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Dutch to move ahead with banning cyclists from using mobiles while ridingAmsterdam Bicycles (Jorge Royan, Wikimedia Commons)

Dutch to move ahead with banning cyclists from using mobiles while riding

Transport minister says educational programmes have failed
by Alex Bowden
Tue, Dec 13, 2016 11:33
6

Dutch transport minister Melanie Schultz has confirmed plans to ban cyclists from using their mobile phones.  DutchNews.nl reports that the move comes after efforts to make youngsters aware of the dangers via educational programmes failed to produce sufficient results.

Schultz told MPs that she was looking into the ban in May after research indicated that phones had played a part in 20 per cent of accidents involving under-25s.

The issue had risen to prominence partly as a result of campaigning by Michael Kulkens, whose 13-year-old son was killed while using a phone on a bike last year. “The woman who killed my son is absolutely blameless and her life has been turned upside down as well,” he said.

In a briefing to parliament this week, Schultz said that cyclists would still be able to make calls using a hands-free kit, but added that she also wants to ban placing the phone in a holder on the handlebars.

New figures from the national statistics office CBS show that 185 cyclists were killed on the Dutch roads in 2015, a similar number to previous years. Elderly cyclists are the most likely to die with figures showing that between 2011 and 2015, 40 per cent of cyclists killed in road traffic collisions were over the age of 75.

However, Marc Van Woudenberg (Amsterdamized on Twitter) told the BBC that he was unimpressed by the prospect of a ban. “This approach contributes to systemic victim-blaming. In the end I’m convinced this law won’t deliver results.”

At present, there is no word on when the ban might be introduced or what the fines would be. Drivers caught using their mobile phones without a hands-free system face a fine of €230.

Since 2013, Austrian cyclists using handheld mobile phones have faced €50 fines. Use of a phone via a hands-free kit is permitted.

Netherlands
mobile phone use while cycling
Melanie Schultz
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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6 comments

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burtthebike | 8 years ago
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So presumably they'll be banning pedestrians from using mobile phones too?  Or should we just wrap cotton wool around all the street furniture and have ralings on the pavement to prevent mobile using pedestrians from just stepping into the road?

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hawkinspeter replied to burtthebike | 8 years ago
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burtthebike wrote:

So presumably they'll be banning pedestrians from using mobile phones too?  Or should we just wrap cotton wool around all the street furniture and have ralings on the pavement to prevent mobile using pedestrians from just stepping into the road?

Pedestrians move a lot slower, so there's much less risk (or at least reduced consequences) when they're distracted. It makes sense to me and I've been guilty of looking at a text when trundling along a straight road. It's no great hardship to have to stop when using your phone, so I wouldn't object to it being introduced to the UK as long as they put enough effort into stopping drivers from doing the same. (As long as it remains legal to have a phone in your pocket or affixed to your handlebars and not being interacted with).

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KnightBiker | 8 years ago
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@DanielCoffey

It's about the app usage too, using app's while cycling would also be forbidden. Which in turn would lead to a whole gray area when it comes to fitness trackers and gps related app's that do way-finding. as such the prospect is that this is a very difficult to maintain law.

But, seeing how people can be glued to their mobile (especially in a town like Amsterdam) i think a ban is in essence a good thing as  watching the road and traffic really becomes a secundairy thing. Car Drivers are generally not too bothered with this law, i expect it to be no different with cyclists.

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a1white replied to KnightBiker | 8 years ago
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KnightBiker wrote:

@DanielCoffey

It's about the app usage too, using app's while cycling would also be forbidden. Which in turn would lead to a whole gray area when it comes to fitness trackers and gps related app's that do way-finding. as such the prospect is that this is a very difficult to maintain law.

But, seeing how people can be glued to their mobile (especially in a town like Amsterdam) i think a ban is in essence a good thing as  watching the road and traffic really becomes a secundairy thing. Car Drivers are generally not too bothered with this law, i expect it to be no different with cyclists.

 

But if I'm using a GPS tracking device, with the phone mounted on my handlebars, it is only the same as a car driver using a phone as a GPS device mounted on the windscreen. Is this illegal for car drivers in The Netherlands?

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Griff500 replied to KnightBiker | 8 years ago
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KnightBiker wrote:

@DanielCoffey

It's about the app usage too, using app's while cycling would also be forbidden. Which in turn would lead to a whole gray area when it comes to fitness trackers and gps related app's that do way-finding. as such the prospect is that this is a very difficult to maintain law.

B

Not what they said at all!

The Dutch news agencies say that the ban is on use of mobile phones except hands free (eg the link from the OP).  So setting up Strava or a GPS navigation aid before setting off is OK. Tampering with the settings while on the move eg changing destination, is not OK.  All of that seems very sensible.

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DanielCoffey | 8 years ago
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Are they talking about using mobiles to make calls or for using cycle-related apps such as route tracking?

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