Van Bijsterveldt: ‘I am concerned about the excessive individualization in the Netherlands’

Traffic discipline, respect, liberalism, and road safety are interconnected issues worldwide. From Bali to Europe, the balance between freedom, regulations, and respect on the roads affects safety. As new vehicles like electric bikes emerge, regulations must adapt to ensure safety. The old minister Van Bijsterveldt of The Netherlands herself is concerned about the excessive individualization in the Netherlands. Van will soon retire as mayor in September 2025 after nine years of her successful office life.

I “fortunately” have limited freedom to be able to do this. When I visit those other countries, I am initially careful not to compare the “wrong” things. I am then aware that every situation you experience there is different from my home country, and that the perception you have as a human being of different things can be very different.

Is there too little traffic control in Bali and is there sufficient discipline in traffic all over the world (India)?

For example, last February 2024, when I was on holiday in Bali, I found scooter traffic very chaotic. The scooters drove back and forth, and hardly allowed each other space on the streets. The funny thing about all this is the fact that I did see a certain vigilance among the drivers of the scooters, and eventually recognized a certain discipline in it. As far as I could judge, relatively few accidents happened with these scooters.

Personally, I think that the degree of discipline and respect that one has for one’s fellow man plays a greater role in this than we think anywhere in the world. As I wrote before on Lekh.co and other world-renowned internet magazines, I know the Indian Hindustani culture well, so I think I can judge this reasonably. But how different is this in the other parts of the world?

Does the word “respect” mean the same thing in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa?

As you will probably understand, I think having respect for fellow human beings, wherever you live in the world, is a great thing. Some people often say to me: “Respect is something you mainly get from your parents.” I dare to confirm the latter immediately in my case. But what about the countries in Europe today? How much respect do people from the different countries still show each other in Europe? I immediately admit that you can look someone in the front of his head, but not in it. This means that you can never be sure how someone really thinks.

Every time I think of respect, I think of the traffic situation in the different countries of the world. Whether you are in India, Pakistan, Germany, Scotland, or the United States of America, you can immediately see whether the drivers of vehicles on the road react with respect to each other. If this is not the case, you hope that they will be corrected by the legislators in the country in question, and that this will increase their respect when they have paid a possible fine. But what about in the Netherlands today?

Is liberalism partly the cause of the lack of sufficient respect?

Freedom and democracy are two words that come up frequently in contemporary politics, but to what extent can these two elements be used and abused? This is often about giving and taking. Giving freedom to the other and taking the freedom yourself, is this possible in all cases? In my view, a positive vacuum could then arise, but is this really the case? I mentioned the fat bike earlier in this piece, but I could just as well mention the scooter or the electric bike. If you take a closer look at the development in traffic in recent years, you will see that many of these newly developed vehicles are no longer fully in accordance with the traffic laws in the various countries in which they occur.

The fat bike and the electric bicycle are already, or at least at a rapid pace, approaching the speed of the scooter and the old-fashioned moped. As you also know, the drivers of the “moped” and scooter are obliged to wear a helmet in many countries. This is not yet the case in the same countries with the fat bike and the electric bicycle; in many cases, it already leads to many fatal accidents among drivers of these means of transport, and vehicles that come into contact with these vehicles in a collision. Simply put, our current “too” liberal legislation, and the officials who must make and/or implement this legislation, are no longer able to cope with this traffic violence.

My conclusion here is that liberalism has probably had its day and has gone too far. Can we, as citizens of the world, stop our beautiful world wherever we may live? Can we as humans regain our respect and then start behaving? Do politicians, anywhere in the world, dare to roll back the rules in such a way that they must show more respect for each other again? I would like to hear your opinion.