Safe cycling in the Netherlands

While the Netherlands is one of the safest countries in the world, with a mortality rate of 3.6 (fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants), it is also a country where cycling is very popular (with about 16.5 million inhabitants and circa 18 million bicycles), and cyclists make up about a quarter of all road fatalities and half of the seriously injured. This makes cycling in the Netherlands more dangerous than travelling by car. This article discusses ways in which cycling can be made safer, including constructing more well-designed cycling facilities and enacting a paradigm shift towards safe road traffic (called here "Sustainable Safety") whereby investments are made in designing safer intersections and roundabouts, separating out bicycle lanes from other traffic, and enforcing lower speed limits for all traffic.