Originally Posted by
cooker
I haven't reached my free NYTimes limit for the month so I read it. I hadn't realized how bad car traffic had gotten in Amsterdam before they reversed it: "Traffic deaths in the city rose to a peak of 3,300 in 1971, including 400 children". It was due to the rapidity with which they initially embraced the car post-WW-II. No wonder they "fought back"!
Yes, those are incredibly high numbers; so high that it would be nice to know where they can be substantiated. Note that Amsterdam had less than 8% of NL's population in 1970; suggest you take a look at Table 1 at
Traffic death statistics in 26 countries.
Note that almost every country listed has had significant traffic death reductions since their high point in the early 1970's, and that the highest numbers for NL (the entire country) were about 3500 in 1972.
