwise happen xD

[@yvonnecampbell7036]

?? She's fine. She just had to get over the curb.

[@nonexistingvoid]

@@edkroketje1 I've seen more men struggle with parallel parking than women. I remember having to parallel park for my driving exam, and it took like 10 seconds to get that checked off. This driver simply was late in turning back. The only solution is getting out of the spot and trying again.

[@bananarama1]

What you did not mention is that in the Netherlands, pedestrians or cyclists are "weaker" road users, meaning that if they have a collision with a "stronger" road user (car, bus, motor, etc) the stronger vehicle is by default to blame, unless the weaker party did something really stupid. This makes cars more aware of cyclists and pedestrians and more safe for them.

[@therealdutchidiot]

This is almost universal law, officially anyway. Too bad it's almost never enforced in other countries.

[@FredStam]

This is the best explanation of how things are done in the Netherlands. And I think its an example of how you can do it in the UK or US or where ever you want. We have made a science of it and look at the numbers it works.

[@EpreTroll]

Bruh why are you using miles.

[@0rimayo]

so the target audience understands what he means. wich are americans

[@dalejacobson6363]

I thought the same thing , but if you're from here you already know km👍

[@zekester2097]

It's literally in the description.

[@woutervanr]

@@zekester2097 The fact that the narrator was repeatedly addressing Americans and telling them that they could do better was a pretty big hint as well. Why it's not just in km/h as a graphic as well though....no idea.

[@billvojtech5686]

In NYC, our mayor declared a vision zero initiative. They lowered the speed limit and added a few painted bike lanes. I've given up cycling because I have too many dead friends killed by hit-and-run drivers. I look at people driving wile looking at their phones and just say no.

[@DougGrinbergs]

Hoping at least some folks learning from this video will consider running for city council, town board or county commissioner to help promote better bike/ped infrastructure. Even speaking at a planning board or city council meeting can be an effective way of getting this on the radar - with government, fellow advocates and the general public.

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

It’s amazing how we accept road injuries and deaths without question. There are many roads near me that conflict is created by poor road design. One of the worst roads locally had a shared 3rd road in the middle. Imagine 2 cars head on and both have right of way; who yields? It was eventually changed so each direction was given 50% of the road.

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

Narrow country lanes in the uk with 60mph limits always baffles me. There’s barely room for 2 cars to pass in places and blind corners. These roads should be 40mph Max.

[@cecilhenry9908]

Every city planner and designer in North America should be required to visit the Netherlands and learn about what they are doing. This is so smart and makes a city so much more liveable for the humans, instead of the cars!!

[@aorta538]

it's not only the cities, the whole country is covered with bikepaths/lanes. Love from Holland

[@st2216]

Thanks for sharing the info. Wish our city planners understand this. Love seeing people biking everywhere and have no worry mixing with uncontrolled car traffic...

[@sjaakdewinter6258]

The Netherlands are number one for safe traffic. Also number one for safe bicycle lanes. America is number 123 for that. Do like we do and everybody lives long and happy.

[@TheJubess]

I can't help but find your comment pedantic , although it might be true.

[@mourlyvold7655]

@@TheJubess I get it, but don't shoot the messenger.

[@NLTops]

@@TheJubess The beauty of having all these different countries dealing with problems in all these different ways, is that we can learn from eachother's mistakes and successes. When it comes to zoning and infrastructure, the Netherlands is leaps beyond the US where a lot of land is allocated to Single-Family Homes (Suburbia) and nothing else is allowed to be built there. Not only does this increase dependency on cars (because every destination is far away), it's economically less viable due to higher infrastructure maintenance costs, not to mention the massive parking lots. It makes sense when you think about it. The US is massive and actually has a lot of "free space", so land is a lot cheaper and everyone wants that American Dream house with a white picket fence. And in the Netherlands, space is scarce and we can't afford the space for 8 lane highways or everyone taking the car everywhere, because we'd all be stuck in traffic to the point where it's faster to just walk. It makes sense that we've learned to use our space more efficiently. If the US would apply Dutch standards in terms of zoning (Strong Towns) and infra, it would greatly increase their cities' economic efficiency and livability. Instead of always having to build wider and wider roads so there's enough room for everyone to drive, it's a more effective solution to think of ways to reduce the need for people to drive. Dot small supermarkets, cafés and restaurants all over suburbs so that people can find the things they want and need closer to home, connect suburbs to city centers with high-frequency rail lines to reduce the need for massive highways into the city. Seperate roads into the 4 categories mentioned for safety and cars will no longer be a necessity for every destination. One of the interesting indicators of both road safety and congestion in the US was actually highlighted by covid. Due to restrictions and economic impact, there has been a lot less miles traveled in 2020, but road deaths actually went up. So basically, if you weren't stuck in traffic so much, you'd be having a lot more (lethal) accidents.

[@allws9683]

Haha dream on. Netherlands has almost twice the number of traffic casualties than in Sweden, Norway and Switzerland !

[@therealdutchidiot]

@@allws9683 Should we talk about population density then? Look at the size of Sweden for example,and put it next to its population. Same goes for Norway. Same, yet again goes for Switzerland.

[@maxmegamax2174]

I don't know how many times I've seen this video during the last few years, but I still love it

[@uchidaoginome]

Even in NYC where we have lots of "bike lanes", the infrastructure was largely built for cars, at least in the latter half of the 20th. We grow up with lots of public transportation options but those who chose to own and use a car as their primary means of transit tend to see car ownership as a kind of graduation into adulthood. "Ah, I don't have to take the subways and buses anymo---oh, man look at all that traffic!" We're better than many cities in bike infrastructure but only halfway to where we need to be. Plenty of crosswalks and major thoroughfares present dangerous dilemmas for cyclists and pedestrians because the roads themselves aren't designed to control drivers' speed. Big city people grow up walking fast and aggressively so they think they should drive that way too and that's why they get so angry whenever they have to slow down or stop but the roads themselves should be mitigating their speed and teaching them the streets are not theirs alone by mandate of heaven. The act of driving ought to be rife with environmental cues to watch out for people walking, in wheelchairs, children and people on bikes. KZbinr, "Not Just Bikes" also has a great video about how certain streets in The Netherlands are built as winding paths, or with greenways & pedestrian footpaths that cross them just so they must constantly be controlling their speed and stopping. Larger roads have very clear bike paths with traffic lights for cyclists and cars so as a cyclist you don't have to guess when you should go. Some New York streets actual have bike signals on their traffic lights now and that's great but for the most part, when I'm at a large intersection on a busy thoroughfare, I not only wonder if drivers can see me, I wonder if they're even looking for anything besides other cars! Pedestrians included!

[@Paul_C]

No, New York was NOT built for cars at all. Initially NYC was build for pedestrians, horses and horse-and-cart. So to say it is built for cars is simply not true at all. Cars are as a virus, infecting everything they touch, with death and destruction. Buildings do not cross the street, cars run into them.

[@LemonToGo]

I feel relatively save as a cycler in Germany. I think it would improve car safety immensely though.

[@Cl0ckcl0ck]

Well this is just about the best video you put in the public consciousness. 87k views? Nah this should go to a few million!

[@ph1000q]

Its nice to appreciate all the wonderful infrastructure we have in the Netherlands, especially in this video where everything was filmed in my hometown.

[@HolgerJakobs]

That's one of the reasons I like to spend holidays in the Netherlands and riding bicycle there.

[@allardfreichmann3733]

Did you also went to Maastricht eating vlaai and visiting a concert of Andre Rieu?

[@henkoosterink8744]

Holger You are welcome.

[@RedbadvanRijn-ft3vv]

City for the future,Houten in the province Utrecht.

[@emiel1976ep]

Many do like to ride there bike around here for the holidays. You can always recognize the tourist by there helmets. They are the only ones that wear them. 🤣

[@detlefmann7433]

@@RedbadvanRijn-ft3vv ... Really. Netherland is 45 years more advanced regarding to traffic planning and development than most of other europeen countries.

[@Ausrufepunkt]

Great and insightful video, thanks!

[@anrmlumlwundlistr7620]

Extremely powerful message, this kind of message should be shown to everyone owning an Audi.

[@gammaraider]

In my city of Almere, just east of Amsterdam, the bike roads follow a completely separate grid from car roads. If you plan right, you need not even see any cars at all as you cycle from one side of the city to the other.

[@smeetsnoud1]

Ugh yes. I've lived in the Jordaan in Amsterdam for six years, but last March I moved deep into the Bijlmer. 30 minutes biking with one traffic light (which turns green before you even need to stop) and two roads where I need to yield for cars - both however with excellent angles to spot traffic). Almere is literally a sandbox citybuilder though lmao

[@echasc]

Wonderfully informative video.

[@MrHenkkkie]

The best (cycling) infrastructure in the world explained in a nutshell.

[@hendrikmoons8218]

If you have the room, many mid evil European cities where build before cars/bicycles.

[@therealdutchidiot]

@@hendrikmoons8218 Many US cities were as well ofcourse. And then they were bulldozed for the car.

[@thereisnofinishline5773]

@@therealdutchidiot yep, it's weird to see how straight American roads are, also they have very little sidewalks.

[@fluuufffffy1514]

Not just for biking, but for all traffic, it is better

[@pwat3091]

Wonderful stuff, brilliantly and clearly explained with combination of relevant video clips and well spoken verbals. Thank you so much Peter and Mark. I dream of when UK might go half-way to what the Dutch have done. Good luck USA!

[@z4zuse]

The 25 mph (40 km/h) limit is not a default one in the Netherlands.

[@percafluviatilis8757]

There is only one small problem in the Netherlands: although in residential areas the speed is limited to 18 miles (30kmh) , no one complies, even parents with little children often drive 40 to 50 kmh in these areas (25-31mile/h). Why? The chance being caught for these offenses is close to zero.

[@miera1029]

That's why there are those little green/yellow sign of kids with a flag. Even if you think of everything... People will still break rules and be idiots. It's sad

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

If they made it max 50 people would drive 70. So making it 30 achieves the goal of keeping the speed below 50. Objective achieved 👍

[@MsSilentH]

Seeing this made me, well, even more sad for the US even coming close to what the Netherlands has. People never go the speed limit as it is. I frequently get tailgated for what? Because people are I guess just hardwired that their speed is the only speed, or they're late for work or something? It's frustrating. Not to mention people who don't acknowledge stop signs. I just think the country has such a strong habit of not following safety rules I just don't think we'll ever get close to these sort of things.

[@autohmae]

The video did say: make the roads in such a way people are inclined not to speed and they won't.

[@robertm3951]

@@autohmae The Netherlands does not have to hot rod culture to modify cars to take those roads at high speeds

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

It's all by design. If you make things kind of confusing, speed goes down instantly. In pedestrian areas roads follow a chicane structure, there is no seperation between sidewalk and road and there are obstacles cars have to navigate arounds and no lane markings. That all together automaticly makes cars drive at near walking speed because drivers feel uncomfertable. You basicly do not need any regulation in those situations.

[@Koen030NL]

@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 making the roads more narrow with some nice big trees next to it will also slow people down, and it also looks nice. The problem is that when someone dies when they overspeed and crash into a tree, the problem is not the driving style but the tree. At least thats how they see it in the US in my understanding. The result is nice wide and straight roads without any obstacles, super safe. nothing to run into, except another car.

[@macten6819]

If you need stop signs the junction is very poorly designed anyway, you shouldn't need them unless there is absolutely nothing else possible due to buildings or vegetation. I actually cannot think of any stop sign here in my city. More often a curved mirror will be placed on such an intersection or bend so that you can see traffic is coming from around the corner, albeit without seeing the actual distance to the oncoming traffic, you at least know that there is in fact something coming from that direction. Much better solution than stop signs.

[@michaelburtenshaw]

I'm lucky to live in Mesa Arizona where there are plenty of places to ride safely. I can only hope they implement these ideas in the U.S.

[@lukasr9516]

Scenic Cycling I've lived in Mesa, AZ. Where is the safe cycling?!?! (outside of the limited canals) I live in Europe now - cycling in Mesa is painful in comparison although it makes me gain a profound appreciation for the infrastructure here

[@joopterwijn]

Do not rule out the law, basically when ever, how ever a collision between a bicycle and other traffic ( car, bus, truc, Monet, motor... ) the blame come on the “heavier” traffic. Then there is the experience of the bike riders, the start between 1-2 year on triple wheels, then go on on mini bikes with side wheels. After that the go on with there parents into real traffic. Even on schools the take bike exams to learn to take notice of road signs. So there more or less born on bikes 😜

[@Esli26]

Not all truth, the blame is on the one who makes a mistake, so if a bike ignores a red light, is part of an collision with a car, the bike is still to blame, regardless of which on is 'heavier'.

[@Faithskill]

@@Esli26 The biker may be blamed, but the insurance company of the heavier traffic will pay the damages that have been caused.

[@Markuden]

Well that rule is a bit more nuanced. If you hit someone of 14 years or younger you are to blame even if the kid made big mistakes. You are to blame for most of the cost. In other cases the judge will be more reasonable so for example if it is a 50/50 accident they will say the car needs to pay 80% and the bike 20%. So the favour the bike.

[@MarkLeeuwis]

@@Esli26 Not true. The biker would get a ticket of course, but if you as a driver could have avoided the accident, you're still to blame. Only if you really couldn't have avoided the accident, the cyclist is to blame. And even if the cyclist is to blame, your insurance has to pay between 50% to 100% of the cyclist damages. Which for me is totally overkill

[@gabydewilde]

@@Esli26 You are not allowed to run over cyclists. Only if there was really no way to avoid it can you get away with it. The cyclist wont pay for your damage tho.

[@milly-sy4bc]

If you had to show ONE video to lawmakers, designers and governments, this is the one.

[@EdwinWalkerProfile]

I think the thing about arterial roads is interesting. Here in Bristol at least, arterial roads are often also the shopping street for a neighbourhood. But there are many things about Bristol's roads and I wouldn't say that's the worst of them.

[@DougGrinbergs]

Thank you for creating this awesome video! Taking notes, will watch again. Peace and love from the People's Republic of Boulder. (;-) Please fight flashing yellow turn arrows.

[@emiel1976ep]

Americans don't care, there moto is "one for him self and all for me!"

[@Phininx]

Greedy people get what deserve eventually.

[@JFrazer4303]

After doing a lot of harm.

[@tiemen9095]

That's the assumption a road designer should have about road users. Therefore, chicanes, roundabouts and speed bumps work a lot better than stop signs, traffic lights and speeding fines.

[@Nielsly]

Amazing video!

[@Rein_]

Also in the netherlands every driver is also a bicycle rider, so we know how dangerous it can be. Anonther important thing is that we need to have driving lessons with a certified driving instructor in an marked car, it is not allowed to get driving lessons from someone else.

[@detlefmann7433]

Nach dem Prinzip der niederländischen Verkehrsplanung mit viel Freiraum für Fußgänger und Radfahrer können Straßen wesentlich sicherer gestaltet werden, als nach der konventionellen Bauform wie in den meisten benachbarten Ländern.

[@nickbooker5579]

3:04 is there a paper I can cite to support that drivers are reluctant to yield at speeds above 25MPH?

[@piderman871]

Near where I live there is a 30km/h (20mph) zone, but everyone was speeding anyway. Now they have redesigned it so that cars barely fit and added speed bumps where you hit your head on the roof of your car if you even go 31km/h. Very effective :')

[@robertm3951]

Or you can just get better springs

[@bramvanduijn8086]

That's all there is to shaping behaviour: Make it hard to be a bad person without hurting yourself and make it easy to be a good person. So dangerous roads need to be made inconvenient, and safe vehicles need to be make cheap and convenient.

[@PendelSteven]

@@robertm3951 No, you drive 30 km/h maximum. You don't even have to, 20 km/h is fine and if you see children, why not slow down to 10 even?

[@freudsigmund72]

2:12 this is actually the most dangerous street in the Netherlands based on the number of deaths / injuries per km.

[@smeetsnoud1]

Yikes, good to know...

[@maximusdecimusmeridiusmaximus]

this channel is amazing!

[@Noi5ee]

05:00 I'm gonna spam that to the Norwegian road administration its 2016 and we still have major national traffic arteries going right through town centers all over the place.

[@maozedong44]

We have been removing many of those; trains and highways straight through cities are disappearing into tunnels. This trainviaduct straight through the medieval center of Delft is now underground. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmmrqqOEg6dqZ9E Or this highway through Maastricht. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2bEYX2wfLBkkJY

[@jmb1805]

Wonderful!

[@detlefmann7433]

Our situation in Germany is very similar to USA, Canada, France or Italy ... until today there hadn't been secured the most of typical conflicht situations. I think, the Dutch people and Denmark lives 40 years ago ... regarding to the traffic planning and development.

[@Anakianaj]

tbh it really depends where in Germany you live and where you want to go. The town I study in has a network of bikelanes on/next to roads and a separated network of bikeways that get you safely through town for the most part. There are some questionable sections (like one of those T-crossings where pedestrians/cyclists have a green light while the cars getting on the main road also have a green light... and that green-phase for both is 3 seconds tops... been hit twice by a car there in one year and saw a kid get run over because they tried to catch their bus...) but usually there's an alternative and you can avoid these dangerous sections... once you know the streets and the bikelane network, that is. Over the past weeks I've been stuck in my home town and I have given up on even trying to cycle anywhere in town. There's a bikelane/-way-network that connects different towns (usually former train tracks + separated lanes next to 'Bundesstraßen') and leads you to the tour-routes (D- and E- routes + local touristic/scenic routes) which is nice - but once in town it's basically suicide to try and go by bike.

[@gwho]

this presentation was so gripping, i watched it 4 times in a row.

[@ThermoMan]

Very useful and well explained and illustrated.

[@Planefan1000]

The city that I live close to dropped the speed limit to 30 km/h (18 mph) in the middle of the city where there are a lot of shops and restaurants. So there's something.

[@mysurlytrucker7510]

An excellent video full of information, other governments should implement.

[@Widdekuu91]

One negative thing though...it's called Vroempoen, there's an Arjen Lubach (Zondag met Lubach) movieclip about it. The current government is very very keen on adding more cars into the mixture and adding more roads. (Files en rekeningrijden - Zondag met Lubach (S09))

[@Thimoo]

1:36 is that oisterwijk?

[@danielaneubauer4300]

This isn't a European experience but a Dutch one. The Dutch are almost the only country that try to make transportation equally good for pedestrians, cycling and driving. I live in Germany and I envy the Dutch.

[@pbilk]

Systematic Safety is what we need in Canada. I was proposing Roundabout at a hazardous intersection and many people liked it but a few people said its too cost let's do another solution, which happens to be less effective. Meanwhile, an hour away a small rural highway had roundabouts along it since 2018.

[@therealdutchidiot]

Having seen Canadian roundabouts, they wouldnt be safer. They're designed to enter tangentially, turning them into race tracks Great for drivers, freaking dangerous for everyone else. Dutch roundabouts ensure a much more head on approach, making drivers slow down.

[@Russ1ist]

Very interesting, thanks.

[@AK-nn7se]

So what about the way to get a driver licence? I know here in the Netherlands it takes about average 40/45 hours of driving lessons and an exam (or multiple by failure) before you get your license, your also able to drive alone at your 18th unlike US at ur 16th. So how is that in the US? Does it also take on average that many hours?? Or less/more??

[@DanielHoward-aka-dannyman]

The wait at the DMV to take an exam varies from state to state, but is generally less than an hour. The driving exam boils down to understanding what the color and shape of a sign indicate, an eye exam, and for new drivers, a "road test" that involves driving around the block and proper use of turn signals.

[@Tinky1rs]

@@DanielHoward-aka-dannyman That sounds like the practical exam, but not the teaching. In the Netherlands you also need to pass a theoretic exam on traffic safety/rules (what does sign x mean, who has priority in this situation, what's the max speed on the highway if not indicated by a sign, how often should your car get checked by a garage, what's the minimum profile depth on your tires etc.) Practical exam can only be done after you've passed that. Usually you have 40-50 hours of learning to drive before you do your practical exam succesfully.

[@user-ik7bl4yg2t]

In the US, there are 3 required 1-on-1 instructional courses over the 6 months you have your permit. 3 hours each. When you are not driving with an instructor, you are driving with a licensed driver. You have to log 50 hours of driving, 10 of which at night, before you can get your license

[@Zoza15]

I think if people would have used separate cycling lanes away from cars and cycling bridges, cycling tunnels etc.. I think that people would take their own initiative to purchase a proper bike and commute daily. But the will has to be there to put the infrastructure in place for it to take off, which also will likely change the attitude towards cycling as well.. Hopefully. Yes we are very fortunate to have such an advanced cycling system, and it will advance even further. We can only hope that the rest of the world can adopt these principles to their road infra..

[@jcvjcvjcvjcv]

Depends on what city you live... I know one where with every project they pick up... it becomes worse for cyclists.

[@danamarcotteseiler7423]

We here in my town Now have red areas for bike riding but only in certain areas , Much admiration for the Dutch idea , I hope and pray this way spreads here , if it does it would be much safer ; can only hope 🙏

[@fazlulrahmanjamko9115]

I agree with your statement, bicycle must be separate from the other because it is move slowly. The main point in my think are all people must have aware and patient to each other... The car driver to the cyclist, the cyclist to the car driver, truck, etc...

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

You can force that trough design.

[@ScheveSneeuwSchuifSchep]

As happy and proud I am to be Dutch so that I may enjoy these privileges I feel like a lot of my fellow countrymen are trying to shame Americans for not having all these good things. It's not like people in the U.S. don't realize that their country has a massive amount of problems, they've got to deal with it every day.

[@pauldickhoff3594]

Americans do realize that the US has massive problems, but every time the government should be doing their job, nearly every american cries something about freedom, communism and taxpayers. The only americans that are actually speaking out against the abysmal state of their country are black americans.

[@robertdegroot8302]

Mee eens! The gloating people tend to be young people, or adults who have never really met Americans. After visiting the States I realized we can learn a lot from them as well, especially socially.

[@mourlyvold64]

Agreed, loads of pedantic comments from the Dutch. Rather intolerable, really. Dutchman speaking here.

[@detlefmann7433]

The "Dutch System" is genious to copy and realise in other countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc.

[@Koen030NL]

But hard and expensive in most cases.

[@marlls1989]

How much are those speeds in km/h ? I don’t have the slightest idea of how much are those limits in mph... I have an approximate notion multiplying those by 2

[@Quintinohthree]

6 = 10 20 = 30 25 = 40 30 = 50 40 = 60 70 = highway speeds All approximate but in relation to corresponding speed limits and targets which would apply inside city limits.

[@wilsonhuber]

100kmph, multiply by .6 equals 61 mph

[@Karvan420]

It's kinda weird seeing a foreign video taking place in my city, some of the streets are literally outside my door.

[@jessegee179]

Is this still relevant in 2022 or has it evolved further? I'm thinking of the parking chicanes to reduce speed?

[@maaiker2977]

Its always evolving. Just cause its good doesn't mean it can't be better.

[@lars_geurts45]

Once I was in New York, I was to scared to ride a bicycle over there. Compared to The Netherlands it is so scary to ride between all the cars that don't care you're there

[@kiradotee]

Very interesting video! I see quite a few of these design choices in the UK but not as much as the Netherlands has!!! But definitely more than the US or other places have. 😂

[@robertackerlind4707]

Why is there gss engine bikes going much faster on the bicycle lanes?

[@bramvanduijn8086]

Because they can't go fast enough to be allowed on the car roads. They go about the speed of a racing bike and are ridden by equally annoying people.

[@rudivandoornegat2371]

How do emergency vehicles overtake cars on neighbourhood roads, with one seperate lane per direction?

[@wimahlers]

Question: "How do emergency vehicles overtake cars on neighbourhood roads, with one seperate lane per direction?" Good question. Local neighborhoods are usually quiet. But dense cities of course are notorious for heavy slow moving traffic.The answer to this problem is: There is no need to overtake when emergency vehicles can take the dedicated bus lanes, cycle lanes and separate bike paths. As seen in the following videos (from The Netherlands): kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6GWZKBjfNOWY5I kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGS5aaChmpmYoKs Or traffic gets out of the way using the cycle paths. As shown in this video (from The Netherlands): kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3jGk5ucZ8yiY7c Doing so prevents and bypasses the standard gridlock obstruction as seen in the following video (from the US): kzbin.info/www/bejne/omTLgHWbhtuWaa8

[@Lunavii_Cellest]

In the netherlands everyone makes way for emergency vehicles, we go on to the grass and on to the sidewalk and in to a juction and on to people driveway, we would even break traffic laws to make space for emergency vehicles.

[@Atlaspower78]

please note how we also save space by not allowing daylight between your car and the car in front of you

[@somedutchguy9184]

This was some nice bike ASMR... And apart from the speeds mentioned, quite correct. I think the hatred toward cyclist in other worlds are mostly caused by weak laws and infra. Happy Days!

[@AlexFlodder]

The plus side of using trees to separate motorized and cyclists is that it looks nice and most importantly, it slows down cars, sometimes suddenly.

[@safe-keeper1042]

Norway has a zero-vision, too. We have people who strongly dislike our speed limits, but they're based on statistics and safety, and they make a difference -- no children died in Norwegian traffic last year.

[@randar1969]

It takes a while, to get an infrastructure like this. Took us 40 years to get this far and there is always room for improvement. But once you have it everyone will agree it's better even the car owners.

[@robertm3951]

Speed limits are much slower. Car owners would complain

[@therealdutchidiot]

@@robertm3951 As it is, effective speed limits in the US are even lower than that because of congestion.

[@GregStew]

Fantastic!!😃

[@andrejz2468]

Incredibly generous. Cyclists across the world look up to you!

[@pawntune]

You would need wealthy bike lobbyists to rival car company lobbyists and/or legitimate city and state governance to affect reasonable changes for the betterment of the lives of humans here in the U.S. and that's very hard when they not only attack from the governance, but the culture, making a lot of people think they need things that are more harm to them than good. It is a problem that only encouraging the acquisition of knowledge can hope to help mend.

[@marcg.3333]

You could focus on making drivers into riders. Then car lobbyists will become bike lobbyist as well. It will never work if you have one battling the other. (I think) It's not a matter of either or, but both. Both motorists and bicyclists will need to benefit. I know it's easier said then done, I understand you point.

[@TANMAN9095]

usa is a shithole country, the only solution is to migrate to a non shithole country.

[@energyideas]

Thank you!

[@donaldasayers]

All the examples shown had huge wide streets. London, to take an example does not have the room for the functional separation, let alone proper bicycle lanes as well. The UK is doing, painfully slowly, a lot of these things, 25mph limits in local roads, traffic calming etc.

[@mistrants2745]

this same argument goes for the dutch, whose cities are as densely packed with equally narrow streets. Yet they have made it work. It isnt easy but it can be done.

[@norasmith4939]

Loved seeing Utrecht in this video

[@niekkie555]

And a tiny bit of Amersfoort 😁😁 I never see Amersfoort in videos

[@Holland1994D]

The speeds are not right. The standard highway speed is 81 MPH, not 70MPH.

[@pauldickhoff3594]

Not anymore.

[@SashaShubin]

👍

[@JayceeR]

ALL THE GOVERNMENTS OUTSIDE EUROPE NEEDS TO SEE THIS VIDEO!!!

[@MrSafer]

after watching this i looked out my window at a 2 lane road with 50mph speed limit both ways. Gotta have mah freeduhms.

[@danutatokarska7428]

Bardzo ciekawy filmik

[@Zefine]

6mph = 10km/h; 20mph = 32km/h; 25mph = 40km/h; 30mph = 48km/h; 40mph = 65km/h; 70mph = 113km/h Hope this helps someone watching this and getting as confused as me with all this miles per hour stuff.

[@PendelSteven]

in principal this means 20 mph = 30 km/h, 30 mph = 50 km/h, 40 mph erm... I think we normalise that as 60 km/h and finally the big one... 70 mph should be normalised as 110 km/h in the Netherlands, but is 100 km/h from 6 to 19 CET (yay!), but 130 km/h from 19 to 6 (WHAT?!?). That's more than 80 mph at night. Sigh.

[@manuelvasquez5769]

Exelente e interesante estudio de mobilidad en la.Ciudad y que puede y debiese de ser aplicado en cualquier país.💪❤😌🚲🚲🚲

[@SwingyMikey]

The U.S will never implement systematic safety or really try and rebuild the cities due to just the car culture here. It's a shame really that the cities (most with exceptions) here are essentially 100% car dependent. I love taking my bike and the bus where I need to go but it is just unsustainable and completely unsafe. Even when biking on the sidewalk I feel like I might end up dying due to how people drive here

[@scully0105]

Use metric measurements for the Target Speed, 20 km/hr, 50 km/h etc....