Driving In The Netherlands

I don't own a car but sometimes I go out and rent one to do some things. This last weekend I rented a car to make it easier to go to the temple and go do a little shopping. I figure this is as good of time as any to let you know some differences in driving here compared to Utah.

The Netherlands is known to have many bikes. In fact, I read that there are an estimated 20 million bikes in this country and there are 16 million residents. That's right, 25% of the population owns more than one bike per person. One thing that surprises me is you actually see very few bikes in many areas. Contrary to popular belief, most people still drive to work. Many people I see on the bike trails on the way to work are teenagers going to school. You cannot get your drivers license until your 18th birthday and even then, you are responsible for all costs in learning to drive. It costs the average person EUR 2,000 to 3,000 for those lessons and associated taxes.

As for driving itself, really it is not much different that in the US. Many of the signs are the same or similar. However, it is strange that Stop signs are rarely used. In the last 8 months, I have seen only 2 Stop signs which were on freeway off-ramps. Most intersections are either round-abouts, stoplights or yield signs or a combination of them.

Yielding to pedestrians and bicycles is a very big deal. I hear there are hefty fines if you happen to hit someone on a bike. We usually walk to the store and have to cross one road. Often to get to the side of the road and intend to wait for a close oncoming car to pass and then go. Every time, even if the car is going fast, they come to a stop and insist on waiting for us to cross. I have to say that walking and riding bikes is much, much, much safer here. I have probably only seen a couple of people wearing bike helmets but due to separate bicycle roads and very courteous drivers, accidents are very rare.

Well that pretty much is everything I can think of. By the way, you that still check this site often are awesome considering I have been updating it so rarely. I am going to be posting at least every Sunday, even if I have nothing really to say. I love it when you comment so please feel free to but I have to moderate it because stupid people have posted in the past trying to peddle some crap.