Meanwhile in Utrecht...

Here's what rush hour in Utrecht looks like, where 33% of all journeys are undertaken by bicycle. And they have trams. And the thing about this video - its quiet isn't it?

In Leith, about 2% of all journeys are undertaken by bike at the moment, but the council has ambitions to raise that to 15%. One day, could the Foot of Leith Walk start to look like this at 9am in the morning?

You can help to cut the noise and pollution in Leith now (and maybe win a Winkku) by making a We Love Leith pledge here.

Comments

[Anne-Maree]

The thing that scares me though is that not one of those riders had a helmet on. I'm an Aussie living over here and back home it's the law to wear a bike helmet. My brother's life was saved by the fact he had a bike helmet on when he was knocked off his push bike. I know that from an environmental perspective that clip is inspiring, but from a safety perspective it's scary. Still, hopefully we can have both - safety and more bikes. After all, it would be stupid to think somebody would choose not to ride a bike purely because they had to wear a helmet.

[Ally]

Why is it scary? There's not one accident in the clip! There's a lot of debate out there about whether helmets should be compulsory. As I understand it, cycling is about as safe as walking - and we don't require pedestrians to wear helmets. See this earlier post on our blog - http://www.greenerleith.org/greener-leith-news/2010/2/12/is-cycling-safe.html

[Charlotte]

From the audio I wouldn't say this was a partiularly quiet part of Utrecht, but it is amazing to see almost no cars and no cyclists in hig viz kit. With regards to helmets, has anyone out there any statistics on the safety of Dutch cycling?

[Fin]

Mesmerising

[Mark]

@Charlotte,

I put that info in the info box of the video. Just double click it to go there. In short: cycling in the Netherlands is about 30 times safer than in the US.

[Robbo in Oz]

I live in Adelaide, South Australia where the law states I must wear a helmet. I have relatives and friends (mostly women) who will not ride a bike because they refuse to wear a helmet. Call it vanity or what you will but mandatory helmet wearing is a positive deterrent for many to take up the most sensible form of transport in a flat city which is Adelaide. THIS LAW IS AN ASS. The answer is simple. Give priority to pedestrians and cyclists by creating better designed cycleways (invite someone from Utrecht to take a look at Adelaide or have a design competition) and protect cyclists from motorised transport with car-bus-truck-proof barriers . . . and helmet wearing needs to be optional. More cyclists means less cars on the road and therefore less accidents . . . duh!