What it takes to get #Europe on a #bike
#Cycling is cheap, healthy, and convenient. So why don’t more #Europeans do it?
Belle de Jong , Ludovica Di Meco , Liene Lūsīte , Tamara Kaňuchová , Toon Vos | 5 Nov 2026
Excerpt: "On 22 September in #Turin, Italy, a car hit and killed a seven-year-old boy cycling to school. 'That could have been me, or my daughter, or anyone, really. Because that place is dangerous,' resident Maria Cristina Caimotto told us.
"Every morning since then, Caimotto has joined a crowd of people on bikes in the street where the tragedy took place to show solidarity with the family, but also to ask for safer streets and fewer cars. 'We cannot erase what happened. We can only do everything we can so that it does not happen again,' she said.
"Backed by 13 civil society associations, the activists want Turin to move away from its dependence on cars.
"It’s ambitious, but not impossible: a similar tragedy helped push the #Netherlands to become the cycling country it is today.
"Until the 1970s, the Netherlands was full of cars. In 1971, a six-year-old was killed cycling to school, and her father's newspaper article launched the #StopDeKindermoord (Stop the Child Murder) campaign against children dying in traffic.
"Two years later, the #OilCrisis added fuel to the fire, driving up petrol prices, and in 1977, #Groningen became the first city in the Netherlands with a plan prioritising #cyclists over #cars.
"Nowadays, 82% of Dutch residents cycle at least occasionally and the country has more than 24 million bikes for a population of about 18 million people. #Utrecht now tops the #Copenhagenize Index, which ranks the world’s most #bicyclefriendly cities, and #Amsterdam, #Rotterdam, and #TheHague are in the top 30.
"The #DutchProtests worked because they were about more than getting around, says Meredith Glaser, professor of cycling at Ghent University and CEO of the Urban Cycling Institute: 'These protests weren’t about transportation. They were about the security of our children, the #liveability of our cities, how inclusive they are.' "
Read more:
https://europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/what-it-takes-to-get-europe-on-a-bike
#SolarPunkSunday #BikeTooter #BikeableCities #WalkableCities #MoreBikes #LessCars #LivableCities