The danger of road safety

Cyclists in Amsterdam are fearless: no helmets, no protective kit. Yet they may be safer, too

A safety-conscious cyclist in London. Photograph: Alamy

The woman in the tight white top and even tighter black trousers teeters out of an upmarket clothes shop on
very high heels and glances balefully at a lowering grey sky. It's raining. She puts up a small white umbrella,
unlocks her bike, wipes the saddle and pushes off down the street when her mobile rings. She extricates it from
a tight breast pocket, clicks and begins a conversation. The hand that holds the umbrella is doing the (wobbly)
steering. You've never seen so many road safety no-nos in your life. But hey! Welcome to Amsterdam!

Cyclists rule in this city. Take a population of 780,000. Reckon that 75% of them over the age of 12 owns a
bike, and that over half of them take a spin every day. Then look, in amazement, at the kit they wear (or rather,
the kit they don't wear). No lurid jackets or flashing lights. No protective pads, gloves or twiddly bits. And no
helmets, either. Nobody wears a helmet.

The mums winding along Prinsengracht, one baby strapped into a chair on the handlebars, another squashed in
behind, has no helmet (and no brakes either). The dad with the toddler squatting in a rickety wooden box up
front eating a doughnut has no helmet. The hundreds of kids racing around Leidseplein wouldn't dream of
wearing a helmet. But nobody cares.

Why should they? Safety comes in less obvious ways. All those millions of rides a year involve only six or
seven deaths. Amsterdam works hard at ensuring that, to be sure. Lots of investment in cycle lanes, special
traffic lights, intensive education et al. And simple physical things – like streets that heavy goods vehicles and
bendy buses can't reach – help, too. Yet still the lack of protective kit is amazing.

If I go out in my London park this morning I'll see small children on small bikes wearing huge pink helmets
whilst mum trots anxiously in their wake. If I raise the question in America, I'll be sonorously informed that
60% of cycling deaths stem from head injuries and that researchers say a properly fitted helmet saves a life in
between 74% and 85% of cases. It's the most conventional problem and response going. See danger? Fear
danger? Go out and buy something to make it seem less.

But Amsterdam takes an exactly opposite stance. Who wants to lug heavy helmets between office and home?
Who needs to put on modern body armour to take a bike ride? Helmets and the rest don't increase safety
overall. In practical terms, they shrink cycle use – and the more it shrinks, the more people (walking, driving)
get killed. In short, doing the safe thing is the stupid, unsafe thing. Far, far better to create an easy-going
environment where ladies in tight trousers holding umbrellas can wobble down Hooftstraat unmolested. Far
better to plonk all human life in a big picture frame.
Complete these questions about the article.

1. List four things that source one tells you about cyclists in Amsterdam. (4 marks)

2. Why could cyclists in Amsterdam be considered as unsafe? (8 marks)

Use the phrases in the box to help you to answer the question.

Make your point

The writer of the text tells us that……
In the text, we learn that……
From the text, we learn that……

Support your point with evidence from the text

This is shown in the phrase “…………………………”
We know this because the text tells us “…………………………”
The line “……………………………” shows us this.

Explain/comment on the quote from the text

This tells us that……
This shows that……
This quote is evidence that……
This reveals that……

3. How does the article use language to persuade the reader that cyclists in Amsterdam are
not unsafe? (12 marks)
Use the phrases in the box to help you to answer the question.

Which presentational/language device has been used

The uses ______________________.
__________________ has been used in this text.

Example
An example of this is …………
This is shown through the use of ………

Why the device has been used

The writer has chosen to use this device because......
This device has been used because……

The effect of the device on the reader

This device will make the reader feel……
The use of _____________ will make the reader……