Beer Bicycle

This posting is especially for my American readers of which I lately get a lot! (see where they come from here, darker is more visits)

Not too long ago I read this great website from a US citizen who lives in San Francisco, but was vacationing in the Netherlands. He was shocked to see the Dutch ride their bicycles in Amsterdam in suits, or kids without a helmet, kids on the steering wheel (what he refers to as “the suicide seat”), women cycling with men on the back, human powered head lights, dogs on bikes, giant locks and so on. It’s a good read, and if you’re Dutch, rather funny to see how you are looked upon by a foreigner. In case you wonder why he is so fond of helmets, you should know US cyclists are six times more likely to get killed cycling than the Dutch are.

I personally believe Americans walking around in the Netherlands are approximately 6 million times more likely to get killed by a bicycle than the Dutch are, because they refuse to look for bicycles before crossing the street. But this is purely based on my experience with foreigners and I can not back this up with any real data. :)

A rather new phenomenon in the Netherlands is the so called Beer Bicycle. It holds up to 18 people, of which 6 on each side are cycling the bar ahead (while drinking), someone else is in charge of steering, and the rest makes sure all the cyclists have enough beer.

All this takes place on public roads and could officially lead to 12 drunk driving fines on one bicycle. But this being the Netherlands you are more likely to get fined for speeding 2 km/h driving you car sober. (All pictures are clickable for full size originals.)

This video might give you an impression on how slow this thing actually is. The guy is yelling at the camera man because he is not helping out cycling. :)

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y0l51nBy1Ao]

A video showing a serious Dutch beerbiking accident and a professional Dutch response (get back on!) : click here.

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