Internationals more likely to get in trouble when cycling

At first glance, they seem a lot more well-behaved than Dutch students. They cycle less through red lights or on the sidewalk, have their lights on more often and are less likely to cycle drunk. At least that is what foreign students themselves say.

Yet they get themselves involved in accidents more than twice as often as Dutch students, according to a survey by TeamAlert, a foundation that aims to reduce the number of traffic fatalities among young people. The study (in Dutch only, Ed.) into the differences between domestic and foreign students on bicycles is already a few months old, but it was only announced last week.

Eleven versus four
Around 1,500 students (a sample with slightly more internationals than Dutch) completed an online questionnaire about their cycling behaviour. Cycling is popular among foreign students: 70 percent use their bikes daily. That's a habit they acquired here, as only 6 percent of them cycle in their home country.

That lack of experience is their downfall, as certain university cities can get quite busy. 11 percent of the international respondents were involved in an accident in the month before the survey, compared to 4 percent of the Dutch respondents.

A total of 130 students from Utrecht completed a questionnaire, of whom 55 came from abroad. The results are roughly in line with the national picture. For example, 1 in 3 (34.5 percent) international students from Utrecht indicate that they had a near accident in the month before the survey. Of the Dutch students surveyed, only 22.7 percent said the same.

Of the international students in Utrecht, 7.3 percent had an accident in the month before the research. For the Dutch group in Utrecht, this was 4 percent, which is also the national percentage.

Experience does wonders
Internationals are usually insecure about their cycling skills and their knowledge of formal and informal rules. In addition, they find Dutch roads rather chaotic. "Cycling feels like finally being served a hot meal and having to fight your way past twelve older brothers," as one of the international respondents puts it.

TeamAlert's findings are in line with previous research by the University of Groningen, which also concluded that international students are more likely to get involved in accidents. They also made more mistakes, such as cycling on the wrong side of the road or taking a roundabout the wrong way.