Transportation
How Big of a Problem Is Drunk Bicycling?
An alarming report making its way through the Dutch media requires a closer look.
Dutch young people are accustomed to riding their bicycles home drunk at the end of the night. That’s the warning from a new report by The Netherlands’ SWOV Institute for Road Safety, currently receiving coverage in Dutch media outlets.
According to the study, which examined cycling habits in the cities of Groningen and The Hague, 68 percent of young people in The Netherlands admit to getting on their bikes at night when under the influence of alcohol—or at least, that’s how the report’s accompanying press release puts it. Fast-forward to five in the morning and the share of younger riders cycling under the influence allegedly reaches 80 percent.