> From what I have seen of the Netherlands, the bike paths are physically separated from the driving lanes (except side residential streets) so there is much le

> From what I have seen of the Netherlands, the bike paths are physically separated from the driving lanes (except side residential streets) so there is much less risk of a cyclist getting run over, side swiped, or cut off by a vehicle. another very important factor in road safety in the netherlands is that bicycle users and car users are only mixed in low speed situation (less then 30km/h if i remember correctly) and that car drivers are always at fault for an accident with a bike with the exception of some very specific, hard to prove cases. Drivers education stresses this dearly, and because everyone in the netherlands grows up riding a bike, the social contract to keep bikers safe is very highly lived after.