21st Century Innovative Technologies and Developments as also discoveries, curiosity ( insolite)...

In a country that has more bikes than people and where cycling is seen as a human right, some people are about to have a nasty shock.

From Monday, anyone using a handheld mobile device while on the road in the Netherlands will be given a €95 (£85) fine.

The new rules for cyclists are part of a law to ensure road users watch the traffic rather than their cameras, tablets, and smartphones.

Vehicle and tram drivers risk a €240 fine, the penalty is €160 for motorbikes and scooters and powered wheelchair users are not exempt either.

“In the traffic, an accident is just around the corner and this is why it’s important for all road users – including cyclists – to keep their eyes and minds on the road and not on their telephone screen,” said transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, launching an awareness campaign on Friday.

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

https://www.scoop.it/t/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=CARS

https://www.scoop.it/t/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=Mobilit%C3%A9

https://www.scoop.it/topic/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=eBike

https://www.scoop.it/topic/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=Cyclisme

https://www.scoop.it/topic/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=eScooters

https://www.scoop.it/topic/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments/?&tag=Mobility

There are plenty of good reasons that people should cycle more. People who exercise more are healthier and can score higher on cognitive tests, for one thing. And replacing short car trips with journeys by bike (or on foot) is probably a good thing if we want to try to deal with this whole climate change thing. But that will only work if people feel safe swapping their two-ton deathmobiles for a pair of pedals. And it may well mean providing cyclists with bike lanes protected from vehicle traffic with more than a coat of paint. In fact, a study from Monash University in Australia suggests that merely painting bike lanes onto the roads may be counterproductive.

The researchers conducted an observational study, gathering data from 60 cyclists in Melbourne, Australia. For a week or two, the cyclists were equipped with sensors and cameras to capture data over the course of their riding. GNSS satellite navigation was used for location, ultrasonic sensors measured the passing distances of objects as the cyclists rode, and cameras allowed the researchers to classify passing events—was the bicycle passed by a vehicle, did the pass happen while the cyclist was in a bike lane, and so on. Over the study period (between April and August 2017) there were 422 trips covering a total of 3,294 miles (5,302km), 91 percent of which were on-road.

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

https://www.scoop.it/topic/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=Cyclisme

https://www.scoop.it/topic/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments/?&tag=Cycling