Originally Posted by
mr_pedro
I grew up in Amsterdam and I have now experienced biking in Baltimore for a while. I can tell you that the biggest difference in riding in both countries is not the infrastructure. Sure NL as many more dedicated bike lanes, but in the cities there are also plenty of spots where you have to deal with traffic in the regular lanes.
The biggest difference is in the heads of drivers. In NL there is simply no discussion on if bicycles have a place in traffic or not, and when a driver has to wait for a bicycle it does so with the same amount of patience as if it was a motorized vehicle that it has to wait for.
I don't doubt that you're right about the different attitudes, but that difference is not coincidal. 40-45 years ago, the death toll on Dutch roads and streets was as high as in the USA. The Dutch decided to do something about it: Infrastructure and, of course, education.