How To Drop Kids Off at School in a Bike Culture
My mate David in the Netherlands has this wonderful little video on youtube, showing how people take their kids to school in a bike culture.
Just an average morning at an average school in an average Dutch town. It could be Denmark if you squint your eyes.
There are many references in Danish literature to cyclists being like schools of fish and this video certainly shows the smooth flow of traffic.
It might look a little chaotic to some, but Dutch and Danish cyclists are extremely experienced given the fact that we ride so much. This video reminds me of the law in Japan that prohibits parents from dropping off their children at kindergarten and school in cars.
A lovely video from a lovely Dutch town.
11 comments:
The Netherlands is a strange and alien culture, for sure, but one I think I could get used to fast!
Things are improving at some schools with the Safe Routes to School program. The most effective I'm aware of are in Boulder, Colorado (with 75% of children walking and riding bikes to some schools) and Longmont, Colorado (with 80% to over 90% participation at their 5 elementary schools). Momentum Magazine will have an article about this in the next issue.
i came upon a school in amsterdam early one morning years ago and witnessed similar. i was in tears. now we import and sell bikes suitable for such errands in the US.
Well, now I understand the sex of bicycling. To can have fun overtaking and swindling through without a big risk....
Just remember that you are able to stop within 1-3 metres...
http://www.hyperbike.cc
That is a beautiful sight. Wouldn't it be nice if dropping my kids off at school on a bike was that pleasant. Thanks for sharing! Anne
It would instructive to show a video of how parents drop kids off here in L.A. --- lines of SUV's idling.
It makes me weep for what we could have here. The political will for the kind of change in transport policy to make this possible is just not there.
The only thing green about this country is the fields...:/
Makes you wanna have kids... and move out of North-America!
Yahoo!! Kidical Mass!!
http://www.kidicalmass.org
A Family Fun Ride, the third friday of the month.
Kids, ice cream, and bikes. Good stuff.
Hi, I'm David Hembrow who took the video.
It's important to realise that this is not an exceptional day, nor an exceptional school. Dutch children everywhere, every day travel like this (as do Danish children of course).
There are more photos and video on my website (click on my name).
It is exceptional that you live in a country where are no step long lasting mountains *damn* and your roads are much wider than ours. That's actually not a problem if you don't have to cross them day by day. I'm just to lazy and use my motorbike. That's still much more economic than all the cars.
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