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From Kimberly Cooper:



In another words, the bicycling education in the Netherlands is better than in
the USA. In the Netherlands, drivers are educated to be aware of and safe
toward bicyclists. 


I didn't say anything about bicycling education in the Netherlands - I know
nothing about it.  I just note that there is a difference in the attitude of
motorists in how they treat cyclists.  Education may be a part of this, it may
also be because of different laws (I believe that in the event of a bicycle/auto
crash in the Netherlands, the presumption of fault falls on the motorist), or of
different enforcement.  It may also be a dynamic because since cycling is so
widespread in the Netherlands, motorists are more likely to identify with
cyclists than they are here in the US.   This is all speculation - the only
thing that I know is that there is a difference in the behaviour of motorists in
the Netherlands vs the US, and that I believe that this would have as great or
greater impact on accident rates than would the infrastructure.






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