Crossing the streets / Traffic, Amsterdam

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As a very senior citizen I am aware of the many warnings about trams (in the middle of the street) traffic direction (luckily we are not from England and look the right way-that is left), and bikes (I try to keep quiet when walking and continually mumble "bike" while approaching intersections). Along many of the newer paved walkways there is a bike lane near the street curb that is colored a dull brick-red. It is separated from the walking area which is raised, by another curb. This is the NEW DANGER for walkers. A shuffling elder or inattentive junior can easily trip over this curb which blends with the walking zone and is unmarked (they should be bright yellow!). This happened to my baby-sitter who badly sprained her knee in a fall. We had to take care of her instead of vice-versa. So if you are coming from a vehicle parked at the curb you must watch both ways for the bikes (they all go fast on the new lane) and then think "second curb" as you rush across the bike lane. These pictures in front of our hotel (the scene of the accident) illustrate the danger.

Probably appeared many many times on this site but just thought I'd add my bit. Please be very careful when crossing the roads in Amsterdam. You have cars, buses, bikes and trams to contend with. It's the bikes in particular that can catch you off guard. They have cycling lanes here in Amsterdam and it can be quite tricky to spot them and work out which way they are coming from when tryint to cross the roads here. Some of the smaller side streets look like pedestrian only zomes when in fact cyclist have just as much right of way on these and will wizz past without any warning. DONT say I didn't warn you! ha ha

After going through Europe and places like Rome, I thought I had seen the worst of the worst of street traffic and how dangerous it is to cross the road - NO WAY this has to be the worst. This is how it goes - step off the pavement and watch out for the bikes in the bike lane, then the tram lane, then you get to the cars bit, not so bad, but then on your way over you forget about the trams, and the bikes and then you are finally on the other side of the road!!!! There are so many bikes in this city, just check out the bike parking lot near the train station!! I saw a post card where they are pulling our hundreds of bikes from the canals!

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There a lot of bicycles and trams in Amsterdam but there are rules so no one rides his bike against traffic.
When you cross the streets watch carefully for bicycles and trams.
The trams when you are close to their line rings so you will know they are close to you.
With bicycles it sometimes much more difficult to hear them.

You could be walking along or crossing the street and next thing you know a tram comes along and almost knocks you over. This also happened to me when cycling though it's easier to escape them on a bike.

If you live in a country where bikes aren’t used much as a transport you have to beware here. There are thousands and they don’t ride them slowly. When you least expect they appeare. It takes about one or two days to get used to it, then you see it normal (if you have survived)

I know it's a bit of a cliche but do watch out for cyclists and trams! They're both very fast and come from unexpected directions. Some cyclists are good enough to ring a bell to warn you so you have a bit of time to step aside.

Don't walk on the cycle paths which are clearly marked.

I just spent the weekend in Amsterdam and managed not to get run over but only because I knew to look out for them!

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the catchy title of the 1992 bestseller by John Gray, succinctly expresses an ancient dilemma. What--if anything--do men's and women's brains do differently?

The general statement that men and women respond and behave differently under the same circumstances is true; For example, from the crib, male babies tend to be more aggressive and females more passive. As adults, in spatial operations, men have the edge in such skills as negotiating a maze, reading a map, and quickly discriminating between right and left. Men also perform better than women when asked to visualize an object and imagine rotating it. On the other hand, women tend to perform better than men when asked to look at objects of different shapes, sizes, and colors, and then to group them in some order.

This still doesn't explain why Paulien turns the map all around when I'm asking for the road to travel, while I like the map at one point so I can better visualize our position. Help!

Watch out for the trams and bicyclists... personally, I recommend that you pay more attention the trams since you will probably survive a bicycle collision... and watch out for people with two heads... you won't see eye to eye on anything...

Crossing the road! Look out for cars, then trams, then bikes...

Also, give Dutch weed some respect. It's strong and could effect you more than you think. If you swallow it in the form of shakes or cakes - expect the effect to last for hours.

Amsterdam is fun - don't take the michael. Give respect to the locals and the ladies... you can spot a British tourist a mile off!