They have less drivers and more pedestrians. Pedestrians aren’t the issue, it’s the drivers.
Their infrastructure, in cities especially, discourages driving and encourages walking/cycling/public transport. Other places make their infrastructure car first. Too much traffic widen the roads, add car parks and remove walkways. These make more driver that are less empathetic to pedestrians as they have less experience as a pedestrian. They also encourage bigger and higher vehicles that are more deadly on impact.
More pedestrians means more people about for drivers to kill, though. The Netherlands still has a lot of people driving.
It’s less about driver empathy, and more about traffic calming. Bollards, chicanes, speed humps at intersections, etc. Streets that don’t feel safe to speed excessively on. Not making everything a shitty stroad, but having better differentiation between streets and roads.
So why do road deaths happen at dramatically different rates in different countries that have very different transportation design?
Is it a better explanation that the Netherlands has road designs that better promote safety, or more conscientious drivers?
They have less drivers and more pedestrians. Pedestrians aren’t the issue, it’s the drivers.
Their infrastructure, in cities especially, discourages driving and encourages walking/cycling/public transport. Other places make their infrastructure car first. Too much traffic widen the roads, add car parks and remove walkways. These make more driver that are less empathetic to pedestrians as they have less experience as a pedestrian. They also encourage bigger and higher vehicles that are more deadly on impact.
More pedestrians means more people about for drivers to kill, though. The Netherlands still has a lot of people driving.
It’s less about driver empathy, and more about traffic calming. Bollards, chicanes, speed humps at intersections, etc. Streets that don’t feel safe to speed excessively on. Not making everything a shitty stroad, but having better differentiation between streets and roads.
Not just bikes has a pretty good YouTube video about stroads vs Dutch streets and roads