The bikes you saw are all actually locked! In the Netherlands most people don't use a chain lock, but rather a kind of frame lock that is attached to the bike itself. The lock works by pushing a pin through the spokes of your back wheel, making it so that the back wheel can't spin anymore. So while you could technically just lift the back wheel and walk away, it does make stealing the bike a bit more difficult. We have a saying that's basically like "you don't need to make your bike the hardest to steal, it just shouldn't be the easiest". In bigger cities or busier areas people tend to also use a chain lock and attach the frame of their bike to a pole or something (so the bike is even more difficult to steal), but not in smaller areas.
@@DrivingSchoolTV One small addition to that: we all use that frame lock and if you live in one of the larger cities, you'll certainly also have a chain lock. Otherwise your bike will be gone, either in a canal or in someones backyard.
@@DrivingSchoolTV Really enjoyed this! There's this YT channel called "not just bikes", which has vids about dutch infrastucture & bikes (and how they're used). I highly recommend watching some of that.
Student trick to avoid stealing: paint your bike in bright colours. Makes it easier to spot and harder to sell. Mine used to be painted in national colours.
@@DrivingSchoolTVin bigger cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht they try to get parked bikes from the big squares by offering free parking in bike garages
A lot of drivers in the Netherlands are also cyclists, so they know how to interact with cyclists when driving. Instead of renting a car there, rent a bike...
0:49 Cyclists don’t have priority everywhere. They follow “the rules of the road” but contrary to elsewhere, there rules of the road in the NL aren’t made solely for cars.
They sort of don't but they also sort of do. On non-signaled intersections in urban areas, priority for cyclists is the default policy according to Dutch traffic design rules (though they are not implemented universally, and especially older areas sometimes don't follow this rule yet), and perhaps more importantly, in a collision between a driver and a cyclist, the driver is automatically assumed to be at fault unless there's reason to believe otherwise (which is different from how it works in many other places). So in a literal sense, cyclists don't have priority everywhere, but in a practical sense they more or less do.
Not Just Bikes can give you a good insight of our road network particular about cycling. He's a Canadian that moved here and fell in love with the infrastructure and my country as a whole.
The red circle with nothing in it at 4:50 means about the same in the Netherlands as it does in the UK. In this specific case, the bit of road it's next to has a contra-flow bus lane but no other vehicles are allowed to go in from that direction.
Small addition: it says "uitgezonderd lijnbussen" underneath it, which means no vehicles may enter except buses. So the sign is the same as it is in the uk, but the exceptions are written in Dutch
The thing that makes Eindhoven a good city to test this is that it's probably the most English-looking city we have. It grew during the industrial revolution to a lot of the expansion from that era uses rowhouses with no front yard and on street parking, as well as neighborhoods modeled after garden cities. The Rondweg is a dual carriageway that still has some outdated intersection designs like multilane roundabouts - common in the UK, rare in the Netherlands. Cycling routes follow the main roads, with very few "fast routes" - only a few underpasses and no exclusive bike routes, it's a big loop. From my own limited experience with traeling around there, it is still a very car heavy city. People often point to Amsterdam, Utrecht or Groningen and say "we can't do that in the UK" and they're right. They can't. The Dutch cycle infrastructure is a process of over fifty years, it shouldn't be implemented overnight, because the culture won't shift overnight with it. Dutch roads are very micromanaged and Eindhoven still is a city in transition. It's kinder to cars than many other cities in the Netherlands (don't get me started on Nijmegen). Eindhoven is a good place to look for inspiration for gradual changes.
Come to Groningen to experience the result of "het verkeerscirculatieplan" and get an bike to experience "alle fietsen tegelijk groen. Our previous Prime Minister cycled to work often, I don't see Keir Starter or Rishi Sunak bike to work
Yeah, was hoping someone would say this. Eindhoven is definitely behind on a lot of other cities road infrastructure wise. It does feel like one of the most car centric cities I've been to in The Netherlands. They are doing a lot to modernize right now, and some plans that are coming up would allow the Rondweg to be updated finally. At the current moment, there is too much traffic on the road, which means the capacity of the safer designs is too low. This mainly caused because you go fully around Eindhoven on motorways only, so a lot of people drive through the city unnecessarily.
Curious to know when you last experienced Eindhoven. The improvement in cycling infrastructure over the last 6-10 years has been phenomenal. There are definitely cycle only routes now and fast routes.
the best thing about Eindhoven and the Netherlands is actually that you don't need to drive a car!! it's often faster to move around with the combo public transport + bike, even more enjoyable than car riding imo :))
if you want to learn more about why this is also so beneficial for people that need to drive (usually these are the people that are prioritized here), I recommend the channel not just bikes, he explains very well how most things here work!!
One thing, when driving and making a turn ALWAYS look over your shoulder to check the blind spot. This is hammered into you when learning to drive in NL
Living in Eindhoven and actually being a driving instructor myself here, I can assure you it's not always the way you showed it in your video. Though our road system is definitely better than it is in most countries, we've got our own set of troubles. Mainly, there's just simply too much traffic in any shape or form within our city center. If you'd be driving in the area you were at around the 5-minute mark in your video at either around 8:30 AM or 5:00 PM on a business day; you'd be shocked how different it looks.
4:50 In the netherlands that also means no vehicles can enter. This one was specifically for the roads on the left side of the sign. Under it was a white sign that said except for busses (specifically public transport ones). That road was for busses only, no other vehicles allowed.
The Netherlands has the most bicycles since the 1920's and people just kept cycling while government was trying to turn the country into a network of highways and parking lots. If the Dutch had waited on good cycling infrastructure to cycle they wouldn't have gotten it. Government was following, not leading.
@@jannetteberends8730 Yes, but there were streets and crossings to avoid cycling to primary school, and to get to high school we all had to take a detour to the back of the school too instead of crossing a road, with cycle lanes, to the front entrance. The already existing service roads/ventwegen, ironically the product of building roads for cars next to small existing roads, did indeed help as well as the many cycle paths build privately (ANWB) for recreation and the paths besides the canals for the horsed that pulled the tow boat. But most was 30km streets cycling between the cars, cycle lanes are actually beneficial to cars in the sense that they can do their own speed in a more orderly piece of the road/street.
@@DenUitvreter agreed. In the cities the situation was often worse than between cities. But one of the things foreigners are amazed about, is that the cycle paths continue in rural areas. My point is that part of it was already there. If I remember correctly, the ENWB, in the early years, was often focused on just the things you mentioned. The discontinuities in cycle routes.
Hey Francis, I am just back from my exam and I have passed it first time with only 4 minors. I haven't had any driving lessons with instructors, but I have driven around 500 miles with my parents and watched ALL your videos. You're an absolute ace man, keep going!
The red circle sign is the same in NL as it is in UK. But there is an extra sign below it stating that it is a dedicated bus/taxi lane. Another example of splitting traffic modes from eachother. Btw emergency vehicles can use any lane they want when they are using lights+ siren. Nice to see you exploring my home town. PSV-city! Soon also to be ASML-city.
I remember that vid haha. I dunno how practical tests are conducted there (even though I was born in Zeist lol) but you showed great intuition in choosing lanes and your positioning, despite the shit signs and markings we have in the UK😂 So yeah well done!
We do, always, lock our bikes with the back wheel lock, and if we dont, they WILL be stolen in under 5 minutes. More expensive bikes are chained up in addition to the back wheel lock.
Love to hear you like the traffic arrangement. Some things are not as good as you might think at the first glance. Don't assume your bike will not be nicked when leaving it unlocked. Certainly more expensive models are recommende to be locked with a normal bike lock and a chain to fix it to a pole. 🚴
Then you have to go to Almere city. Almere is a city with 230,000 inhabitants and was created in the 80s from the drained inland sea. It is a bit like the Milton Keynes of the Netherlands. Because Almere is a new city, pedestrians, cyclists, car traffic and public transport are strictly separated from each other. It is even the case that during driving tests, driving is not done in Almere because the city is so safe.
As a Dutchman I never thought I'd ever hear someone be so enthusiastic about driving around in Eindhoven. Makes me appreciate what we have a lot more, thank you :)
It's infuriating to see drivers complain about how road design like this would make driving worse and they just have no idea how much better it actually is. It doesn't just make everyone else safer, it genuinely makes actually driving nicer.
No we use locks on the bike, but there is a simple easy lock for quickly going into a shop, if you leave your bike for a longer time and over night we use big chains too.
About the bike locking: most people *do* lock their bikes, though often only with a wheel lock, and many bikes have combo locks where you open the wheel lock and an optional chain lock with the same key on the same 'base unit'. And unless you have a fancy bike, theft is much less of an issue when a 'new' second-hand bike can easily be found for anywhere between 50 and 300 EUR.
I'm from Eindhoven and I can show you a few absolute deathtraps for both cars and bikes but by and large the infrastructure is quite okay here nowadays. Thanks for visiting, hope you had fun!
I just saw in a English newspaper a picture of a new roundabout, unbelievable. So unnecessarily complicated. I really don’t understand why people don’t look at countries who do it properly. The same for bike lanes. If you do it the right way it works.
He that is where I worked! That deep purple sign at 3:48 was about a month ago hahaha I probably have footage from my dashcam on the same day hahahs You should have tried a bicycle as well, to have first hand experience how it is like: all Dutch drivers are also cyclists after all :)
The ammount of research that goes into Dutch infrastructure design is second to none and it is always changing taking onboard new lessons as we go. Quite often when I see footage from other places or am there to vissit I am just shocked at how bad things are, seems like a lot of places just do not care and because of that the number of accidents is much higher. Granted it aint perfect here, but that is why we keep updating the regulations as we learn a street last done in the 90s is a lot different from one done today.
Just imagine all these cyclists suddenly taking a car instead. What a shitshow that would be. That's why it's important for a nice car-driving experience to invest in car-alternatives. The more people that ride a bike, the more space for you and your car. Also, say hi to the people at the Pink for me.
Shot of an intersection with traffic lights and office buildings: "Look at how nice it is here" I think that's the first time that intersection got a compliment quite like that :P
As a Dutch citizen born and raised and having taken a ferry to Harwich with my own car and driven around the Windsor area for a few days: the UK is a garbled mess, tiny narrow streets, lots of street parking to block traffic flow, the roundabouts are awfull (4 or 5 lanes sometimes without lines!), roadmarkings everywhere are a mess, road surface is horrid, cyclists on the same road as cars, a 1000 things to have to watch out for which is just a recipe for accidents. Driving on the wrong side of the road in the UK was actually the easiest of all to get used to.
That road system is hard work. When a road needs to be renewed, the design is updated as well. Meaning, if the bicycle path is to small, the whole road is redesigned to make it saver. It’s work in progress, but when it’s done it works.
All children in the Netherlands in elementary school follow mandatory bicycle driving lessons followed by taking an official practical examination to prove they’ve absorbed the theoretical rules and are able to travel safely by bicycle. All car drivers have had this bicycle training course when they were in school as well and most drivers use a bicycle for trips in town/the city ,as it is oftentimes quicker, cheaper and much more fun than driving in heavy traffic congestion and having to look for a (expensive) parking spot.
This is not true. It's not mandatory. And children get traffic lessons at school about all kinds of traffic, not bicycling lessons. That's what parents are for. Also not all schools engage in the NOT mandatory bicycling exams.
Nop!Not all car drivers had this training on school.I have had the training off driving a car in something like 1980 or so.Then all this now wasn't there!The car was the king in those days.
All those bikes are locked, we just dont always use chain locks, we use smaller locks that are attached to the bike. Plus people use their cheap 'city bike' to go to a store or the train station, we use the more expensive bikes for longer commutes.
Imagine, half the cars disappeared in London! The air will be much better, you will live longer, especially if you took a bike to work. Much less noise, getting around much faster (on your bike). Mayor for traffic in Copenhagen, was asked what it takes to make a bike city. He answered:"It takes guts". To the question on how to do it:"Just make it as easy for the bikes as possible. When people find out how much faster it is, they won't stop biking". 61% in Copenhagen, bikes to and from job/school each day. Imagine that in London!!!
As a Dutchman who's lived in a city centre, I don't think this mayor is being completely honest, this is the PR spiel. We're all believers in better infrastructure here, so we can say that amongst ourselves. 😉 There's also a component of "make it more difficult for cars" to it. No matter how willing people are, you'll always have to overcome ingrained thinking. People won't find out how much faster it is until you've driven them with whip and curses to try it. 😁 And when you've driven them to alternatives you've got to keep 'em there so there's still a lot of "active discouragement" going on, because "Induced Demand" has a flipside: The more cars you eliminate from the streets, the better you make it for the ones that are still left.
@@bramharms72 I am not sure what your point is, but Copenhagen have build 6 new bike and pedestrian bridges over the harbour. When first and second bridge was build, they both became congested, so more bridges has to be built. The bridges made it so easy and fast for the people to reach job/school, that even more started biking. As he said:"make it as easy for the bikes as possible".
@@Blackadder75 imagine how congested the dutch cities would be if we were like other countries when everyone would sit in his/her car? The bike infrastructure works. Its simple as that. As a side benefit its more healthy to do and there is less noise outside and less polution. Dont get me wrong. My wife and I both have a car. I use it almost every day and there is a place for both ways of transport, but I absolutely am in favour of good bike infrastructure and good public transport.
Not new to me, I pay a lot of tax for all that maintenance and cleaning, but I do I have to say it always makes me proud everything is clean and working and you notice it immediatly when driving into the netherlands
The thing about dutch roads (including bike paths) is that from the design point they are made so you can't make mistakes and if you DO make a mistake that those mistakes aren't as severe as they would be in other places. The roads themself force you to drive a certain way, which is the way that they want you to drive on such roads.
Little surprise for drivers around the world: more alternatives to cars means less cars on the road, which means less congestion and means nicer driving experience. You definitely need to try cycling in the Netherlands as well. Especially if you can find someone who can guide you a bit with some tips: like get an rented e-bike.
I have lived here for 37 years and just accept things as they are, which is generally great. I cycle and drive. Sometimes bikes and cars to share the same road and it is not always a good experience if you are on a bike. On the highway, you will often find those middle lane drivers refusing to stay right in the 'slow' lane. But generally you are right it is a very safe place, but alays lock your bike, it will be gone in less than 5 minutes!
The Netherlands is building the cycling infrastructure for 50 years now. Busy four lane streets are transformed into two lane streets with two cycling paths. Wide roads are optically made narrower to reduce the speed of the cars and give space for cyclists. As you noticed driving to a Dutch city is quite easy and the roads are not packed with cars as London is. Cycling is often the fastest way of transport within a town and a good cycling infrastructure make it safe, encouraging people to use a bicycle instead of a car. Parking a bike is much easier (and cheaper) than parking a car. On one parking space for a car you can park 8 to 10 bicycles! On the road (driving/riding) a car takes the same space as six bicycles! So each person who takes a bicycle instead of the care makes more space available. If in Londen a quarter to one third of the people leaves the car and takes a (electric) bicycle, the roads would look completely different. The traffic yams would almost disappear, streets are less noisy and the air quality will improve. As a bonus everyone will reach his or her destination quicker. The Netherlands has the advantage of being very flat. In hilly cities cycling is much harder, but now there are electric bicycles. The electric bicycles makes it possible to follow the Dutch example of cycling infrastructure in every city. Road design has become kind of an art. Starting from measuring the traffic flow. Creating routes for different kinds of traffic and encouraging people to take a bicycle instead of a car for short trips (6 km or 4 miles). Making bicycle routes shorter and car routes a bit longer helps. Copying the Dutch infrastructure won't work. That is the result of 50 years, with two or three iterations on most places.
My mom had an old Nissan Micra. We got hit with an electric tram and pushed 15 meters into a pole and both me and my mom stayed safe. That thing was tiny and saved our lives vs a massive tram. Completely totalled, of course. But did exactly when it was meant to do: Drove well for the better part of a decade and kept us safe.
A reason we dont have segregated cycle lanes all over London is because the mayor doesn't have control of all the roads. The painted lanes or batons are the cheapest option, and some councils won't get behind, increasing the network in ways which see gaps between the cycle highways. Pedestrianised Oxford is a fine example having been rejected by Westminster Council since Ken Livingstone was Mayor.
Eindhoven looks like quite an average Dutch city in this regard. Great first experience! If you're ever back just to drive around, try Arnhem. That place suuuucks to drive through. It's not massive and discouraging of cars like Amsterdam, it's a city stuck in the 70's
Funny how the algorithem works sometimes. I live in in Eindhoven, and I have to say that yes, there are many great and safe bicycle paths and highways, but threre are still exeptions. For the longest time, a small part of the Eindhovenseweg: a major road between Best and the city centre of Eindhoven, was a 2/2 50km/h four lane road with narrow cycle strips. Recently it has been upgrated to 1/1 for cars, and 1/1 for cyclists on both sides of the street each protected be a wide median.
I'm an American now living EINDHOVEN and there are more one on one bicycle accidents, my ex landlord was one of these cyclist that was in one of these accidents, he ended up with broken ribs and punctured lung and a twisted leg, he ended up tangling with a cyclist coming from the other direction, another friend crashed and ended up with a broken collar bone and my son got hit by a car that went through a red light while making a right hand turn, he faired pretty well but his bike was a total lost. I myself tangled with a police car while I was on the bicycle lane, one day I was heading home, while riding in a designated bicycle lane without any notice a police car driving in the bicycle came blowing me thus making me crash into some bushes, I guess he was responding to a call and there was a line of cars blocking his path, so I guess he decided to use the bicycle lane. One thing to note, one of the biggest problems that cyclist will have and that will be with young kids and their FAT BIKES and scooters, they will come blowing right by you without any consideration of the other users of the bike lanes, they will drive them as like that they will own the bike lanes, concerning the FAT BIKE situation the Netherlands are now drawing up new laws for the use of FAT BIKEs which are greatly needed. On the other hand, EINDHOVEN is currently dealing with being over crowded with bicycles and bicycle users, I had some conversation with several members here who are from a bicycle advocacy group, they were telling me that they are concerned about the bicycle problems that we are already having here in EINDHOVEN, I then mentioned and all of the new construction that has been happening and with the building of more flats and Apartments which is in the thousands upon thousands more, you'll be also be in need for dealing with the extra bicycles that will be using up more space on the bicycle lanes here in EINDHOVEN, not only that there will be lots and lots of EX PATS arriving as well to live in these new buildings and I hate to say many of them will be driving cars as well, perhaps more so than riding a bicycle, one of them looked at me while scratching his head and said we are talking about our current problems. For me this is a no brainer mostly due to this area as being BRAIN PORT PARK the High Tech region of the Netherlands that also includes ASML, 75% of the EX PATS that I will speak with will work for ASML. End game, growing pains.
That’s actually so interesting to hear it’s not at all a perfect system. It looks a lot better than what we have but i guess it’s never going to be perfect
Says: road not big enough for 2 cars, whilst 2 cars easily pass eachother on a road that is fit for 2 semi-trucks. Your allowed to drive on the bike part of the road. But keep in mind bikes have the right of way on their road.
Gotta show this to Doug Ford in Ontario, Canada, who's provincial government in an effort to combat car congestion, will be passing legislation that will mandate bicycle lanes (a municipal responsibility) that take away car lanes be evaluated at a provincial level.
Yeah all nice and great on them flat roads, but when you have cycling being encouraged in places like sheffield where cyclists struggle to even get up hills and cars are parked on both sides of the road it gets tricky. Cycling in the UK simply can't work because there is too much already developed with residential housing in commercial areas and you can't knock those down. It just wouldn't work.
People in other countries only think of those sports types that only cycle for recreation, when they hear “cyclists”. They don’t realise that the bike can also be used as a form of transportation. Which is why you get NIMBYs against cycle lanes and separated bike paths, like in those posh neighbourhoods in London. We also have those wannabe Tour De France riders, who can be a nuisance, but most bike users here are just going to work, or the shops, or the bar and then later home again.
One fact that's very important is that, according to the Dutch traffic code, in an accident between a cyclist and a car, the driver of the car is always in the wrong and liable for damages. Even if the cyclist was recklessly driving. So beware of that while dring in The Netherlands.
It’s a legal assumption that the driver of the motorised vehicle is at least liable for 50% of the damages of the other person. However this assumption can be negated in a situation where the driver can show “force majeur” or wilful intent/serious recklessness on the side of the other person.
The problem in the uk as most people dont cycle they temd to not understand what to do. Last year in Geneva when i noticed they had velo parks and thought how much space it safed over having cars
@@DrivingSchoolTV it's hard to say a favourite. Geneva definitely felt the safest. Where milan was stunning but head on the swivel. Thailand is extreme poverty or extreme rich next door. Italy is stunning and can be done cheaply I'm off to lake como today to cycle and watch a pro race. I'm definitely not fit only done 3 weeks training. Saying that having a bike or licence opens up so many places and you don't need to stay in the tourist places. Getting a licence is about experiences you make
Next time you could rent a bike to truly experience traffic in the Netherlands. Unfortunately a two party first past the post systems prevents decent infrastructure, no long term planning and implementing a decent traffic system. Therefor I doubt you will ever see something similar at home. Best regards.
Next time you can also try some walking and experience the truly threatening behaviour of cyclists towards pedestrians. I totally agree with your opinion on the current British system of democracy: it is almost by design guaranteed to increase polarisation. And as a result it decreases the success-rate of long term investments, like infrastructure. They should get rid of it.
The round sign with the red border and white in the middle means the same. But it was for the bus lane that is on the left of you. The little white sign underneath it probably says ‘uitgezonderd bussen’ which means except buses. The thing I hate most is that other people, foreigners, say that we are so dumb by not wearing helmets. And now that I watch more video's about cycling in other countries, I can understand that thought. Yes, of course it is better to wear a helmet. But our cycling culture is so different to countries where other roadusers aren't used to cyclists. I believe you put up a newspaperarticle about people who died cycling in one year, which was over 400 I believe. (I rewatched that bit and now I see that it is over 3 years. Our numbers are higher in those 3 years, but still, we cycle more) In 2022, 291 people were killed while riding a bicycle here. Still too much, but if you compare how much we cycle versus the numbers in Great Britain, it is pretty good. I'm still very curious about driving in London. Might come over in the spring to experience that :)
Ah thank you! I thought I was driving through a no vehicles section but everyone else was doing it so i carried on! It totally makes more sense to jump on a bike and not wear a helmet over there. If your road isn't shared by cars you're not going to get hit by cars. it's so genius! You should definitely come to london for the experience you'll appreciate netherlands so much more haha
i did a quick search and an official UK site says that in the last years the average amount of cycling was (roughly) 4.7 billion miles. in The Netherlands the latest number is 15 billion km. so to make the numbers fare that's 7.5 billion km for the UK and 15 billion for The Netherlands. but the UK population is 70 million people, while The Netherlands has 18 million. so if we account for that difference. 70 / 18 = 3.9. so we multiply the amount of km cycled in The Netherlands by that factor, 15 x 3.9 = 58.5 billion km cycled. so if we make up for the population difference people in The Netherlands cycle about 12 times as much/far as their UK counterparts. so by taking theses numbers in account it's obvious there are going to be more people getting hurt (and even die) while cycling in The Netherlands. but if you divide those accidents by the amount that is cycled The Netherlands is way people on a bicycle.
In the Netherlands, cyclists and pedestrians have the right of first refusal, which means that if an accident occurs between a cyclist and a car, the car is always guilty until proven otherwise, so as a driver you are extra attentive to pedestrians/cyclists.
Slightly different: In case of an accident between a bike and a car, the car driver is, not depending on who caused the accident, always at least 50 % liable for the damages to the 'weaker' cyclist unless he can prove extreme carelessness or intent.
It's actually trifold. The burden of proof is on the car driver. He has to prove the cyclist was exceptionally in the wrong, as operator of the far more dangerous contraption he has to anticipate erratic, immature and even drunk cycling. If he proves all that he's still at least 50% liable as it his choice of vehicle that causes most of the damage. Two cyclists colliding usually doesn't cause much damage.
My dad was a police officer. In his many years of work he recalled only one incident where the car driver got of without the blame. The bicycle driver, drunk as a skunk, fell off a motorway overpass and landed in front of the car. Had the car been there seconds later, it would have been the car’s fault. The logic being the driver would have had enough time to swerve or brake given the local conditions and speed limit.
0:51 no they don't. Cyclists most definitely do not have priority everywhere, even in the Netherlands. That even a driving instructor has this misconception, granted a British one, is kind of worrying. Cyclists have priority often on smaller roads and streets. But the Dutch use a clear road hierarchy, and on roads designed for motorised traffic like ring roads, feeder roads etc, and even most major roads for cars in cities. cyclists most definitely do not always have priority. More often than not they actually don't on those roads...
All of Europe drives on the right side of the road. In Europe only the English drive on the left side of the road. WHO NOW DRIVES ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. There are countries in Europe that used to drive on the left side of the road. But because driving on the right is safer, they switched.
Bikes are never left unchained, at least not is they are expensive. In general, Dutch car drives behave like they should and give precedence to cyclists.Next time, go on bike, you will love it.
Comparing Eindhoven traffic with London traffic 😂. Get a ticket to Schiphol, rent a car and try to keep alive while reaching the centre of Amsterdam. You will encounter organised utter chaos and bicyclists that have only one right in their mind…right of way.
Bytheway, you drive on the wrong side of the road, if crowds walk up to eachother and crowd study’s prove that, humans move automatically to the right, driving on the left side is against the nature of the vast majority of people on this planet, the reason only a few country’s, I think all former British colony’s drive on the wrong side of the road
Next time when you drive in the Netherlands please don't leave a gap when driving on green light as almost everywhere the light will change to red when detecting 'light' traffic. (little cars driving trough the green light) . I garantee there were drivers behind you who were swearing at you.. Our lights change fast to keep everybody going
2:50 Sorry mate but you couldn't be any further from the truth i live in Eihdnove and i commute through that rode your passing through at that time frame daily and the speed limit there is 80km and if you're in a bit of a rush and you wanna go a 100 or more there are always someone camping in the overtaking lane or believes he's serving you road justice no matter how much you're in a rush. The only way they move out of the way if they're being forced by someone with road rage issue or being overtaken from the right side. i've even had situations where the road there is pretty empty so i go 100-120km/h and the police pass me with 140km/h or they flash someone to move out of the overtaking lane when it's busy. So dutch people in general are notorious for driving on the fast/overtaking lane.
The bikes you saw are all actually locked! In the Netherlands most people don't use a chain lock, but rather a kind of frame lock that is attached to the bike itself. The lock works by pushing a pin through the spokes of your back wheel, making it so that the back wheel can't spin anymore. So while you could technically just lift the back wheel and walk away, it does make stealing the bike a bit more difficult.
We have a saying that's basically like "you don't need to make your bike the hardest to steal, it just shouldn't be the easiest". In bigger cities or busier areas people tend to also use a chain lock and attach the frame of their bike to a pole or something (so the bike is even more difficult to steal), but not in smaller areas.
Ah no way I had no idea! Thank you!!
@@DrivingSchoolTV One small addition to that: we all use that frame lock and if you live in one of the larger cities, you'll certainly also have a chain lock. Otherwise your bike will be gone, either in a canal or in someones backyard.
@@DrivingSchoolTV Really enjoyed this! There's this YT channel called "not just bikes", which has vids about dutch infrastucture & bikes (and how they're used). I highly recommend watching some of that.
Student trick to avoid stealing: paint your bike in bright colours. Makes it easier to spot and harder to sell. Mine used to be painted in national colours.
@@DrivingSchoolTVin bigger cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht they try to get parked bikes from the big squares by offering free parking in bike garages
A lot of drivers in the Netherlands are also cyclists, so they know how to interact with cyclists when driving.
Instead of renting a car there, rent a bike...
In stead of flying here, try taking the train.
@@Roeplala ...or swim.
@@mourlyvold64 Really??🤣
@@jooproos6559 Kom op, Joop. Ben je nou een jonge god of niet?
@@mourlyvold64 Ik word 0p 23 oktober 76 jaar.Dus die tijd heb ik gehad..
0:49 Cyclists don’t have priority everywhere. They follow “the rules of the road” but contrary to elsewhere, there rules of the road in the NL aren’t made solely for cars.
They *mostly* follow the rules of the road 😂
They sort of don't but they also sort of do. On non-signaled intersections in urban areas, priority for cyclists is the default policy according to Dutch traffic design rules (though they are not implemented universally, and especially older areas sometimes don't follow this rule yet), and perhaps more importantly, in a collision between a driver and a cyclist, the driver is automatically assumed to be at fault unless there's reason to believe otherwise (which is different from how it works in many other places). So in a literal sense, cyclists don't have priority everywhere, but in a practical sense they more or less do.
Not Just Bikes can give you a good insight of our road network particular about cycling. He's a Canadian that moved here and fell in love with the infrastructure and my country as a whole.
The red circle with nothing in it at 4:50 means about the same in the Netherlands as it does in the UK. In this specific case, the bit of road it's next to has a contra-flow bus lane but no other vehicles are allowed to go in from that direction.
To add to that: in general, signs to your left are meant for you only if the same sign is also on the right side of the lane/road.
Small addition: it says "uitgezonderd lijnbussen" underneath it, which means no vehicles may enter except buses. So the sign is the same as it is in the uk, but the exceptions are written in Dutch
@@zmooc except.. forbidden to turn sign number F7, that must be placed on your left side.
@@dikkiedik53 Didn't know that but obviously makes sense. Thanks!
The thing that makes Eindhoven a good city to test this is that it's probably the most English-looking city we have. It grew during the industrial revolution to a lot of the expansion from that era uses rowhouses with no front yard and on street parking, as well as neighborhoods modeled after garden cities. The Rondweg is a dual carriageway that still has some outdated intersection designs like multilane roundabouts - common in the UK, rare in the Netherlands. Cycling routes follow the main roads, with very few "fast routes" - only a few underpasses and no exclusive bike routes, it's a big loop. From my own limited experience with traeling around there, it is still a very car heavy city.
People often point to Amsterdam, Utrecht or Groningen and say "we can't do that in the UK" and they're right. They can't. The Dutch cycle infrastructure is a process of over fifty years, it shouldn't be implemented overnight, because the culture won't shift overnight with it. Dutch roads are very micromanaged and Eindhoven still is a city in transition. It's kinder to cars than many other cities in the Netherlands (don't get me started on Nijmegen). Eindhoven is a good place to look for inspiration for gradual changes.
Thumbs up for the flag
Come to Groningen to experience the result of "het verkeerscirculatieplan" and get an bike to experience "alle fietsen tegelijk groen.
Our previous Prime Minister cycled to work often, I don't see Keir Starter or Rishi Sunak bike to work
Yeah, was hoping someone would say this. Eindhoven is definitely behind on a lot of other cities road infrastructure wise. It does feel like one of the most car centric cities I've been to in The Netherlands. They are doing a lot to modernize right now, and some plans that are coming up would allow the Rondweg to be updated finally. At the current moment, there is too much traffic on the road, which means the capacity of the safer designs is too low. This mainly caused because you go fully around Eindhoven on motorways only, so a lot of people drive through the city unnecessarily.
Curious to know when you last experienced Eindhoven. The improvement in cycling infrastructure over the last 6-10 years has been phenomenal. There are definitely cycle only routes now and fast routes.
Waarom zie ik jou overal?????
the best thing about Eindhoven and the Netherlands is actually that you don't need to drive a car!! it's often faster to move around with the combo public transport + bike, even more enjoyable than car riding imo :))
if you want to learn more about why this is also so beneficial for people that need to drive (usually these are the people that are prioritized here), I recommend the channel not just bikes, he explains very well how most things here work!!
Well not of you live in small villages like me in Limburg. . Public transport is next to nothing
only in the randstad, the rest of the Netherlands the car is still faster , let's not spread false propaganda
@@Blackadder75 Even in the randstad, for me its 15min to work by car 1h15m by bike or public transport.
True. Bike routes are often shorter.
One thing, when driving and making a turn ALWAYS look over your shoulder to check the blind spot. This is hammered into you when learning to drive in NL
Living in Eindhoven and actually being a driving instructor myself here, I can assure you it's not always the way you showed it in your video. Though our road system is definitely better than it is in most countries, we've got our own set of troubles. Mainly, there's just simply too much traffic in any shape or form within our city center. If you'd be driving in the area you were at around the 5-minute mark in your video at either around 8:30 AM or 5:00 PM on a business day; you'd be shocked how different it looks.
4:50 In the netherlands that also means no vehicles can enter. This one was specifically for the roads on the left side of the sign. Under it was a white sign that said except for busses (specifically public transport ones). That road was for busses only, no other vehicles allowed.
The Netherlands has the most bicycles since the 1920's and people just kept cycling while government was trying to turn the country into a network of highways and parking lots. If the Dutch had waited on good cycling infrastructure to cycle they wouldn't have gotten it. Government was following, not leading.
They ran a successful campaign of awareness and civil disobedience following a number of tragic road deaths.
And eventually government listened.
A campaign called "stop de kindermoord" (Stop child murder) was the turning point. It steered us away from the car-centric aproach in the 60's
High school students biking to school also played a role, I think. There were already cycle paths and parallel roads (ventwegen) along busy roads.
@@jannetteberends8730 Yes, but there were streets and crossings to avoid cycling to primary school, and to get to high school we all had to take a detour to the back of the school too instead of crossing a road, with cycle lanes, to the front entrance.
The already existing service roads/ventwegen, ironically the product of building roads for cars next to small existing roads, did indeed help as well as the many cycle paths build privately (ANWB) for recreation and the paths besides the canals for the horsed that pulled the tow boat. But most was 30km streets cycling between the cars, cycle lanes are actually beneficial to cars in the sense that they can do their own speed in a more orderly piece of the road/street.
@@DenUitvreter agreed. In the cities the situation was often worse than between cities. But one of the things foreigners are amazed about, is that the cycle paths continue in rural areas. My point is that part of it was already there. If I remember correctly, the ENWB, in the early years, was often focused on just the things you mentioned. The discontinuities in cycle routes.
Hey Francis, I am just back from my exam and I have passed it first time with only 4 minors. I haven't had any driving lessons with instructors, but I have driven around 500 miles with my parents and watched ALL your videos. You're an absolute ace man, keep going!
Just binge Not Just Bikes. That'll keep you busy for a while.
The red circle sign is the same in NL as it is in UK. But there is an extra sign below it stating that it is a dedicated bus/taxi lane. Another example of splitting traffic modes from eachother. Btw emergency vehicles can use any lane they want when they are using lights+ siren.
Nice to see you exploring my home town. PSV-city! Soon also to be ASML-city.
Yessss!!! Love it! When I was driving in the UK with you it was something very different than what I'm used to😆
Haha hey Lisa! Now I’ve been on your roads I have no idea why you wanted to drive here 😂
@@DrivingSchoolTV Hahaha I think it’s just best to drive in all kind of circumstances 😂
I remember that vid haha. I dunno how practical tests are conducted there (even though I was born in Zeist lol) but you showed great intuition in choosing lanes and your positioning, despite the shit signs and markings we have in the UK😂
So yeah well done!
We do, always, lock our bikes with the back wheel lock, and if we dont, they WILL be stolen in under 5 minutes. More expensive bikes are chained up in addition to the back wheel lock.
Love to hear you like the traffic arrangement. Some things are not as good as you might think at the first glance. Don't assume your bike will not be nicked when leaving it unlocked. Certainly more expensive models are recommende to be locked with a normal bike lock and a chain to fix it to a pole. 🚴
We use ring locks a lot in NL. Lock attached to the rear of the bike and locking your rear wheel only. And maybe a second chain lock.
Even if you're driving on the wrong side, it's still the right side.
Het is worst en zonder "r" het is ook worst?
@@annoholicshema
Hardly any bikes, do the same trip in the morning or evening when people move home or to their job...
The schools, lol. We get 100 bike traffic jams here.
Waiting 2 turns on a traffic light....
6:10 we do lock our bikes, but most people dont use chain locks so theyre as visible from a distance. frame locks are more common.
Then you have to go to Almere city. Almere is a city with 230,000 inhabitants and was created in the 80s from the drained inland sea. It is a bit like the Milton Keynes of the Netherlands. Because Almere is a new city, pedestrians, cyclists, car traffic and public transport are strictly separated from each other. It is even the case that during driving tests, driving is not done in Almere because the city is so safe.
And its the most ugly city in the Netherlands LOL
Having been to the UK last summer I couldn't agree more... UK road layout/signage is a nightmare.
Thank you for the kind words about our road infrastructure!
If you don't drive on the right side only the wrong side 's left.
😊yes!
it's even called the RIGHT side.
As a Dutchman I never thought I'd ever hear someone be so enthusiastic about driving around in Eindhoven. Makes me appreciate what we have a lot more, thank you :)
It's infuriating to see drivers complain about how road design like this would make driving worse and they just have no idea how much better it actually is. It doesn't just make everyone else safer, it genuinely makes actually driving nicer.
I also drive around the world, but usually in Streetview and in Great Britain I find those zigzag lines everywhere very confusing...
No we use locks on the bike, but there is a simple easy lock for quickly going into a shop, if you leave your bike for a longer time and over night we use big chains too.
About the bike locking: most people *do* lock their bikes, though often only with a wheel lock, and many bikes have combo locks where you open the wheel lock and an optional chain lock with the same key on the same 'base unit'. And unless you have a fancy bike, theft is much less of an issue when a 'new' second-hand bike can easily be found for anywhere between 50 and 300 EUR.
I'm from Eindhoven and I can show you a few absolute deathtraps for both cars and bikes but by and large the infrastructure is quite okay here nowadays. Thanks for visiting, hope you had fun!
I just saw in a English newspaper a picture of a new roundabout, unbelievable. So unnecessarily complicated. I really don’t understand why people don’t look at countries who do it properly. The same for bike lanes. If you do it the right way it works.
He that is where I worked! That deep purple sign at 3:48 was about a month ago hahaha I probably have footage from my dashcam on the same day hahahs
You should have tried a bicycle as well, to have first hand experience how it is like: all Dutch drivers are also cyclists after all :)
Usually the slower you are, the more right of way you have in The Netherlands!
The ammount of research that goes into Dutch infrastructure design is second to none and it is always changing taking onboard new lessons as we go. Quite often when I see footage from other places or am there to vissit I am just shocked at how bad things are, seems like a lot of places just do not care and because of that the number of accidents is much higher. Granted it aint perfect here, but that is why we keep updating the regulations as we learn a street last done in the 90s is a lot different from one done today.
Funny to see your perspective. I live in Eindhoven and drive the roads shown in the video every day.
Just imagine all these cyclists suddenly taking a car instead. What a shitshow that would be. That's why it's important for a nice car-driving experience to invest in car-alternatives. The more people that ride a bike, the more space for you and your car.
Also, say hi to the people at the Pink for me.
You don't have to imagine. Just look at any British or American city. 😂
Shot of an intersection with traffic lights and office buildings:
"Look at how nice it is here"
I think that's the first time that intersection got a compliment quite like that :P
The Villa park in the middle of Eindhoven is nice. The rest is a bit meh.
As a Dutch citizen born and raised and having taken a ferry to Harwich with my own car and driven around the Windsor area for a few days: the UK is a garbled mess, tiny narrow streets, lots of street parking to block traffic flow, the roundabouts are awfull (4 or 5 lanes sometimes without lines!), roadmarkings everywhere are a mess, road surface is horrid, cyclists on the same road as cars, a 1000 things to have to watch out for which is just a recipe for accidents. Driving on the wrong side of the road in the UK was actually the easiest of all to get used to.
That road system is hard work. When a road needs to be renewed, the design is updated as well. Meaning, if the bicycle path is to small, the whole road is redesigned to make it saver. It’s work in progress, but when it’s done it works.
Its so weird to see someone driving and commenting on an area where you go all the time 😅 nice video!
All children in the Netherlands in elementary school follow mandatory bicycle driving lessons followed by taking an official practical examination to prove they’ve absorbed the theoretical rules and are able to travel safely by bicycle. All car drivers have had this bicycle training course when they were in school as well and most drivers use a bicycle for trips in town/the city ,as it is oftentimes quicker, cheaper and much more fun than driving in heavy traffic congestion and having to look for a (expensive) parking spot.
Those exams are the cutest! Love it when i see a bunch of 11 year olds doing their best in high-visibility jackets!!
This is not true. It's not mandatory. And children get traffic lessons at school about all kinds of traffic, not bicycling lessons. That's what parents are for. Also not all schools engage in the NOT mandatory bicycling exams.
Nop!Not all car drivers had this training on school.I have had the training off driving a car in something like 1980 or so.Then all this now wasn't there!The car was the king in those days.
All those bikes are locked, we just dont always use chain locks, we use smaller locks that are attached to the bike. Plus people use their cheap 'city bike' to go to a store or the train station, we use the more expensive bikes for longer commutes.
Imagine, half the cars disappeared in London! The air will be much better, you will live longer, especially if you took a bike to work. Much less noise, getting around much faster (on your bike).
Mayor for traffic in Copenhagen, was asked what it takes to make a bike city. He answered:"It takes guts". To the question on how to do it:"Just make it as easy for the bikes as possible. When people find out how much faster it is, they won't stop biking".
61% in Copenhagen, bikes to and from job/school each day. Imagine that in London!!!
As a Dutchman who's lived in a city centre, I don't think this mayor is being completely honest, this is the PR spiel. We're all believers in better infrastructure here, so we can say that amongst ourselves. 😉
There's also a component of "make it more difficult for cars" to it. No matter how willing people are, you'll always have to overcome ingrained thinking. People won't find out how much faster it is until you've driven them with whip and curses to try it. 😁
And when you've driven them to alternatives you've got to keep 'em there so there's still a lot of "active discouragement" going on, because "Induced Demand" has a flipside: The more cars you eliminate from the streets, the better you make it for the ones that are still left.
@@bramharms72 I am not sure what your point is, but Copenhagen have build 6 new bike and pedestrian bridges over the harbour. When first and second bridge was build, they both became congested, so more bridges has to be built. The bridges made it so easy and fast for the people to reach job/school, that even more started biking. As he said:"make it as easy for the bikes as possible".
@@bramharms72 and then it is October and it rains all week and look! 50% of them is back in the car
@@Blackadder75 imagine how congested the dutch cities would be if we were like other countries when everyone would sit in his/her car?
The bike infrastructure works. Its simple as that. As a side benefit its more healthy to do and there is less noise outside and less polution.
Dont get me wrong. My wife and I both have a car. I use it almost every day and there is a place for both ways of transport, but I absolutely am in favour of good bike infrastructure and good public transport.
@@Blackadder75 Even if true, that would still be 50% on bikes...
Not new to me, I pay a lot of tax for all that maintenance and cleaning, but I do I have to say it always makes me proud everything is clean and working and you notice it immediatly when driving into the netherlands
4:50 Here too it means No Entry. But the vandelised sighn underneath says tranlated to English: "scheduled buses allowed"
The thing about dutch roads (including bike paths) is that from the design point they are made so you can't make mistakes and if you DO make a mistake that those mistakes aren't as severe as they would be in other places. The roads themself force you to drive a certain way, which is the way that they want you to drive on such roads.
Little surprise for drivers around the world: more alternatives to cars means less cars on the road, which means less congestion and means nicer driving experience.
You definitely need to try cycling in the Netherlands as well. Especially if you can find someone who can guide you a bit with some tips: like get an rented e-bike.
For God's sake don't drive in the wrong side of the road. Drive in the right side like all the others
That was a buses line (Buslijn) which means regular cars can not go on it and is specifically for buses. There was a word on the road too there.
I have lived here for 37 years and just accept things as they are, which is generally great. I cycle and drive. Sometimes bikes and cars to share the same road and it is not always a good experience if you are on a bike. On the highway, you will often find those middle lane drivers refusing to stay right in the 'slow' lane. But generally you are right it is a very safe place, but alays lock your bike, it will be gone in less than 5 minutes!
I have one fundamental question for you. Why did you record all the film sitting behind the wheel? Can you ride a bike?
it's only a good idea ,the Netherlands has the best road structure ,in the the world !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Netherlands is building the cycling infrastructure for 50 years now. Busy four lane streets are transformed into two lane streets with two cycling paths. Wide roads are optically made narrower to reduce the speed of the cars and give space for cyclists. As you noticed driving to a Dutch city is quite easy and the roads are not packed with cars as London is. Cycling is often the fastest way of transport within a town and a good cycling infrastructure make it safe, encouraging people to use a bicycle instead of a car. Parking a bike is much easier (and cheaper) than parking a car. On one parking space for a car you can park 8 to 10 bicycles! On the road (driving/riding) a car takes the same space as six bicycles! So each person who takes a bicycle instead of the care makes more space available. If in Londen a quarter to one third of the people leaves the car and takes a (electric) bicycle, the roads would look completely different. The traffic yams would almost disappear, streets are less noisy and the air quality will improve. As a bonus everyone will reach his or her destination quicker.
The Netherlands has the advantage of being very flat. In hilly cities cycling is much harder, but now there are electric bicycles. The electric bicycles makes it possible to follow the Dutch example of cycling infrastructure in every city.
Road design has become kind of an art. Starting from measuring the traffic flow. Creating routes for different kinds of traffic and encouraging people to take a bicycle instead of a car for short trips (6 km or 4 miles). Making bicycle routes shorter and car routes a bit longer helps. Copying the Dutch infrastructure won't work. That is the result of 50 years, with two or three iterations on most places.
My mom had an old Nissan Micra. We got hit with an electric tram and pushed 15 meters into a pole and both me and my mom stayed safe. That thing was tiny and saved our lives vs a massive tram. Completely totalled, of course. But did exactly when it was meant to do: Drove well for the better part of a decade and kept us safe.
I life in Eindhoven (you drove almost next to mine house) and its most of the time way faster to go with the bike to work, shops, friends etcetera.
A reason we dont have segregated cycle lanes all over London is because the mayor doesn't have control of all the roads.
The painted lanes or batons are the cheapest option, and some councils won't get behind, increasing the network in ways which see gaps between the cycle highways. Pedestrianised Oxford is a fine example having been rejected by Westminster Council since Ken Livingstone was Mayor.
Eindhoven looks like quite an average Dutch city in this regard. Great first experience!
If you're ever back just to drive around, try Arnhem. That place suuuucks to drive through. It's not massive and discouraging of cars like Amsterdam, it's a city stuck in the 70's
Funny how the algorithem works sometimes. I live in in Eindhoven, and I have to say that yes, there are many great and safe bicycle paths and highways, but threre are still exeptions.
For the longest time, a small part of the Eindhovenseweg: a major road between Best and the city centre of Eindhoven, was a 2/2 50km/h four lane road with narrow cycle strips.
Recently it has been upgrated to 1/1 for cars, and 1/1 for cyclists on both sides of the street each protected be a wide median.
I love It ..Only they drive on the wrong side off the road.
Only GB does that.
😂😉
We use built in locks and some lock it with a cable for longer periodes. And most bikes arent the most expensive bikes.
our motor vehicle tax in the Netherlands is also very high, that's how we afford paying for those nice and well designed roads
We don't love cycling, we just like having alternatives to the car. Never think of us as cyclists, we are just taking the fastest and cheapest route.
@@vlinder0108 I get that, but I have no idea why you think it's you against me and that is exactly the problem I have with bike fans.
Its the other way around we deal with car users
I'm an American now living EINDHOVEN and there are more one on one bicycle accidents, my ex landlord was one of these cyclist that was in one of these accidents, he ended up with broken ribs and punctured lung and a twisted leg, he ended up tangling with a cyclist coming from the other direction, another friend crashed and ended up with a broken collar bone and my son got hit by a car that went through a red light while making a right hand turn, he faired pretty well but his bike was a total lost. I myself tangled with a police car while I was on the bicycle lane, one day I was heading home, while riding in a designated bicycle lane without any notice a police car driving in the bicycle came blowing me thus making me crash into some bushes, I guess he was responding to a call and there was a line of cars blocking his path, so I guess he decided to use the bicycle lane. One thing to note, one of the biggest problems that cyclist will have and that will be with young kids and their FAT BIKES and scooters, they will come blowing right by you without any consideration of the other users of the bike lanes, they will drive them as like that they will own the bike lanes, concerning the FAT BIKE situation the Netherlands are now drawing up new laws for the use of FAT BIKEs which are greatly needed.
On the other hand, EINDHOVEN is currently dealing with being over crowded with bicycles and bicycle users, I had some conversation with several members here who are from a bicycle advocacy group, they were telling me that they are concerned about the bicycle problems that we are already having here in EINDHOVEN, I then mentioned and all of the new construction that has been happening and with the building of more flats and Apartments which is in the thousands upon thousands more, you'll be also be in need for dealing with the extra bicycles that will be using up more space on the bicycle lanes here in EINDHOVEN, not only that there will be lots and lots of EX PATS arriving as well to live in these new buildings and I hate to say many of them will be driving cars as well, perhaps more so than riding a bicycle, one of them looked at me while scratching his head and said we are talking about our current problems. For me this is a no brainer mostly due to this area as being BRAIN PORT PARK the High Tech region of the Netherlands that also includes ASML, 75% of the EX PATS that I will speak with will work for ASML. End game, growing pains.
That’s actually so interesting to hear it’s not at all a perfect system. It looks a lot better than what we have but i guess it’s never going to be perfect
On which side of the road were you driving? Not on the left, so you were in the right and correct side of the road.
Says: road not big enough for 2 cars, whilst 2 cars easily pass eachother on a road that is fit for 2 semi-trucks.
Your allowed to drive on the bike part of the road. But keep in mind bikes have the right of way on their road.
Gotta show this to Doug Ford in Ontario, Canada, who's provincial government in an effort to combat car congestion, will be passing legislation that will mandate bicycle lanes (a municipal responsibility) that take away car lanes be evaluated at a provincial level.
Yeah all nice and great on them flat roads, but when you have cycling being encouraged in places like sheffield where cyclists struggle to even get up hills and cars are parked on both sides of the road it gets tricky. Cycling in the UK simply can't work because there is too much already developed with residential housing in commercial areas and you can't knock those down. It just wouldn't work.
Glad you see how beautiful Netherlands bike network is
The sign means only dedicated vehicles may go there. Busses and taxis in this case.
People in other countries only think of those sports types that only cycle for recreation, when they hear “cyclists”. They don’t realise that the bike can also be used as a form of transportation. Which is why you get NIMBYs against cycle lanes and separated bike paths, like in those posh neighbourhoods in London.
We also have those wannabe Tour De France riders, who can be a nuisance, but most bike users here are just going to work, or the shops, or the bar and then later home again.
One fact that's very important is that, according to the Dutch traffic code, in an accident between a cyclist and a car, the driver of the car is always in the wrong and liable for damages. Even if the cyclist was recklessly driving. So beware of that while dring in The Netherlands.
It’s a legal assumption that the driver of the motorised vehicle is at least liable for 50% of the damages of the other person. However this assumption can be negated in a situation where the driver can show “force majeur” or wilful intent/serious recklessness on the side of the other person.
The problem in the uk as most people dont cycle they temd to not understand what to do. Last year in Geneva when i noticed they had velo parks and thought how much space it safed over having cars
Ah wow I bet Geneva was lovely. You've been to loads of places ! Where was your favourite?
@@DrivingSchoolTV it's hard to say a favourite. Geneva definitely felt the safest. Where milan was stunning but head on the swivel. Thailand is extreme poverty or extreme rich next door. Italy is stunning and can be done cheaply I'm off to lake como today to cycle and watch a pro race. I'm definitely not fit only done 3 weeks training. Saying that having a bike or licence opens up so many places and you don't need to stay in the tourist places. Getting a licence is about experiences you make
The more bikes/pedestrians the more car drivers accept the road does not exist for them alone, the safer it gets.
Next time you could rent a bike to truly experience traffic in the Netherlands. Unfortunately a two party first past the post systems prevents decent infrastructure, no long term planning and implementing a decent traffic system. Therefor I doubt you will ever see something similar at home. Best regards.
Next time you can also try some walking and experience the truly threatening behaviour of cyclists towards pedestrians.
I totally agree with your opinion on the current British system of democracy: it is almost by design guaranteed to increase polarisation. And as a result it decreases the success-rate of long term investments, like infrastructure. They should get rid of it.
It's a bold statement saying we drive on the wrong side of the road, while Britain seems to be the odd one out here.😁
In Utrecht you need two locks to keep your bike. E-bikes better 3 locks otherwise it's gone!
Driving on the right side is as it says right. Definitely not the wrong side😊
Its not only in Eindhoven!!Its everywhere in the Netherlands!😄
Come to Utrecht, the bicycle capital of the world and where the busiest cycle lane in the Netherlands is.
The round sign with the red border and white in the middle means the same. But it was for the bus lane that is on the left of you. The little white sign underneath it probably says ‘uitgezonderd bussen’ which means except buses.
The thing I hate most is that other people, foreigners, say that we are so dumb by not wearing helmets. And now that I watch more video's about cycling in other countries, I can understand that thought. Yes, of course it is better to wear a helmet. But our cycling culture is so different to countries where other roadusers aren't used to cyclists. I believe you put up a newspaperarticle about people who died cycling in one year, which was over 400 I believe. (I rewatched that bit and now I see that it is over 3 years. Our numbers are higher in those 3 years, but still, we cycle more) In 2022, 291 people were killed while riding a bicycle here. Still too much, but if you compare how much we cycle versus the numbers in Great Britain, it is pretty good.
I'm still very curious about driving in London. Might come over in the spring to experience that :)
Ah thank you! I thought I was driving through a no vehicles section but everyone else was doing it so i carried on! It totally makes more sense to jump on a bike and not wear a helmet over there. If your road isn't shared by cars you're not going to get hit by cars. it's so genius! You should definitely come to london for the experience you'll appreciate netherlands so much more haha
i did a quick search and an official UK site says that in the last years the average amount of cycling was (roughly) 4.7 billion miles.
in The Netherlands the latest number is 15 billion km.
so to make the numbers fare that's 7.5 billion km for the UK and 15 billion for The Netherlands.
but the UK population is 70 million people, while The Netherlands has 18 million.
so if we account for that difference. 70 / 18 = 3.9.
so we multiply the amount of km cycled in The Netherlands by that factor, 15 x 3.9 = 58.5 billion km cycled.
so if we make up for the population difference people in The Netherlands cycle about 12 times as much/far as their UK counterparts.
so by taking theses numbers in account it's obvious there are going to be more people getting hurt (and even die) while cycling in The Netherlands.
but if you divide those accidents by the amount that is cycled The Netherlands is way people on a bicycle.
@@ChristiaanHW And in Anglo Saxon countries cycling is often only done for sports, so they cycle with much higher speeds.
The "Cycle Lanes" in 1:30 are actually not cycle lanes. They're called suggestion lanes and have no legal status. It's just road painted differently.
You are mistaken, we drive on the correct side and the gears are on the correct side. 😂
Belgian roads are a bit like riding in Italy. Chaos.
In the Netherlands, cyclists and pedestrians have the right of first refusal, which means that if an accident occurs between a cyclist and a car, the car is always guilty until proven otherwise, so as a driver you are extra attentive to pedestrians/cyclists.
Slightly different: In case of an accident between a bike and a car, the car driver is, not depending on who caused the accident, always at least 50 % liable for the damages to the 'weaker' cyclist unless he can prove extreme carelessness or intent.
It's actually trifold. The burden of proof is on the car driver. He has to prove the cyclist was exceptionally in the wrong, as operator of the far more dangerous contraption he has to anticipate erratic, immature and even drunk cycling. If he proves all that he's still at least 50% liable as it his choice of vehicle that causes most of the damage. Two cyclists colliding usually doesn't cause much damage.
My dad was a police officer. In his many years of work he recalled only one incident where the car driver got of without the blame.
The bicycle driver, drunk as a skunk, fell off a motorway overpass and landed in front of the car.
Had the car been there seconds later, it would have been the car’s fault. The logic being the driver would have had enough time to swerve or brake given the local conditions and speed limit.
They’re in the RIGHT side over here 🤷🏼♀️😂
0:51 no they don't. Cyclists most definitely do not have priority everywhere, even in the Netherlands. That even a driving instructor has this misconception, granted a British one, is kind of worrying.
Cyclists have priority often on smaller roads and streets. But the Dutch use a clear road hierarchy, and on roads designed for motorised traffic like ring roads, feeder roads etc, and even most major roads for cars in cities. cyclists most definitely do not always have priority. More often than not they actually don't on those roads...
We don't drive at the wrong side of the road. It is literally called the right side.
we also have idiots on bikes who just do whatever
All of Europe drives on the right side of the road. In Europe only the English drive on the left side of the road. WHO NOW DRIVES ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. There are countries in Europe that used to drive on the left side of the road. But because driving on the right is safer, they switched.
Bikes are never left unchained, at least not is they are expensive. In general, Dutch car drives behave like they should and give precedence to cyclists.Next time, go on bike, you will love it.
Perhaps you should look up the number of cycling accidents in nl?
Perhaps you could also look up the causes of those accidents?
Comparing Eindhoven traffic with London traffic 😂. Get a ticket to Schiphol, rent a car and try to keep alive while reaching the centre of Amsterdam. You will encounter organised utter chaos and bicyclists that have only one right in their mind…right of way.
Challenge accepted! 🤣
Bytheway, you drive on the wrong side of the road, if crowds walk up to eachother and crowd study’s prove that, humans move automatically to the right, driving on the left side is against the nature of the vast majority of people on this planet, the reason only a few country’s, I think all former British colony’s drive on the wrong side of the road
Next time when you drive in the Netherlands please don't leave a gap when driving on green light as almost everywhere the light will change to red when detecting 'light' traffic. (little cars driving trough the green light) . I garantee there were drivers behind you who were swearing at you.. Our lights change fast to keep everybody going
Damn even the traffic lights are smarter in Netherlands! We definitely don’t have that here!
Please dont book a cheap flight just to drive somewhere new. On behalf of our mother, Earth, thanks! And next time: try cycling in Eindhoven 😅
2:50 Sorry mate but you couldn't be any further from the truth i live in Eihdnove and i commute through that rode your passing through at that time frame daily and the speed limit there is 80km and if you're in a bit of a rush and you wanna go a 100 or more there are always someone camping in the overtaking lane or believes he's serving you road justice no matter how much you're in a rush. The only way they move out of the way if they're being forced by someone with road rage issue or being overtaken from the right side. i've even had situations where the road there is pretty empty so i go 100-120km/h and the police pass me with 140km/h or they flash someone to move out of the overtaking lane when it's busy. So dutch people in general are notorious for driving on the fast/overtaking lane.
Eindhoven is de beste stad ter wereld
Also: ALL driver are also cyclists. So they watch out for them.
Chain your bike, it will be stolen, specially in bigger cities, it's called recycling, if they steal your bike, you steal an other one :(