The Netherlands: Dutch biking turns Bostonians speechless - by Martine Powers

The intersection at De Koppeling Street is the kind of sight that might render a Bostonian speechless.

The Netherlands: a bikers paradise

“This,” howled Andrew Brunn, a burly 22-year-old engineering student   grinning like a kid at Disneyland, “is totally crazy!”

To the average American, that’s exactly how Dutch bicycle traffic seems. This is a place with more bikes than people, where about 26 percent of commuting trips are taken by bicycle, where toddlers and 85-year-olds ride happily in traffic, and where the likelihood of getting killed on a bike is among the lowest in the world, about five times less than the United States.

Almost every major street features separated bike lanes, bike-specific traffic lights, bike highways, and yield signs that, together, deliver one message: The bicycle is king.

Read more: Bicycling the Dutch Way - Metro - The Boston Globe