Let me add my 2 cents to the helmet issue. I know it’s hard for most of us to imagine, but bicycle commuting in Holland is just as normal as walking. Plus, people tend to go pretty slowly on those heavy Dutch bikes. When people go fitness riding on racing bikes, they often do sport a helmet.

One thing I noticed from visiting Holland for many years is even though bicycle communiting in towns is still as customary as ever (at least in Groningen) car usage seems to have increased for inter-town trips. Perhaps that’s why these ads were necessary in the first place.

@Stephen Rees
It’s actually a Dutch word joke. The punch-line is “pak de auto” which normally means “take the car”, but in this particular context the translation of “Pak de auto. Neem de fiets” would be something like “Screw with the car. Take the bicycle”.

And the Saddam ad was topical at the time it was released (he was in jail awaiting trial) and the tag line was translated

Just don’t follow the example of the lad goofing around on his bike in the traffic jam. Here the principle of many drivers is “you toucha my car, I smasha you face!”

maybe the last video, ending “bikers live longer” could add “more bikers live even longer”

a sign of dutch biking safety…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Lc943I7ag

That’s because people all over the world haven’t fallen victim to the fear campaign launched by helmet makers (that we are all about to fall on our heads any second). The result has been that they continue to ride. More bikes on the road makes it safer for cyclists. Here in the US, we have allowed ourselves to believe that bikes are dangerous, thus many of us have stopped biking, thus … wait for it … making biking more dangerous.

Tangent: 70 of NYC ped injuries involve the head. According to helmet logic, peds should cross the street with something strapped to their domes.

Engineering for illegal and bad behavior is the only serious solution.