I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman

Re:I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman by lizmat on Sunday September 15, 2019 @04:39PM (#20979357)

Nice article. In the past years however, the number of e-bikes used by elderly people has gone up so much, that fatality for that group has gone up quite notably as well. Many elderly buy an e-bike while not having ridden a bike for many years. Meanwhile, traffic has become more difficult. And their reflexes not really what they have been.

See e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/older-men-usin...

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Re:I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman by CydeWeys on Sunday September 15, 2019 @08:46PM (#20980316)

Meanwhile, in the US, we let elderly people continue driving long past the point where it's safe to do so, and then they kill not just themselves but also others. It's so commonplace the idea of an elderly driver fatally plowing through a farmer's market has become a trope.

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Re:I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman by nkootstra on Sunday September 15, 2019 @04:50PM (#20979425)

I haven't seen that many (elderly) people in The Netherlands on e-bikes that used a helmet this year. The only people that wear helmets are the ones that have a speed padelec/mountainbiker or racing bikes.

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Re:I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman by lizmat on Sunday September 15, 2019 @04:59PM (#20979466)

I guess it really makes a difference if you're cycling in the Randstad, or one of the other greater cities, or outside of them. I'd say about 50% of elderly people I see on e-bikes (and I cycle about 4000km / year, almost all outside of bigger cities) are now wearing helmets.

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Re:I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman by lizmat on Sunday September 15, 2019 @05:00PM (#20979471)

pedelecs are in the same class as "brommers" (mopeds) and require wearing a helmet by law. See https://www.holland-cycling.com/blog/275-new-laws-for-speed-...

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