Sure are. And the reason your not allowed to urinate in the canals is because of all the drunk and drugged out tourists that fall in. urinating in public is not allowed anyway. Same as stopping next to te highway to urinate. Not allowed unless your pregnant or a small child.
Coffee shop is a place where you can buy weed and not coffee. You can just marry someone from abroad, only you have to learn the language. You're not to blame if you're hit by a cyclist, that only applies to cars that hit cyclists.
Bikes don't have right of way per se; it is a bit more complicated. Lights on your bike are important to be seen in the dark. Better be seen by a cardriver than run over with a helmet on.
The thing about bicycle safety in America is that it is influenced by the car industry instead of cyclists. In the Netherlands we have a great cycling infrastructure created over time. This infrastructure makes sure that in dangerous situation, such as high speeds cyclists are separated from the murderous cars. Also the most deadly injury one could sustain on a bike is breaking your neck. Wich that little plastic shell on the top of your head won't safe you from.
The house sharing part is when you want to buy a house, not rent it. A house can only be bought by one person, or a couple. That’s what they ment here..
The no helmet required thing is true. The reason why this is is mostly that people don't want to wear them, but in the Netherlands, we do not really need them as our bicycle infrastructure is safe enough. Bikes and cars are separated enough.
yes and i think you have to be kind of stupid to not understand why a light on a bicycle is more important then a helmet. Sure a helmet wil protect you if you fall. But it wont do anything when a car or a truck runs you over because he didnt see you driving there at night.
I think they tried to make it a law in the 90's or so to wear one, but I'm not sure if it was never passed through or if they removed it quickly. Well, there's still discussion going on regarding helmets on bikes. Personally, I don't see it as necessary. They don't protect you from being run over by a car (and would probably lead to worse injury) anyway. There isn't a good argument for why they should be required. Even if you do fall down, landing on your head is still extremely rare. It would probably cause more deaths than save people.
Ok so considering how wrong the first one already was I'm gonna write out a list here of the actual laws: 1. Fireworks can be bought year round, but they're classed in different sub-categories. Fireworks for the likes of cake-decorations or so called "cold-sparks" emiters are classed as such that they can be used year round. The class of fireworks that actually has launching or explosive elements to it are classed differently and can only be bought and used as permitted by the law mentioned in the video. Reality of it is though that nobody ever upholds themselves to this law and starting at the 28th until around 7th on January you will hear fireworks going of at some point in the day. On top of that there's the professionalized used to pyrotechnics which obviously have a different subset of laws. 2. This law is actually correct. The reason why helmets are not required by law is also because most places you can cycle in The Netherlands have seperated cycling paths. So there's very few places where a cyclist will mix with motorized traffic. On top of that cyclists have independent traffic-light systems that allow them to cross similarly to pedestrians. Along with that is a traffic-law that grants cyclist excuse of any blame in case of a collision with motorized traffic. Meaning that a cyclist is more vulnerable in traffic, therefore people in motorized vehicles will get a full insurance claims to their name in case of an accident. Hit and runs are classed as Attempted Homicide, even if they're accidental. 3. Just regular testing, it's not that crazy. It's like those Amber Alert tests that you get every now and then. Most people don't heed them any warning. Those alarm systems are in place for the rare occasions where citizens need to be warned of a hazardous situation. When the alarms go of aside from the first Monday of the month at noon, you're suposed to go inside, close all windows/doors/vents and wait for further local news from the local government. 4. As a pedestrian if you get hit by a cyclist, it's on the cyclist. Unless you intentionally get in the way or get in the way through means of neglegience. So if you don't pay attention and just decide to cross a cycling lane and get hit, it's on you. However if you left enough space and the cyclist still runs into you, it's on them. 5. This is just plain wrong. This situation is similar to the green-card thing in the States. If you to get married with somebody from another country you need a written statement and substantial proof that it isn't a marriage for immigration purposes. Similarly if the person already lives here for work, you will also need to provide a valid visa with the correct labels attached for the reason that person would be in the country as well. 6. This is wrong. In a rental situation a landlord is allowed to have a certain maximum ammount of people based on the provided living space in that house. Provided that a bare minimum of a certain surface area is available for each individual person for privacy reasons. There's specific rental companies renting out houses to students that sometimes have up to 15 people living in the same house. The law they mentioned in the video is for purchasing houses. It basically boils down to the fact that no more than 4 individual people can share ownership of a bought house for liability reasons. How many people actually reside there is subject to local laws and housing plans. 7. Also this is very very wrong. Coffee Shops here are places where you get weed. It's not just because smoking is allowed. Also if you want to get a cup of coffee you go to a café, no a coffee shop. 8. This is true. There are some estimated that if this didn't happen large sections of central Amsterdam would be intraversible because of the fact that structures would've sunk below the waterlevel. 9. This is also true. This is to protect people from being kicked out from their homes over petty disagreements, in order to bypass this law some landlords started to incremently increase the monthly rent until their tenants could've rent it anymore, to then be able to kick them out for not paying rent. This is now also outlawed, rent is set for each leaseperiod and can only be increased to the similar economic rate of anual-inflation determined by the Tax Agencies. Most of the times to avoid paperwork, rent is set on a first contract and never revisited until a tenant moves out. 10. This is a very old law that first got introduced at the peak of the first wave of feminism here in The Netherlands. It was a weird way of the government to appease to female protestors when they updated the public indecency laws to disallow public urination in general, however they gave women an excempt under the reasons that for pregnant women it's harder to hold their bladder, and thus they might not be able to find a decent place to urinate in time. Therefore in general pregnant women are excempt from the law entirely. This includes everything from roadside to into canals.
When people have a helm, the cars drive harder and don’t stop for bycs. The weakest is protected, a car is the strongest, then a motorcycle, bike and last is the person who walks. The most people who died in the kanals are drunk, they come from a cafe and stand on the edge, and you know how drunks are, not to steady on there feet. And then .....plons .... blub ... dead.
Nou, 's winters moet je niet in dat ijskoude water vallen. Kom je er niet binnen twee minuutjes uit, dan raak je onderkoeld en dan kun je niet meer zwemmen. Dat overleef je niet. Met echt koud water moet je iemand heeeel snel op de kant helpen. En kijk uit dat je zelf niet óók gaat verzuipen.
I'm Dutch, and i've never heard that house sharing is illegal. Don't think that one is true. It's illegal to pie everywhere outside not only in the canals. I don't think it has anything to do that people get harmed, it's just illegal. Also please watch a video about new years eve in the Netherlands, i think you understand why it's only legal in these few hours to light up fireworks 😁
Pretty sure it is partially true, but not exactly as she said it. It depends on the location, the "bouwbesluit" of the municipality. They can give rules like for each xx km2 you can have x number of people. This to keep it liveble for everybody in the street.
Yeah i know at some locations it's not allowed to live with more people because it's to small. But i know that at other locations it's allowed to live with multiple people. So it's not a law for the whole Netherlands i think?
It is true that you're not allowed to easily share a house with more than two friends, because you'll no longer be considered to be living independently. That means you share features like a kitchen and bathroom, and you have less rights as a tenant. For a house or apartment to be considered 'dependent living space', the owner needs a permit and has to abide to certain rules and regulations, such as separate rental contracts for all who live there. It is possible for student houses and hospices, but it is regulated.
It is true. You can't just starting living with several people in one house, it's illegal. Only with a special permit (you won't get) it might be allowed.
The bike thing confuses people often i've noticed, yet its not weird at all. Because we are a bicycle nation, our road users are used to seeing bicycles around traffic, this is also part of the reason why a bell is mandatory, similar to a car horn, its there to notify others of your presence when they dont pay attention. The light is there because, being a bicycle nation, we also ride our bikes in the evening, night and early (pre dawn) morning, to get to work, from work to home, a bar or just visiting friends, our bikes will take us there (and in case we go to a bar, we dont risk a DUI), the light (front and back) is not there for you to see the road, its there for other road users to see you, for this same reason we have obligated reflectors on our bikes as well and a reflective stripe on the side our tyres for visibility at night. (the rule kinda is, be seen!) And helmets, why are those not a thing here... for bicycles anyway.. there's a few reasons with 1 being the notion that, on average a bicycle rider doesnt reach top speeds over 25 km (say 18 to 20 miles) an hour (not counting race bikes and electric bikes, i'll get back to those in a bit) another reason is, and this is the major reason.. our bicycles dont often use the roads themselves, we got 1000's upon 1000's of miles of dedicated bicycle paths running alongside main roads, often completely separated from car-traffic by a patch of grass of otherwise a barrier of some kind. When no such barrier is there, there are still dedicated lanes on the roads that cars are not allowed to drive on due to those lanes being dedicated to bicycles, similar to bus lanes. Now, for racing bicycles you will see most people wear a helmet due to the increased risk that comes with the higher speeds these bikes can reach (believe it or not, 45 miles an hour is not that difficult to reach on those bikes, sustaining those speeds.. different story hehehe) and ofc the electric bicycles, standard ones reach 25km an hour, well within the legal speed limit for personal transportation that isnt motorized (not going into too much details on that, because we also got mopeds in 2 varieties that come with their own laws on helmets being obligated or not) And you got your specialized electric bikes too, and those can reach top speeds of 35 to 40 miles an hour... helmets are required on those. You might have heard that we are ridiculously skilled at riding our bikes, and.. that is kinda true because we learn to ride our bikes pretty much the same day as we learn to walk, and from that moment on... we use our bikes for everything we need to get to. (advantage of a small nation with an amazing infrastructure) So in actual effect, if you like riding a bicycle... this is the place to be, because its likely the safest place on earth to ride a bicycle. Ok thats a lotta text to explain why the bicycle rules do make sense lol. There are other things in this video i could add insight on, but i've noticed that the bicycle thing seems to be a top question for non-dutchies, on how it actually works within our road system. If you do have questions, ofc feel free to ask and i will try to answer them as closely possible to the facts on the subject. Thnx for the upload Reggie :D (Edit ok, quickly on the canal peeing part lol.. this is a law that kinda came from the big cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht, that have a LOT (i mean really a LOT LOT) of canals in the city center, and at the banks of those canals... there are a lot of bars.. and drunk people, lets say, are not the most sure footed people and they tend to fall in (kinda like when you stand on the edge of a cliff, you "feel" the depth pulling you over the edge, when you look down? its a bit that effect) so this more obscure law came in place to prevent people from using the canals as a public rest room. The reason why pregnant women are exempt from this is not because its not a risk to them, but more for convenience of the ladies, when pregnant and the urge to pee rises... a pregnant woman REALLY needs to relieve herself asap, and there is no certainty there will be a public restroom available to them on short notice. so they are allowed to .. discretely, use the canal as a restroom. But i got an even funnier law on the exact same subject, from Great Britain, the English women who are pregnant, and get into a "pee emergency" can walk up to a policeman and ask for his helmet, he then is obligated to give her the helmet so she can use it to pee in... yes.. you dont make up that shit lol)
@@datboireggie5285 To add to this about helmets not being mandatory by federal law in the Netherlands. They are also not mandatory by federal law in the UK, USA and Canada, as well as almost every other country in the world. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet_laws_by_country#:~:text=Compulsory%20use%20of%20helmets%20has,use%20of%20helmets%20by%20cyclists. Some countries might have certain restrictions, in the US some states might have some restrictions, but in most places it is the same as the Netherlands. The difference is that in the Netherlands people also actually don't wear helmets while in the US and UK people still choose to wear them.
In addition why cycling in the Netherlands is so safe I have to refer to the first "weird" law you mentioned: that bikers are liable when hitting a pedestrian on the bikeway. What the traffic law really is saying is that the weakest participants in traffic should be protected and "stronger" participants should be aware of the potential harm they can inflict with their vehicle. So when a car hits a bike or pedestrian, the driver of the car will always at least be 50 percent liable regardless of him having caused the accident or not. In addition the burden of proof for the other 50 percent is also on him.
When you said that you understand that it's not the cyclist fault but pedestrian walking on bike lane, you made my day. Mostly tourists always walk on bike lanes. Dont do that
A bycicle helmet doesn't help you see a cyclist in the dark, a light does. Dodging cyclist without a light in the morning can be challenge if they don't have a light.
There is a big difference between a coffeeshop and a place where you can get a coffee. The first you can't enter when under 18 because they sell weed, not because of smoking being allowed. You can't smoke cigarettes in a coffeeshop, although a lot of people mix their weed with tabacco but you need to take your ciggies of the table after rolling.
Helmets are not required because head injuries are actually uncommon in bicycle accidents here. Head injuries mostly happen in high speed impacts with cars. But due to our dedicated bicycle infrastructure, seperating bicycle traffic from cars as much as possible, such accidents are fairly uncommon in The Netherlands. For the most part bicycle and car traffic only use the same part of the road in residential areas where cars travel at low speed. At lower speed car-bicycle accidents it's mostly the legs and arms that get injuried. In single sided bicycle accidents injuries to the collar bone are far more common than head injuries. It also helps that practically everybody here grew up riding a bicycle (and every parent in a car has kids with bicycles) so drivers are well aware of the potential dangers for cyclists. Lights are required so other people on the road can easily see you at night. As for the "blame the pedestrian law", it's not quite that simple as the lady made it out to be but you got gist of it. When a pedestrian is walking on a bicycle lane, he's the one at fault because he shouldn't be walking there in the first place. We have excellent sidewalks for pedestrians. But the blame is never automatically on the pedestrian. It all depends on the situation and certainly is not an open invitation for reckless behaviour on the cyclists part if a pedestrian is in their way.
The problem with handing out this kind of information is, that there is no context. This would make these 'crazy laws' not so crazy. For instance: urinating in a canal was often done by people who had just stumbled out of a bar and in this state, they were more prone to fall in the water and drown. Pregnant women are usually not intoxicated and well, when they have to go, they have to go., so why make life difficult for them. I have lived in the Netherlands all my life and I have never seen or heard about a pregnant woman using the canal in an emergency, so this is all a bit theoretical. Tenant protection laws protect them against bad landlords; the judge will usually rule that the right of a tenant to have a home is more important than the landlords arguments, which were usually trying to squeeze the tenants for more rent. The judge can also reduce the rent if it is considered unfair for what you get. In case of rent arrears some sort of mediation is attempted first. All makes for less homeless people and fairness in renting! I could add background info ta all the points you mentioned , but it might become boring. But probably every country has weird laws that you would have to investigate to understand them first. Jan Creutz, Netherlands.
House sharing is not illegal. But all people have to sign the lease contract for a rental home. So you can not just move in with a friend you have to be included in the contract
The canal law is based on this: A lot of drunk people pee in the canal when they're out clubbing, it frequently happens that someone falls in and drowns. Thats because its really hard to climb out of a canal, pregnant women are allowed because there is a very small chance of them being drunk.
3:00 that is because there are many bicycle paths throughout the country. this means you have much less chance of accidents. So helmets are not necessary, but a bell and lamps are. a bell to warn someone, and the lights to be clearly visible when it is dark. I love this video by the way!!
I have celebrated New eve in Britain and here in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, fireworks are much more crazy than in the UK. I typically don't hang up my clothes outside from about December 30th, because the fumes will get into your clothes if you do.
I might be able to clarify the bicycle without protection thing. We don't need to wear them because the main road, public transport, bicycle lane and sidewalk are separated. We even have a bicycle highway system going from city to city, although this is a work in progress. It's mainly used for safety and preventing traffic jams. And because most people are using the bicycle as a daily travel method, which we learn from a very young age. We do not need to wear a helmet, as long as we can signal them with sound like a car has a horn, and that they can see you with proper lights on the front and back. This might change in the future due to the ease of electric bicycles going easily 30kmh ( 18 / 19 mph ) which are also used by kids. We tend to be slow on reforms, but It will happen eventually, I think.
I'm Dutch, living and breathing. Biking is very safe in the Netherlands, where separate bike paths etc are a thing EVERYWHERE. If there's a road for a car, there will be a bike lane next to it, and a walking path next to that, on BOTH sides often even. Therefore we don't share the road much with cars and other vehicles, where a helmet makes sense by being thrown off your bike by a car. Also, as a driver of a car, and you're going thru a green light and hit a bike that is crossing the road that ran thru red, its still AT LEAST 50% your fault, by law. And everyone who rides a car in the netherlands has already ridden a bike for most of their youth and adulthood already, and are pretty careful around them, giving them the right of way. The light and bell are required due people biking after dark and need their visibility, and the bell for warning other bikers/pedestrians etc. And everyone here bikes around since they where 4 years old anyhow, ppl know how to bike. The thing you WON"T see here much is those speed bikers that have a 4000,- euro bike wanting to go over 50 km/h with their racing bike etc... those NEED those helmets.... which is exactly why its in the states mandatory. The alarms blaring isn't everywhere, on some places they have electronics in place that tests them automatically and doesn't need to make the noise then.. Tenants are heavily protected. Owner can't throw them out unless way behind with paying rent (and requires that owner has tried to get payments done), or if the owner is a private party needs the house for a good reason (family of owner or owner is gonna live there, extensive renovations needed, etc). Tenants don't have to let anyone in, including owner. As long they have tenancy, they are seen nearly the same as "owner" of a house. Tenants can paint, put up wallpaper, new carpet/laminate floor, change minor details on the interior of the house etc. Maintenance of larger exterior things is for the owner (outside part of the house, windows, doors to be painted, replacement / maintenance of central heating/hot water system. You can ask permission on larger changes on interior. But most houses are concrete / stone walls etc, so near nobody changes on this much. The urinating in the canal thing... its mostly drunks that pee in the canal and then topple in and aren't able to keep afloat due being drunk. No idea on the pregnant women tho... might be excluded due having very little bladder room...
Some laws make sense. 1] If you live in a very densely populated area like the Netherlands, having fireworks freely available will cause a lot of nuissance to the people living around you. 2] Wearing a helmet may be considered more safe to the bicyclist, then again most dutch grow up with a bycicle and can use it within a year or 2 after they learn to walk. Having a bell & light[after dark only] on you bicycle causes other road users to be better aware of your presence, again this is quite handy in a densily polulated area. 3] We have mostly separated walkways, bycicle lanes & roads everywhere. So if you get struck as a pedestrian by a bicycle on a bicycle road, yeah you're the one to blame as there are safer alternatives available. 4] Housing several none family members in one house does influence certain allowances people may get. To avoid fraud, this hase been implemented. 5] Cannabis is condoned, so to sell it to non adults is forbidden with respect to non adults safety/education etc etc. Cannabis is no gateway to heavier drugs but it aint that good either when growing up on a daily base. 6] Landlords may have different [nonlegal] motivations to kick out tennants, so to protect the tennant this law was instituted. 7] The peeing in the canal law is indeed a bit awkward.
Let's debunk almost all of these: - Fireworks: a contested issue, as of 2020 they are banned altogether, including storage. (doesn't mean there are none, though...) - Cyclists vs pedestrians: incorrect. Both are considered equal (weak) in traffic whether on the pavement or in the street. Whomever can prove (more) guilt wins. - Marriage: untrue, you just have to have a document that says you're not just marrying to get a permit to stay. No need for Dutch citizenship to marry, a permit for residence can be applied for. - Living with more than 3: true, but not true. You can apply to switch your house to 'independent livng' or 'community living.' Which is much used for students. It was partially created to ensure students have at least 24m2 to live and separate rooms and keep a check on illegal housing for students. - Coffee Shops: this is where it falls apart even more: the term 'coffeeshop' means something entirely different in the NL, as it is our indication for a place that weed is sold. These are distinct places with legal permits. But its nothing to do with a place you buy coffee. - Sinking: terribly untrue. The existing wooden piles are replaced with concrete ones (where possible) to prevent rot because the groundwaterlevels have been in steadily decline. Amsterdam is actually actively trying to increase the amount of water under them. - Tenant law: untrue, yet again. You can certainly evict if: 3 months of undue payments + notice, enough proof of malpractice/problems or simply announcing you have need for the appartment for personal use. - It's illegal to pee inside what Dutch law calls 'de bebouwde kom' (the built environment). They are more strict about this in the vicinity of cities with canals because drunk people were badly injured or even killed. (the canals are dredged each year, and there's a lot of old bicycles and other dangerous stuff in them).
The househaring is based on that most houses are small, like 3-4 person small -typical family size. It's to prevent small, yet, overly crowded houses, that hold 3 families or 8 expats
Fireworks: There are some light 'fireworks' that are sold year round, but it is seen as child grade: Sparkles and the like. Only professionals are allowed to have it outside of season, so a special event can still organise to have a fireworks show. It's a safety thing, as we have a dense population and storing what is essentially gunpowder in a densely populated area is dangerous. Bike helmet: There is actually proof that, while a helmet keeps you safe when you do fall, wearing a helmet means you are more likely to get in an accident in the first place. For example, car drivers will typically see you as less fragile and keep less distance when overtaking you. Living with roommates is possible, but you can't just decide to turn a regular house into a student house with 8 people. It is proven that this will increase more noise nuisance and more wear on the house. Doing so means the landlord will need a permit to turn it into a different type of house, which the city decides based on zoning laws. The landlord will then want individual contracts, so each person is clearly responsible for their part of the rent etc. This also protects the residents, so they have rights when the 'main' contract holder would leave. It is in the same category as tenant laws. You can't get a tenant out without objective proof they are in the wrong, but you can't get tenant rights without an explicit contract either. This makes it not uncommon for landlords to require more than just a deposit before allowing you to rent: you have to show proof of income. This may be as much as 4x the rent they are asking, so they know if needed, they can demand through a judge to get their money, The 18+ coffee shops made me laugh. People don't go their for their excellent coffee or to have a regular cigarette: They sell weed. Relieving oneself in the canal is a safety issue. Not because people can't swim, but because the main group of people who used to do this were drunks in the middle of the night. When drunk, you can't really save yourself from drowning as effectively and there have been bodies found in the morning due to this. It is not a law of the country, but localised rules per city. I imagine the canal rule to be specific to Amsterdam. Likewise, the exception for the pregnant lady is not likely to be found in the list of rules, but based on the interpretation of a judge to a specific case. The canal deaths in Amsterdam alone have exceeded 50 in a single year. In Bristol, England at some point they faces the same mystery: Was there a serial killer pushing people in? - No, just drunk people losing their balance and failing to climb out.
I mean there are so called 'student houses' where you can rent a single room, so there's definitely a way to circumvent that law. It probably requires the owner of the property to have a permit of some description, though, I'm no expert by any means.
The danger of urinating in the canals is to drunk people falling in. Pregnant women typically don't drink, while there's a lot of pressure on their bladders from the foetus, which means that they have to go more often.
Fun video! About the 2nd law, due to the infrastructure biking is made very safe, we have seperate lanes and everything, there are even streets where only bikes are allowed. Also we are very good at riding a bike, almost everyone can ride a bike without any problems at all. That's why helmets aren't mandatory.
I think the reason why the laws for fireworks are so strict is because some people really go crazy with fireworks, a lot of accidents happen. I think another reason is a major accident that happened in the city of Enschede in 2000, there was a fire in a building that stored fireworks and eventually there was an explosion. Many people got injured, some died and a big part of the neighbourhood was destroyed. Here's a video of it: ua-cam.com/video/cwZ6Lou3uN8/v-deo.html
Just to clarify the coffeeshop rule: places that sell marihuana are referred to with the English word coffeeshop and have a sign indicating this. Ordinary cafés are named differently and never have the sign that says "coffeeshop".
Most people urinating in a canal are drunk, so they fall in and drown lol, pregnant ladies have frequently huge pressure on their bladders because of the baby, so if they have to go, they have to go
The piles story. The Netherlands is for more than half under sea level. The soil is not firm. So centuries ago we started building houses on a strong foundation. To make sure that the foundation is firm and secure we drive poles with some sort of a crane with a heavy weight into the soil till we reach a firmer layer of soil. Initially it were wooden piles, nowadays concrete. So it is not a ridiculous law, it is to make sure that houses and offices are built in such way they can last a couple of centuries.
Drunk people tend to fall in a canal when they urinate in that canal. Pregnant women generally do not drink alcohol because it is not recommended. The chance that they will fall is therefore smaller. And because of their condition, they have to urinate more often, even if there is not a toilet nearby.
a few other crazy laws. In some places it is illegal to chalk on the sidewalks or other public property, even for children There are still places in the Netherlands where you can get a fine for swearing. Even after a divorce your in-laws always stay your in-laws according to dutch laws. In Deventer it is not allowed to walk around dressed as Sinterklaas (saint Nicolas) Begging for food or money is not allowed in a lot of places. officially you aren't allowed to take anything from a forest, not eaven a single leave.
Coffee shop is an English word but in the Netherlands the language is Dutch. So a coffee shop as in America is called a bar, café, team room etc. If a place is called coffee shopwith the English word, it’s a place to smoke weed.
The law for peeing in the canal is primarily aimed at (drunk) people that are in a boat on the canal. As you may know, in pregnancy everything gets shoved around and squished. So as a result you may have to go to the toilet more often. Having to hold it can be detrimental. So that's why they are aloud to pee.
A helmet is not really keeping you safe, studies have even shown that car drivers actually drive less safe around you when you wear a helmet. It is even said you make it more likely for your head to get hit, bigger surface after all yet the level of extra protection at high speeds is not compensation enough. In our country cyclist are nearly never taken to the hospital with head trauma. Mostly its internal bleeding that kills our cyclists. In the US head trauma for cyclist might be more frequent due to the different roads, cars and bycicles.
yeah the difference is in how our roads are designed. the roads in the netherlands are designed with the cyclist as the main user in mind, cars and the rest come second. in the U.S it is the other way around with cars being the primary users.
1.the reason for the bell and light is because the Netherlands has specific bike paths like roads but cars aren't allowed there so there is no immediate danger for cars but normal pedestrians are allowed there so the bell and light is for the pedestrian safety the reason why you need a helmet if you don't have a light or bel is because cars cannot see you at night if you dont have a light so just for a little safety you need a helmet 2.the house sharing is because of crimes and because they can get more money by selling more houses 3. you are allowed to kick out a tenant you just have to come to a agreement like say you need to leave in 2 months if the tenant wont agree you go to court and court usually just almost instantly depending on how busy they are choose a time that the tenant has to follow its just so people aren't on the street from one day to the next 4. pregnant one makes no sense to me either i guess they cant control themselves or something but i think this is a old law not really followed anymore
Drunk people tend to urinate in the canals. But due to the fact that they are intoxicated, it might happen that they fall in and because of the high sides along the canals they can't climb out and drown. Serious... this happens over here😉🤣
Tenant laws are like employee laws. Tenants and employees are very well protected. Reason: normally their power is less than the power of landlords and employers. We protect the weaker ones in the Netherlands. If you want to fire an employee or you want to get rid of a tenant, you have to build a file and then go to court. Again I like to turn it around: amazing that in the USA the rights of the weaker are not protected. (Bear in mind: I am both, a landlord and an employer, I am sometimes not happy with these laws, but at the same time I am proud of it). If both parties agree to and the contract (lease or employment) of course you can settle this without the court, with or without an indemnity, just upon mutual agreement.
I am from the Netherlands and the reason why you are not allowed to pee in the canals is because people with alcohol fall into them and can drown, so pregnant women are allowed to pee in the canal because they are sober and know what they are doing. But wild peeing is also illegale in the netherlands so thats the second reason why a woman is allowed and men not
About bicycles and helmets: Dutch are nearly born with a bicycle between their legs. There are more bicycles as citizens. There are also bicycles for sports but the main use is transportation. Since everybody rides or used to ride a bicycle they all know how vulnerable you are. Therefore the other traffic takes that into account. Bicycle accidents of course do happen, but traffic wise it is extremely safe and therefore no helmets. Sports bikers though generally do wear helmets since their speeds is much higher and generally also the distances. So it is not weird if you think about it.
House sharing is not illegal when the house is legally split-up into rooms to live in and got all the legal papers. You would share the facilities but have your own bedroom. I lived in a household with 30+ people sharing the same (big) kitchen etc. it depends on the house. When you urinate in a canal you can pass out and fall into the canal, when you just walked out a warm/hot building into the cold outside environment . Apparently. (And crazy mutated hulk sharks ofc)
Pregnant ladies arent usually drunk. So, they'll be reasonably save peeing in a canal. Drunk people, arent that save falling in a canal, especially when they cant get out. With the no helmets rule... We have really good bicycle infrastructure and rules, making it reasonably save, biking without a helmet. Like, separating bicycles from other traffic as the other traffic is allowed to go faster. Cars and bikes basically only share the same road if the cars are limited to about 20 mph. At about 30mph the bikes have a bike lane on the road or the bike path is completely separated from from the road the cars use. This makes it just a lot more safe
You are allowed to walk on the bike lanes, if there's no walkways nearby. You will always walk against the direction the cyclist are moving, so you can see them coming. (so if they don't pay attention, you can dodge them.)
This video makes so little sense to me as a Dutch person xD I think the thing with bicycle helmets vs bells and lights is that a helmet only protects you, so it's your own choise. With a bell and light, you can make yourself more noticable to others and thus protect others, which is why they are mandatory. Plus, we have very good bike infrastructure, so cycling is relatively safe... unless you're in Amsterdam and late for something, because after living there for a year I wonder how I ever survived that xD
Tennants are extremely well protected in this country. If you own a house and have rented it out and while the lease is active you want to sell it then the buyer has to buy it lease and all. They cant evict the tennants nor can they randomly raise the price. Thats why people arnt allowed to sub let. Thats probably why theres laws against too many people not from the same family living together. Also there are appartments designated as student housing. Cheaper and multiple people can live in those as long as theyre a student.
In most of the provinces in the Netherlands, the bike lane('s) is separated from the main road, so "no need for helmets", since you do have to deal with cars. Oh and the same goes for foot traffic, most of the time they have there own lane/side walk, so please do not walk on the red/bike lane, you can see a sort of example at 3:44, but this is a "big city" example.
The peeing in the canal one has to do with drunk people who tried to pee in a canal and ended up falling in and drowning. It's also a law that is local to cities that actually have canals, which the majority of Dutch cities don't have (at least not a network of them running through the city). Pregnant women are probably exempt because with the baby pressing down on their bladders, they are more likely to be in need of a sudden pee. And as others have said coffee shops in the Netherlands are places that "legally" sell weed, not places where you go for drinking coffee. There is probably a historical reason for why these places are called coffee shops that has to do with the time this wasn't "legal". If you want to get a cup of coffee, go to a cafe, a bar or a restaurant (or one of the many starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts that seem to be popping up all over the place lately). The house sharing law I've never heard of, but that could be a tax related one. There are plenty of student flats where multiple single people share houses, so if this law exists it must be a very specific one. As for the fireworks one: yes, the period you can buy fireworks and light them off is indeed the few days and hours before and on new years, but the Dutch go crazy for those few days and spend copious amounts of money on fireworks. Around new years it's like living in an extreme war zone.
Bells and lights on your bike are all about preventing an accident, a helmet just protects you when an accident actually happens, which doesn't happen a lot here and most of the time you don't really fall on your head. riding bikes is very safe here, so a helmet isn't necessary
1 fireworks jep officially illegal until dec 31st 6pm but it is a warzone way before that. 2 & 4 bicycles: by law they must function properly, working brakes, bell, lights front & back, reflective surfaces must be visible, no hand held phones/electronics (like in cars). When you hit a cyclist with your car it's automatically your fault, trespassing on bicycle lanes is a fine-able offence. There are so many laws that primary school kids (10/11 years) get special lessons and exam on how to behave in traffic as a cyclist. As our traffic is fully optimised to accommodate cyclists and we learn to ride a bike from a very young age (usually at I think 4/5 years old) helmets don't seem necessary to the Dutch people "stop babying us gov. we know better" (and way back when these laws were made and bicycles were widespread, we didn't have enough money to buy helmets). 3 drills, yep and most people get a loud test message on their phones I think every other month or so, rather safe than sorry in case of an emergency (huge fire/chemical spill/terrorist attack/ natural disaster/dyke break/ etc.) 4 see 2 5 stops green card weddings I guess, dunno, never heard of this one. 6 3 people: this is for buying a house, although outdated in current relationship rainbow variety. It was originally meant to stop unholy living conditions, our country has a strong Christian (northern half Protestant, southern half Catholic) heritage so probably an old church influenced law that hasn't been updated yet. Renting with several other people is possible but with strict rules. 7 coffeeshops: basically weed, joints, edibles, etc. Are legal here but still the laws are quite crooked and complicated. One Dutch common sense unwritten rule don't mix your drugs and don't mix drugs & alcohol. The combinations could lead to unwanted side effects, bad trips, hospitalisation or even death. If you experience any negative effects, don't hesitate to call for help, inquire at the shop or call the emergency services on 112. 8 the concrete poles, well yeah sounds legit. 9 tennant laws are complicated, both sides are protected but the tenant a little more. They are allowed to evict if tenant break contract but the court does need to give it an ok. This way the landlords are not king in their own house, and can't evict people just for nonsense reasons or monetary gain. 10 canals; most canals (mainly in Amsterdam & The Hague) have no fencing, plenty of drunk tourist (domestic and foreign) have fallen in whilst urinating and drowned as the canals are very deep. The urine also wrecks havoc with the canal's eco system and lots of (living)boat owners rather prefer you not to urinate on their property. Most cities have lots of pop-up urinals but women have tough luck as they rarely have a public bathroom, since pregnant women are not allowed to drink and sometimes have to go right then and there because the tiny tot decides to dance on her bladder they are exempt (to a certain extent) from that law. Hope this clarifies things.
the problem is that we dont have enough public toilets and people (in crowded plaxes) wont let you use the toilet in the shops , it is allowed bij law to do your thing outside of the residential places
I feel like all those laws in the video were either given the wrong context or not close to enough context to actually understand the laws. Guess they did so to make the laws come across as "crazy", when they most times aren't that crazy if at all. Well good video, glad you actually speculate about things and not just nod along. Also a good guess on the coffee shops law, but it was the other thing we are known to have legalized, drugs is being sold there.
The reason people under 18 arent allowed in coffeshops is because the word has a different meaning here. A coffeeshop is actually a weed dispensary where there is usually no actual coffee. A cafe is where coffee is served
Well the thing about urinating in the canals is actually because it is dangerous...when intoxicated your veins dilate. When urinating you create a pressure that causes a drop in blood pressure, they pass out and then fall into the canal and because they’re drunk they can’t get out and drown...happens quite often
Nice video, thanks man! Ahhh, bicycle helmets, yeah, you have to consider that practically every cardriver (i.e. most of us) in the country also owns and rides one or more bikes and has loved ones who ride bikes. So everyone understands how vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians are and thus adapt their behaviour. Plus, we all basically grow up on bikes and protecting your head when falling becomes muscle memory and instinctive, kind of like athletes or stuntpeople. And over time more and more of the most dangerous streets and intersections have had their trafficflows separated as much as possible, which makes a big difference. But helmets for the younger kids that still ride with Mom or Dad in one of those children's seats are a good idea, when falling, those kids don't have much control over how they hit the ground. It's kind of amazing though that this comes up every time in videos by foreigners. It's not against the law to wear one so if people feel unsafe without they are welcome to get one. But for most of us it's simply not worth the expense. No peeing in the canals but expecting mothers can, that one I wasn't aware of. Cool! I suppose most of the nightlife happens downtown which is also where you find the canals. Canals and drunks don't really mix very well. We like to protect our drunks because it could be any of us at some point in time. LOL. And pregnant women don't usually go around town pissdrunk.This might be a leftover from the past because peeing in public is prohibited anywhere in built up areas in any case so that seems a weird overlap. I'm guessing that, like me, nobody knows about this one. And sadly, it still happens occasionally that some reveller finds him/herself ending up as fishfodder. Strangely, everytime it happens, and I can remember 2 or 3 over the course of my life, you see conspiracy theories spring up about the police or municipal authorities covering up for a murderer, because "I knew so-and-so and he wasn't the type to walk into a canal." Funny that. Anyway, thanks again for the video, dude. Very enjoyable. PS. In case anyone wonders, yes, rambling because high AF.
The fireworks laws aren't about allowing fireworks, it's about permits. So with New Years you don't need a permit to sell and set off fireworks. The rest of the year you do. But there's still fireworks at festivals etc., just better regulated.
That thing with the tenant gets better when you realise that they can actually kick the landlord out. My sister actually rents the apartment she shares with her boyfriend from her boyfriend (official he doesn't live there😬) and she can actually kick him out because of this law
We don't have mandatory bicycle helmets, because Dutch streets are extremely safe for bicyclists. They are designed with bicyclist safety in mind, and if they haven't: they will be redesigned in the near future. As a result number the injuries sustained, esp. head injuries, rank as one of the lowest in Europe and maybe even the world, reducing the need for mandatory helmets. But, when you're bicycling faster than average, I'd recommend wearing a helmet, I do, too: when I bicycle I reach somewhere between 20-25km/hr depending if I have a headwind or not -I might get closer to 30km/h if I have the wind in the back and downhill I touched 40km/hr once Adn I'm not even a sports bicyclist, they will reach even faster speeds! They actually changed the law, where for certain e-bikes (pedal assist bikes that assist over 25km/hr and de-limited throttle activated bicyles that allow over 25km/hr speeds) helmets have become mandatory, as they offer maximum speeds of around 45km/hr -which is moped territory (and 45km/hr moped have helmets requirement. Although I believe they changed the laws for speed limited (
Another one for you my man.. People who pee in canals are mostly drunk. There are no rails of anything to prevent you from falling in to them, so thats why. On the other hand, it's not perse canals, but pregnant women are allowed to pee outside (in general), we call it 'wild plassen'. Cheers
Drunk people always need to pee, you stand at the edge, get dizzy, fall in the canal and drown, canals have smooth brick walls, they dont have a ladder or anything else to get out unless you are lucky to have a boat,bridge or something else nearby to grab on to, you will drown at 02:05 , 5 minutes after the bar closed. The pregnant woman thing, never heard of it, i am dutch.
Hej Reggie, It's so not cool to wear helmets, haha. The only people who fall off their bikes are foreigners. Lights and bell are realy important. So many people commute on bikes, so the bike lanes can be very busy. When it's dark cars need to see you and when overtaking you realy need a bell. Come and visit, i'll teach you how to ride a bike in the Netherlands my good sir!
Our accident rate with bicicles (i have been told) is one of the lowest in the world. And in a coffeeshop you can drink coffee, but it is to buy (or smoke) 5 grams of weed. If you want to drink coffee you go to a café. The law that you cannot live with more than 3 persons in a house, never heard that before
Well, that about bicycles isn't really true. we have one of the lowest major bicycle-related accidents in the world. most accidents are small and thereforee we do not need helmets.
Studies shown that not wearing a helmet makes you more involved in traffic and makes you pay more attention. Next to that, everyone who drives a car here also rides a bike regularly. So everybody knows what its like and is always looking out for bikes everywhere.
Mijn tweelingbroer kocht een huis uit 1892 in Spakenburg, maar het was verhuurd. Of je moet zelf vervangende woonruimte regelen, anders mag hij blijven tot hij zelf iets gevonden heeft.
Peeing in the canals is “deadly” because most time people do it, they are really drunk and are to drunk to swim or the water is so cold you freeze and can’t swim. But why pregnant women are allowed to do it, idk haha
Because pregnant women have a baby pushing on their blatter and have to pee more often and also cannot hold it very well. The law isn't specific to canals, they can pee almost everywhere.
House sharing is not illegal, but if you rent out a place to three or more people that are individual payers, and therfore not one household, you should get a 'profit-making' permit
Bicycle helmets are not mandatory because people have been driving them for eons and traffic here is used to them. Also, cyclists, like pedestrians, are deemed weak participants in traffic and are therefore guarded in a sense. If you're driving a car and you get in an accident with a pedestrian or cyclist, you are legally at fault (even if you really didn't cause it). For that reason also, since bicycles actively participate in traffic, they need to be visible at night, hence the mandatory head- and tail light, and as a cyclist you need to be able to audibly signal others in case of imminent danger, hence the mandatory bell. When cycling, if you want to turn left or right, you are also supposed to look over your shoulder first, then stick your hand out left or right, to let other traffic know where you're heading. Not many people do that any more, but if police wants to, they can give you a ticket for it if you don't.
very nice to see americans are open up to the rest in the world with interest ! , Before if you tell an american im from The netherlands they think its Amsterdam only or its in Germany or something . This will help America to become a better country . Because they can learn so much from us. We learned alreay alot from them
If you want to no more about the Dutch traffic system you might like Not Just Bikes. He is from Canada and has lived all over the world to finally settle in the Netherlands.
Canal pie: I think its cause drunk dutch people pie in them and fall in. And cause they are drunk they can't swim their way out and drown. But pregnant ladies don't drink but need to pie a lot....so they are the exception to the rule. It makes sense if you think about it.
House sharing: also a hoax. There are stipulations, to avoid “slumlords”. But you can share a house. Though on the other hand, it is weird that there are s9 many roommates in the USA. Why? Aren’t there enough houses? Don’t you respect your citizens? So I like to reverse the arrow here.
that house sharing rule is weird af, because im in the netherlands desperately looking for a home. And it's very hard to get a room of apartment with my friend, but you can easily find single room "apartments" where you still have to share the bathroom, kitchen and all that. but you do pay close to full price or more sometimes. Fkn hate that shit
you need to know that we have seperate roads for bikes only, and the bell and lights actually make you visible at night and able to warn others you are coming. the right of way only aply's when you are cycling on said roads for bikes only, if you cycle on the sidewalk the cycler is in the wrong. more then 3 people sharing a house resulted in 12 to 25 people sharing a house, you can rent a room in a house and have like 6 people live under 1 roof, but not have more then 3 people living in the same room (fire hazards and such, also keep in mind houses in nl arent as big as in the usa). a coffee shop in nl isnt selling coffee so much but legally selling weed, mariuana and hashies, hence the rule you need to be 18+ just like alcohol. tenant laws are put in place to protect the family renting from landlords that tend to milk a house for the rent (mostly used in case of rooms rented out) but also protects complete house renters. never seen the pee law used, we have public toilets everywere in big city's so not a issue at all. not sure why we even have that law but peeing guys usually do it against the side of a house or in doorways and then you can get a fine for sure. imagine living in amsterdam and you have 200 guys per weekend (friday and saturday mostly) going out and peeing in your doorway...
I remember seeing that vid, I was so... let’s say extremely annoyed. They claim you have to be 18+ to buy coffee here! Talk about not doing your homework. The makers have clearly never been here, they just want to score hits by being preposterous. A ‘coffeeshop’ doesn’t sell coffee except by accident. It sells soft drugs, which is legal - to an extent. They also clearly have no idea about what bikes mean here. We cycle as easily and often as anyone else would walk, they’re nearly like shoes. You don’t wear a helmet when you walk, we don’t wear helmets on our bikes. Except for those who cycle for sports but they go fast
research has shown that people who wear a helmet are more likely to get into accidents. the lights are to be vissible at night and the bell is to notify people you are overtaking them.
Peeing in public within the city limits is forbidden, so also in the canals. For everybody. Amongst others it is indecent exposure. I just checked, but I cannot find any exemptions for pregnant women. The Netherlands is a modern country, with modern laws. But still with a minimum of decency.
We only emphasize bikes in comparison to other countries. To most Dutch folks they're just a way to get from A to B. The Netherlands was 'the' first country to legalize Gay Marriage. Denmark had us beat on civil unions? Registered partnership? Meh. Not sure what you'd call them. Helmets are useless in most accidents, detrimental in some, and overall are not required if 'accidents' aren't normal. Not using a light or having a way to warn people you're approaching makes accidents more common. Infrastructure is focused on prevention rather than mitigation. I have no idea what the 'no house sharing law' is. o0 I lived in a house with 3 other people (+girlfriends) perfectly legal. We all had our own rooms though? This might be a law specific to house OWNERSHIP, so buying vs renting. It's probably the concept that only one person may own a house. (Or two, if married, with co-ownership) Coffeeshops are literally the name of our "WEED SHOPS" x'D So obviously, 18+. There are 'coffee houses' and 'cafés" for your regular caffeine fix. :p Tenant protection just means that if you do not agree to leave, the owner has to go to court. It's usually very obvious who is in the wrong, so it only reaches that point in particular divisive circumstances. Being a landlord is already a stupid privilege's, I want such laws to be more hard on that fucked up practice not less. xP Cultural difference? Nice video +1
-- Here is a (unwritten) bike law that not many know... As a biker, i'm allowed to run a red light when.. 1. I don't bother/obstruct any other user of the road. 2. make a right turn at the traffic light.. -- and NO..!!! it's not true about pedestrians being accountable for the biker falling down !!! If i walk on the walk way, and a biker hits ME... HE is responsable.. he got too close to the walk way... BUT.. If i walk on the bycicle lane... and get hit... THEN it is my fault!! -- Marriage laws are complicated.. IF i as a dutchy wanna marry a foreign girl.. it's about a 1 year wait before she can live in NL with me... If I get married in her country.. it's less then one year... but get this... IF someone living in NL for many years but isn't dutch, and gets a GF from outside of NL.. they can marry outside of NL, and the next day, she is allowed to come and live in NL... -- The max 3 in one house.. never heard about it.. I know people that lived in such a big house, they were with 5... ONLY reason i can think of... is the social security benefits.. but this is just guessing. -- I guess the makers of that video don't know the difference between a coffeshop and a "coffeeshop".. the first is a place to get coffee... the other is a place to get softdrugs (weed and hash).. There enough coffee places where people can go to for their instagram coffee.... but at the coffeeshop for smokers... usually they don't serve instagrammable coffee and some shops don't allow you to take a picture... ((i work in a hotel, and always need to ask "what kind of coffeeshop do you mean" when guests ask me for one... -- public urinating is illegal, and this is the first time ever, I hear pregnant women get a free pass..
About the helmets. Our laws protect the weakest. 1 pedestrians 2 biciclist 3 cars and when a car hits a pedestrian he is almost always fined. Then 3 people living in 1 house, there many people (not related) In studendhouses
Bicylce helmets don't improve safety, our infrastructure and mass use of the bicycle is what is making it safe. And you don't get blamed for an accident with a bicycle, the heavier traffic is responsible for the damage. This does not necesarily mean guilt. (in the case of a pedestrian, it even means that the cyclist is the more heavier traffic and responsibility for the damage is for the cyclist). This means the weaker traffic is protected.
I think the last one about the pregnant women and canals doesn't have anything to do with canals specifically. It's probably to do with pregnant women being allowed to pee and use restrooms in places where most other folks couldn't, because they need to use the restroom much more than the average person. So this channel just took that fact and went looking for the weirdest place where people aren't allowed to pee and left all other, normal, places to pee out of the 'fun fact'. It's not like pregnant Dutch women are all flocking to canals to pee.
They're wrong on coffeshops. You can enter a Starbucks in the Netherlands under 18. The difference is in the meaning of "coffeeshop". All over the world a coffeeshop is a place to buy coffee, and maybe drink it, depending on your order to be to go. Think Costa, Starbucks, Horton's, McCafe, everything in between the largest chains and the smallest snobby barista place. In the Netherlands, it's a place to legally buy cannabis. It's euphemism, the term "coffeeshop" with quotation marks, the handmovements, was used to remove the focus from the cannabis the patrons came for to on the cup of coffee they _could_ order with your jamaican or your dutch* It maybe also has to, or had to, do with the Dutch laws, as "Coffeeshops are allowed to sell cannabis, but they can't legally buy the Cannabis they're selling, so they coudn't call them CannabisShop. (Maybe that changed by now, but not when the term "coffeeshop" was euphemistically appropriated) Much like calling a brothel "massage parlor", wink wink, nudge nudge. For entering the "Coffeeshop", you have to be 18+ *this is based on a story a Canadian friend told me once, about as naive as he was in the early eighties -when visiting Amsterdam, he ordered a "Jamaican" and his friend a "Dutch", assuming this would be the coffee, whether it be the bean (or where it grew), the roast of the brew type. They were still waiting for their coffee when the waiter offered them both a cigarette....
Watch #how to survive Dutch fireworks and realize it is a big thing and why it’s on debate to be banned. It’s not weird if you’re renting you have you’re rights. Pissing in canals is deadly because most of them were drunk, they lean over and fall in them, but because of the walls they can’t find a good spot to climb out.
In the netherlands the only coffe shops that are 18+ are coffeeshops where you can buy drugs like marihuana other drugs that you can smoke, all the other coffeshops are legal for people under 18
My Dutch friends! Are these laws true? Let me know! Although I didn’t feel like they were “crazy” but idk. Lol
Sure are. And the reason your not allowed to urinate in the canals is because of all the drunk and drugged out tourists that fall in. urinating in public is not allowed anyway. Same as stopping next to te highway to urinate. Not allowed unless your pregnant or a small child.
Ja ze zijn allemaal waar
Coffee shop is a place where you can buy weed and not coffee. You can just marry someone from abroad, only you have to learn the language. You're not to blame if you're hit by a cyclist, that only applies to cars that hit cyclists.
Bikes don't have right of way per se; it is a bit more complicated.
Lights on your bike are important to be seen in the dark. Better be seen by a cardriver than run over with a helmet on.
The thing about bicycle safety in America is that it is influenced by the car industry instead of cyclists. In the Netherlands we have a great cycling infrastructure created over time. This infrastructure makes sure that in dangerous situation, such as high speeds cyclists are separated from the murderous cars. Also the most deadly injury one could sustain on a bike is breaking your neck. Wich that little plastic shell on the top of your head won't safe you from.
Ooh boy are they wrong about firework, watch: how to survive dutch new year
Hahahaya yes really true
The house sharing part is when you want to buy a house, not rent it. A house can only be bought by one person, or a couple. That’s what they ment here..
its also to prevent cramming 8 migrant workers into 1 bedroom homes. a real problem near agricultural areas.
uh,,,coffee shops are 18+ because that's what places where weed is sold legally are called 😂
Hahahahahah, this video is so retarded, the fact that they didnt take the 3 seconds to research this means you just have to block that channel
Still weed isn’t legal but allowed
@@H1SCOTTY well, decriminalized then if u wanna go into the details.. point is, there are places you can get drugs without being fined etc for it
If you're looking for coffee, you're looking for a Café, not a coffeeshop.
The no helmet required thing is true. The reason why this is is mostly that people don't want to wear them, but in the Netherlands, we do not really need them as our bicycle infrastructure is safe enough. Bikes and cars are separated enough.
yes and i think you have to be kind of stupid to not understand why a light on a bicycle is more important then a helmet. Sure a helmet wil protect you if you fall. But it wont do anything when a car or a truck runs you over because he didnt see you driving there at night.
Also, most car drivers are also bicyclists and are intuitive towards how bicyclists maneuver.
I think they tried to make it a law in the 90's or so to wear one, but I'm not sure if it was never passed through or if they removed it quickly. Well, there's still discussion going on regarding helmets on bikes. Personally, I don't see it as necessary. They don't protect you from being run over by a car (and would probably lead to worse injury) anyway. There isn't a good argument for why they should be required. Even if you do fall down, landing on your head is still extremely rare. It would probably cause more deaths than save people.
Ok so considering how wrong the first one already was I'm gonna write out a list here of the actual laws:
1. Fireworks can be bought year round, but they're classed in different sub-categories. Fireworks for the likes of cake-decorations or so called "cold-sparks" emiters are classed as such that they can be used year round. The class of fireworks that actually has launching or explosive elements to it are classed differently and can only be bought and used as permitted by the law mentioned in the video. Reality of it is though that nobody ever upholds themselves to this law and starting at the 28th until around 7th on January you will hear fireworks going of at some point in the day. On top of that there's the professionalized used to pyrotechnics which obviously have a different subset of laws.
2. This law is actually correct. The reason why helmets are not required by law is also because most places you can cycle in The Netherlands have seperated cycling paths. So there's very few places where a cyclist will mix with motorized traffic. On top of that cyclists have independent traffic-light systems that allow them to cross similarly to pedestrians. Along with that is a traffic-law that grants cyclist excuse of any blame in case of a collision with motorized traffic. Meaning that a cyclist is more vulnerable in traffic, therefore people in motorized vehicles will get a full insurance claims to their name in case of an accident. Hit and runs are classed as Attempted Homicide, even if they're accidental.
3. Just regular testing, it's not that crazy. It's like those Amber Alert tests that you get every now and then. Most people don't heed them any warning. Those alarm systems are in place for the rare occasions where citizens need to be warned of a hazardous situation. When the alarms go of aside from the first Monday of the month at noon, you're suposed to go inside, close all windows/doors/vents and wait for further local news from the local government.
4. As a pedestrian if you get hit by a cyclist, it's on the cyclist. Unless you intentionally get in the way or get in the way through means of neglegience. So if you don't pay attention and just decide to cross a cycling lane and get hit, it's on you. However if you left enough space and the cyclist still runs into you, it's on them.
5. This is just plain wrong. This situation is similar to the green-card thing in the States. If you to get married with somebody from another country you need a written statement and substantial proof that it isn't a marriage for immigration purposes. Similarly if the person already lives here for work, you will also need to provide a valid visa with the correct labels attached for the reason that person would be in the country as well.
6. This is wrong. In a rental situation a landlord is allowed to have a certain maximum ammount of people based on the provided living space in that house. Provided that a bare minimum of a certain surface area is available for each individual person for privacy reasons. There's specific rental companies renting out houses to students that sometimes have up to 15 people living in the same house. The law they mentioned in the video is for purchasing houses. It basically boils down to the fact that no more than 4 individual people can share ownership of a bought house for liability reasons. How many people actually reside there is subject to local laws and housing plans.
7. Also this is very very wrong. Coffee Shops here are places where you get weed. It's not just because smoking is allowed. Also if you want to get a cup of coffee you go to a café, no a coffee shop.
8. This is true. There are some estimated that if this didn't happen large sections of central Amsterdam would be intraversible because of the fact that structures would've sunk below the waterlevel.
9. This is also true. This is to protect people from being kicked out from their homes over petty disagreements, in order to bypass this law some landlords started to incremently increase the monthly rent until their tenants could've rent it anymore, to then be able to kick them out for not paying rent. This is now also outlawed, rent is set for each leaseperiod and can only be increased to the similar economic rate of anual-inflation determined by the Tax Agencies. Most of the times to avoid paperwork, rent is set on a first contract and never revisited until a tenant moves out.
10. This is a very old law that first got introduced at the peak of the first wave of feminism here in The Netherlands. It was a weird way of the government to appease to female protestors when they updated the public indecency laws to disallow public urination in general, however they gave women an excempt under the reasons that for pregnant women it's harder to hold their bladder, and thus they might not be able to find a decent place to urinate in time. Therefore in general pregnant women are excempt from the law entirely. This includes everything from roadside to into canals.
As far as i know, you're right on all points.
Omg I didn’t know I had a free pass to hit people with my bike 😂
No you don't lol
Asmir Aljic no shit
Red is dead!
I think GTA is infented in the Netherlands. You get points wen you hit somebody with your bike.
@@asmiraljic7896 yes you have. When a bike crash into a car. Then always it's blaming the car, not the bike.
When people have a helm, the cars drive harder and don’t stop for bycs.
The weakest is protected, a car is the strongest, then a motorcycle, bike and last is the person who walks.
The most people who died in the kanals are drunk, they come from a cafe and stand on the edge, and you know how drunks are, not to steady on there feet. And then .....plons .... blub ... dead.
Blub😂 grappige uitleg😅
Blub😂😂
Nou, 's winters moet je niet in dat ijskoude water vallen. Kom je er niet binnen twee minuutjes uit, dan raak je onderkoeld en dan kun je niet meer zwemmen. Dat overleef je niet.
Met echt koud water moet je iemand heeeel snel op de kant helpen. En kijk uit dat je zelf niet óók gaat verzuipen.
Meaning
of "plons"
is: splash! ;p
I'm Dutch, and i've never heard that house sharing is illegal. Don't think that one is true.
It's illegal to pie everywhere outside not only in the canals. I don't think it has anything to do that people get harmed, it's just illegal.
Also please watch a video about new years eve in the Netherlands, i think you understand why it's only legal in these few hours to light up fireworks 😁
Pretty sure it is partially true, but not exactly as she said it. It depends on the location, the "bouwbesluit" of the municipality.
They can give rules like for each xx km2 you can have x number of people. This to keep it liveble for everybody in the street.
This law is true but as of many laws it is one they don`t give much attention to it.
Yeah i know at some locations it's not allowed to live with more people because it's to small. But i know that at other locations it's allowed to live with multiple people. So it's not a law for the whole Netherlands i think?
It is true that you're not allowed to easily share a house with more than two friends, because you'll no longer be considered to be living independently. That means you share features like a kitchen and bathroom, and you have less rights as a tenant. For a house or apartment to be considered 'dependent living space', the owner needs a permit and has to abide to certain rules and regulations, such as separate rental contracts for all who live there. It is possible for student houses and hospices, but it is regulated.
It is true. You can't just starting living with several people in one house, it's illegal. Only with a special permit (you won't get) it might be allowed.
Our new years eve's are a straight up war zone regardless of the rules😂
Annual anarchy.
Like the last new year... For bitten to do the fireworks.... 12 O clock it was fireworks everywhere... Haha. Made my night
@@veraleucomelas Nah.. it would have made my day having a big truck to drive over those assholes.
The bike thing confuses people often i've noticed, yet its not weird at all.
Because we are a bicycle nation, our road users are used to seeing bicycles around traffic, this is also part of the reason why a bell is mandatory, similar to a car horn, its there to notify others of your presence when they dont pay attention.
The light is there because, being a bicycle nation, we also ride our bikes in the evening, night and early (pre dawn) morning, to get to work, from work to home, a bar or just visiting friends, our bikes will take us there (and in case we go to a bar, we dont risk a DUI), the light (front and back) is not there for you to see the road, its there for other road users to see you, for this same reason we have obligated reflectors on our bikes as well and a reflective stripe on the side our tyres for visibility at night. (the rule kinda is, be seen!)
And helmets, why are those not a thing here... for bicycles anyway.. there's a few reasons with 1 being the notion that, on average a bicycle rider doesnt reach top speeds over 25 km (say 18 to 20 miles) an hour (not counting race bikes and electric bikes, i'll get back to those in a bit) another reason is, and this is the major reason.. our bicycles dont often use the roads themselves, we got 1000's upon 1000's of miles of dedicated bicycle paths running alongside main roads, often completely separated from car-traffic by a patch of grass of otherwise a barrier of some kind.
When no such barrier is there, there are still dedicated lanes on the roads that cars are not allowed to drive on due to those lanes being dedicated to bicycles, similar to bus lanes.
Now, for racing bicycles you will see most people wear a helmet due to the increased risk that comes with the higher speeds these bikes can reach (believe it or not, 45 miles an hour is not that difficult to reach on those bikes, sustaining those speeds.. different story hehehe) and ofc the electric bicycles, standard ones reach 25km an hour, well within the legal speed limit for personal transportation that isnt motorized (not going into too much details on that, because we also got mopeds in 2 varieties that come with their own laws on helmets being obligated or not)
And you got your specialized electric bikes too, and those can reach top speeds of 35 to 40 miles an hour... helmets are required on those.
You might have heard that we are ridiculously skilled at riding our bikes, and.. that is kinda true because we learn to ride our bikes pretty much the same day as we learn to walk, and from that moment on... we use our bikes for everything we need to get to. (advantage of a small nation with an amazing infrastructure)
So in actual effect, if you like riding a bicycle... this is the place to be, because its likely the safest place on earth to ride a bicycle.
Ok thats a lotta text to explain why the bicycle rules do make sense lol.
There are other things in this video i could add insight on, but i've noticed that the bicycle thing seems to be a top question for non-dutchies, on how it actually works within our road system.
If you do have questions, ofc feel free to ask and i will try to answer them as closely possible to the facts on the subject.
Thnx for the upload Reggie :D
(Edit ok, quickly on the canal peeing part lol.. this is a law that kinda came from the big cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht, that have a LOT (i mean really a LOT LOT) of canals in the city center, and at the banks of those canals... there are a lot of bars.. and drunk people, lets say, are not the most sure footed people and they tend to fall in (kinda like when you stand on the edge of a cliff, you "feel" the depth pulling you over the edge, when you look down? its a bit that effect) so this more obscure law came in place to prevent people from using the canals as a public rest room. The reason why pregnant women are exempt from this is not because its not a risk to them, but more for convenience of the ladies, when pregnant and the urge to pee rises... a pregnant woman REALLY needs to relieve herself asap, and there is no certainty there will be a public restroom available to them on short notice. so they are allowed to .. discretely, use the canal as a restroom. But i got an even funnier law on the exact same subject, from Great Britain, the English women who are pregnant, and get into a "pee emergency" can walk up to a policeman and ask for his helmet, he then is obligated to give her the helmet so she can use it to pee in... yes.. you dont make up that shit lol)
thank you so much for the info! And omg, the peeing in a helmet thing is just hilarious xD
@@datboireggie5285 yeah that helmet thing still has me smiling from ear to ear myself, every time i think about it or read about it hehehe
Mand!
@@datboireggie5285 To add to this about helmets not being mandatory by federal law in the Netherlands.
They are also not mandatory by federal law in the UK, USA and Canada, as well as almost every other country in the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet_laws_by_country#:~:text=Compulsory%20use%20of%20helmets%20has,use%20of%20helmets%20by%20cyclists.
Some countries might have certain restrictions, in the US some states might have some restrictions, but in most places it is the same as the Netherlands. The difference is that in the Netherlands people also actually don't wear helmets while in the US and UK people still choose to wear them.
In addition why cycling in the Netherlands is so safe I have to refer to the first "weird" law you mentioned: that bikers are liable when hitting a pedestrian on the bikeway. What the traffic law really is saying is that the weakest participants in traffic should be protected and "stronger" participants should be aware of the potential harm they can inflict with their vehicle. So when a car hits a bike or pedestrian, the driver of the car will always at least be 50 percent liable regardless of him having caused the accident or not. In addition the burden of proof for the other 50 percent is also on him.
When you said that you understand that it's not the cyclist fault but pedestrian walking on bike lane, you made my day. Mostly tourists always walk on bike lanes. Dont do that
places in the netherland where you can buy coffy: Cafees.
Places where you buy weed: coffeeshops.
'cause that makes perfect sense.
Well we speak dutch in the netherlands, not english .-.
To us it makes perfect sense
A bycicle helmet doesn't help you see a cyclist in the dark, a light does. Dodging cyclist without a light in the morning can be challenge if they don't have a light.
There is a big difference between a coffeeshop and a place where you can get a coffee. The first you can't enter when under 18 because they sell weed, not because of smoking being allowed. You can't smoke cigarettes in a coffeeshop, although a lot of people mix their weed with tabacco but you need to take your ciggies of the table after rolling.
Helmets are not required because head injuries are actually uncommon in bicycle accidents here. Head injuries mostly happen in high speed impacts with cars. But due to our dedicated bicycle infrastructure, seperating bicycle traffic from cars as much as possible, such accidents are fairly uncommon in The Netherlands. For the most part bicycle and car traffic only use the same part of the road in residential areas where cars travel at low speed. At lower speed car-bicycle accidents it's mostly the legs and arms that get injuried. In single sided bicycle accidents injuries to the collar bone are far more common than head injuries. It also helps that practically everybody here grew up riding a bicycle (and every parent in a car has kids with bicycles) so drivers are well aware of the potential dangers for cyclists. Lights are required so other people on the road can easily see you at night.
As for the "blame the pedestrian law", it's not quite that simple as the lady made it out to be but you got gist of it. When a pedestrian is walking on a bicycle lane, he's the one at fault because he shouldn't be walking there in the first place. We have excellent sidewalks for pedestrians. But the blame is never automatically on the pedestrian. It all depends on the situation and certainly is not an open invitation for reckless behaviour on the cyclists part if a pedestrian is in their way.
House sharing is NOT illegal. That is simply not correct.
the restriction on fireworks apart from new years eve is because people here go absolutely crazy when it comes to fireworks
The problem with handing out this kind of information is, that there is no context. This would make these 'crazy laws' not so crazy. For instance: urinating in a canal was often done by people who had just stumbled out of a bar and in this state, they were more prone to fall in the water and drown. Pregnant women are usually not intoxicated and well, when they have to go, they have to go., so why make life difficult for them. I have lived in the Netherlands all my life and I have never seen or heard about a pregnant woman using the canal in an emergency, so this is all a bit theoretical. Tenant protection laws protect them against bad landlords; the judge will usually rule that the right of a tenant to have a home is more important than the landlords arguments, which were usually trying to squeeze the tenants for more rent. The judge can also reduce the rent if it is considered unfair for what you get. In case of rent arrears some sort of mediation is attempted first. All makes for less homeless people and fairness in renting! I could add background info ta all the points you mentioned , but it might become boring. But probably every country has weird laws that you would have to investigate to understand them first. Jan Creutz, Netherlands.
The roommate one is nonsense, on top of that landlords can kick tenants out when they do not pay or when they are breaking rules
House sharing is not illegal. But all people have to sign the lease contract for a rental home. So you can not just move in with a friend you have to be included in the contract
The canal law is based on this: A lot of drunk people pee in the canal when they're out clubbing, it frequently happens that someone falls in and drowns. Thats because its really hard to climb out of a canal, pregnant women are allowed because there is a very small chance of them being drunk.
3:00 that is because there are many bicycle paths throughout the country. this means you have much less chance of accidents. So helmets are not necessary, but a bell and lamps are. a bell to warn someone, and the lights to be clearly visible when it is dark. I love this video by the way!!
I have celebrated New eve in Britain and here in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, fireworks are much more crazy than in the UK. I typically don't hang up my clothes outside from about December 30th, because the fumes will get into your clothes if you do.
I might be able to clarify the bicycle without protection thing.
We don't need to wear them because the main road, public transport, bicycle lane and sidewalk are separated. We even have a bicycle highway system going from city to city, although this is a work in progress. It's mainly used for safety and preventing traffic jams. And because most people are using the bicycle as a daily travel method, which we learn from a very young age. We do not need to wear a helmet, as long as we can signal them with sound like a car has a horn, and that they can see you with proper lights on the front and back.
This might change in the future due to the ease of electric bicycles going easily 30kmh ( 18 / 19 mph ) which are also used by kids. We tend to be slow on reforms, but It will happen eventually, I think.
I'm Dutch, living and breathing.
Biking is very safe in the Netherlands, where separate bike paths etc are a thing EVERYWHERE. If there's a road for a car, there will be a bike lane next to it, and a walking path next to that, on BOTH sides often even. Therefore we don't share the road much with cars and other vehicles, where a helmet makes sense by being thrown off your bike by a car. Also, as a driver of a car, and you're going thru a green light and hit a bike that is crossing the road that ran thru red, its still AT LEAST 50% your fault, by law. And everyone who rides a car in the netherlands has already ridden a bike for most of their youth and adulthood already, and are pretty careful around them, giving them the right of way. The light and bell are required due people biking after dark and need their visibility, and the bell for warning other bikers/pedestrians etc. And everyone here bikes around since they where 4 years old anyhow, ppl know how to bike. The thing you WON"T see here much is those speed bikers that have a 4000,- euro bike wanting to go over 50 km/h with their racing bike etc... those NEED those helmets.... which is exactly why its in the states mandatory.
The alarms blaring isn't everywhere, on some places they have electronics in place that tests them automatically and doesn't need to make the noise then..
Tenants are heavily protected. Owner can't throw them out unless way behind with paying rent (and requires that owner has tried to get payments done), or if the owner is a private party needs the house for a good reason (family of owner or owner is gonna live there, extensive renovations needed, etc). Tenants don't have to let anyone in, including owner. As long they have tenancy, they are seen nearly the same as "owner" of a house. Tenants can paint, put up wallpaper, new carpet/laminate floor, change minor details on the interior of the house etc. Maintenance of larger exterior things is for the owner (outside part of the house, windows, doors to be painted, replacement / maintenance of central heating/hot water system. You can ask permission on larger changes on interior. But most houses are concrete / stone walls etc, so near nobody changes on this much.
The urinating in the canal thing... its mostly drunks that pee in the canal and then topple in and aren't able to keep afloat due being drunk. No idea on the pregnant women tho... might be excluded due having very little bladder room...
Some laws make sense. 1] If you live in a very densely populated area like the Netherlands, having fireworks freely available will cause a lot of nuissance to the people living around you. 2] Wearing a helmet may be considered more safe to the bicyclist, then again most dutch grow up with a bycicle and can use it within a year or 2 after they learn to walk. Having a bell & light[after dark only] on you bicycle causes other road users to be better aware of your presence, again this is quite handy in a densily polulated area. 3] We have mostly separated walkways, bycicle lanes & roads everywhere. So if you get struck as a pedestrian by a bicycle on a bicycle road, yeah you're the one to blame as there are safer alternatives available. 4] Housing several none family members in one house does influence certain allowances people may get. To avoid fraud, this hase been implemented. 5] Cannabis is condoned, so to sell it to non adults is forbidden with respect to non adults safety/education etc etc. Cannabis is no gateway to heavier drugs but it aint that good either when growing up on a daily base. 6] Landlords may have different [nonlegal] motivations to kick out tennants, so to protect the tennant this law was instituted. 7] The peeing in the canal law is indeed a bit awkward.
Let's debunk almost all of these:
- Fireworks: a contested issue, as of 2020 they are banned altogether, including storage. (doesn't mean there are none, though...)
- Cyclists vs pedestrians: incorrect. Both are considered equal (weak) in traffic whether on the pavement or in the street. Whomever can prove (more) guilt wins.
- Marriage: untrue, you just have to have a document that says you're not just marrying to get a permit to stay. No need for Dutch citizenship to marry, a permit for residence can be applied for.
- Living with more than 3: true, but not true. You can apply to switch your house to 'independent livng' or 'community living.' Which is much used for students. It was partially created to ensure students have at least 24m2 to live and separate rooms and keep a check on illegal housing for students.
- Coffee Shops: this is where it falls apart even more: the term 'coffeeshop' means something
entirely different in the NL, as it is our indication for a place that weed is sold.
These are distinct places with legal permits. But its nothing to do with a place you buy coffee.
- Sinking: terribly untrue. The existing wooden piles are replaced with concrete ones
(where possible) to prevent rot because the groundwaterlevels have been in steadily decline.
Amsterdam is actually actively trying to increase the amount of water under them.
- Tenant law: untrue, yet again. You can certainly evict if: 3 months of undue payments + notice, enough proof of malpractice/problems or simply announcing you have need for the appartment for personal use.
- It's illegal to pee inside what Dutch law calls 'de bebouwde kom' (the built environment).
They are more strict about this in the vicinity of cities with canals because drunk people
were badly injured or even killed. (the canals are dredged each year, and there's a lot
of old bicycles and other dangerous stuff in them).
The househaring is based on that most houses are small, like 3-4 person small -typical family size. It's to prevent small, yet, overly crowded houses, that hold 3 families or 8 expats
G E K O L O N I S E E R D
ga terug naar je gesticht
@@Linda-hs1lk Geen specerijen voor jou
Fireworks: There are some light 'fireworks' that are sold year round, but it is seen as child grade: Sparkles and the like. Only professionals are allowed to have it outside of season, so a special event can still organise to have a fireworks show. It's a safety thing, as we have a dense population and storing what is essentially gunpowder in a densely populated area is dangerous.
Bike helmet: There is actually proof that, while a helmet keeps you safe when you do fall, wearing a helmet means you are more likely to get in an accident in the first place. For example, car drivers will typically see you as less fragile and keep less distance when overtaking you.
Living with roommates is possible, but you can't just decide to turn a regular house into a student house with 8 people. It is proven that this will increase more noise nuisance and more wear on the house. Doing so means the landlord will need a permit to turn it into a different type of house, which the city decides based on zoning laws. The landlord will then want individual contracts, so each person is clearly responsible for their part of the rent etc. This also protects the residents, so they have rights when the 'main' contract holder would leave. It is in the same category as tenant laws. You can't get a tenant out without objective proof they are in the wrong, but you can't get tenant rights without an explicit contract either. This makes it not uncommon for landlords to require more than just a deposit before allowing you to rent: you have to show proof of income. This may be as much as 4x the rent they are asking, so they know if needed, they can demand through a judge to get their money,
The 18+ coffee shops made me laugh. People don't go their for their excellent coffee or to have a regular cigarette: They sell weed.
Relieving oneself in the canal is a safety issue. Not because people can't swim, but because the main group of people who used to do this were drunks in the middle of the night. When drunk, you can't really save yourself from drowning as effectively and there have been bodies found in the morning due to this. It is not a law of the country, but localised rules per city. I imagine the canal rule to be specific to Amsterdam. Likewise, the exception for the pregnant lady is not likely to be found in the list of rules, but based on the interpretation of a judge to a specific case.
The canal deaths in Amsterdam alone have exceeded 50 in a single year. In Bristol, England at some point they faces the same mystery: Was there a serial killer pushing people in? - No, just drunk people losing their balance and failing to climb out.
I mean there are so called 'student houses' where you can rent a single room, so there's definitely a way to circumvent that law. It probably requires the owner of the property to have a permit of some description, though, I'm no expert by any means.
The danger of urinating in the canals is to drunk people falling in. Pregnant women typically don't drink, while there's a lot of pressure on their bladders from the foetus, which means that they have to go more often.
Fun video! About the 2nd law, due to the infrastructure biking is made very safe, we have seperate lanes and everything, there are even streets where only bikes are allowed. Also we are very good at riding a bike, almost everyone can ride a bike without any problems at all. That's why helmets aren't mandatory.
I think the reason why the laws for fireworks are so strict is because some people really go crazy with fireworks, a lot of accidents happen. I think another reason is a major accident that happened in the city of Enschede in 2000, there was a fire in a building that stored fireworks and eventually there was an explosion. Many people got injured, some died and a big part of the neighbourhood was destroyed. Here's a video of it: ua-cam.com/video/cwZ6Lou3uN8/v-deo.html
Just to clarify the coffeeshop rule: places that sell marihuana are referred to with the English word coffeeshop and have a sign indicating this.
Ordinary cafés are named differently and never have the sign that says "coffeeshop".
Most people urinating in a canal are drunk, so they fall in and drown lol, pregnant ladies have frequently huge pressure on their bladders because of the baby, so if they have to go, they have to go
The piles story. The Netherlands is for more than half under sea level. The soil is not firm. So centuries ago we started building houses on a strong foundation. To make sure that the foundation is firm and secure we drive poles with some sort of a crane with a heavy weight into the soil till we reach a firmer layer of soil. Initially it were wooden piles, nowadays concrete. So it is not a ridiculous law, it is to make sure that houses and offices are built in such way they can last a couple of centuries.
0:58 what!?!? I live in a village and these windmills are next to it! Wow that is sooo crazy!
Drunk people tend to fall in a canal when they urinate in that canal.
Pregnant women generally do not drink alcohol because it is not recommended. The chance that they will fall is therefore smaller. And because of their condition, they have to urinate more often, even if there is not a toilet nearby.
a few other crazy laws.
In some places it is illegal to chalk on the sidewalks or other public property, even for children
There are still places in the Netherlands where you can get a fine for swearing.
Even after a divorce your in-laws always stay your in-laws according to dutch laws.
In Deventer it is not allowed to walk around dressed as Sinterklaas (saint Nicolas)
Begging for food or money is not allowed in a lot of places.
officially you aren't allowed to take anything from a forest, not eaven a single leave.
Coffee shop is an English word but in the Netherlands the language is Dutch. So a coffee shop as in America is called a bar, café, team room etc. If a place is called coffee shopwith the English word, it’s a place to smoke weed.
The law for peeing in the canal is primarily aimed at (drunk) people that are in a boat on the canal.
As you may know, in pregnancy everything gets shoved around and squished. So as a result you may have to go to the toilet more often. Having to hold it can be detrimental. So that's why they are aloud to pee.
A helmet is not really keeping you safe, studies have even shown that car drivers actually drive less safe around you when you wear a helmet. It is even said you make it more likely for your head to get hit, bigger surface after all yet the level of extra protection at high speeds is not compensation enough.
In our country cyclist are nearly never taken to the hospital with head trauma. Mostly its internal bleeding that kills our cyclists. In the US head trauma for cyclist might be more frequent due to the different roads, cars and bycicles.
Ahh that makes sense! Thank you!
And cause we actually have separate lanes for bikes at least that's what my assumptions are
yeah the difference is in how our roads are designed. the roads in the netherlands are designed with the cyclist as the main user in mind, cars and the rest come second. in the U.S it is the other way around with cars being the primary users.
1.the reason for the bell and light is because the Netherlands has specific bike paths like roads but cars aren't allowed there so there is no immediate danger for cars but normal pedestrians are allowed there so the bell and light is for the pedestrian safety the reason why you need a helmet if you don't have a light or bel is because cars cannot see you at night if you dont have a light so just for a little safety you need a helmet
2.the house sharing is because of crimes and because they can get more money by selling more houses
3. you are allowed to kick out a tenant you just have to come to a agreement like say you need to leave in 2 months if the tenant wont agree you go to court and court usually just almost instantly depending on how busy they are choose a time that the tenant has to follow its just so people aren't on the street from one day to the next
4. pregnant one makes no sense to me either i guess they cant control themselves or something but i think this is a old law not really followed anymore
Drunk people tend to urinate in the canals. But due to the fact that they are intoxicated, it might happen that they fall in and because of the high sides along the canals they can't climb out and drown. Serious... this happens over here😉🤣
Tenant laws are like employee laws. Tenants and employees are very well protected. Reason: normally their power is less than the power of landlords and employers. We protect the weaker ones in the Netherlands. If you want to fire an employee or you want to get rid of a tenant, you have to build a file and then go to court. Again I like to turn it around: amazing that in the USA the rights of the weaker are not protected. (Bear in mind: I am both, a landlord and an employer, I am sometimes not happy with these laws, but at the same time I am proud of it). If both parties agree to and the contract (lease or employment) of course you can settle this without the court, with or without an indemnity, just upon mutual agreement.
I am from the Netherlands and the reason why you are not allowed to pee in the canals is because people with alcohol fall into them and can drown, so pregnant women are allowed to pee in the canal because they are sober and know what they are doing. But wild peeing is also illegale in the netherlands so thats the second reason why a woman is allowed and men not
About bicycles and helmets: Dutch are nearly born with a bicycle between their legs. There are more bicycles as citizens. There are also bicycles for sports but the main use is transportation. Since everybody rides or used to ride a bicycle they all know how vulnerable you are. Therefore the other traffic takes that into account. Bicycle accidents of course do happen, but traffic wise it is extremely safe and therefore no helmets. Sports bikers though generally do wear helmets since their speeds is much higher and generally also the distances. So it is not weird if you think about it.
House sharing is not illegal when the house is legally split-up into rooms to live in and got all the legal papers. You would share the facilities but have your own bedroom. I lived in a household with 30+ people sharing the same (big) kitchen etc. it depends on the house.
When you urinate in a canal you can pass out and fall into the canal, when you just walked out a warm/hot building into the cold outside environment . Apparently.
(And crazy mutated hulk sharks ofc)
Pregnant ladies arent usually drunk. So, they'll be reasonably save peeing in a canal. Drunk people, arent that save falling in a canal, especially when they cant get out.
With the no helmets rule... We have really good bicycle infrastructure and rules, making it reasonably save, biking without a helmet. Like, separating bicycles from other traffic as the other traffic is allowed to go faster. Cars and bikes basically only share the same road if the cars are limited to about 20 mph. At about 30mph the bikes have a bike lane on the road or the bike path is completely separated from from the road the cars use. This makes it just a lot more safe
You are allowed to walk on the bike lanes, if there's no walkways nearby. You will always walk against the direction the cyclist are moving, so you can see them coming. (so if they don't pay attention, you can dodge them.)
This video makes so little sense to me as a Dutch person xD
I think the thing with bicycle helmets vs bells and lights is that a helmet only protects you, so it's your own choise. With a bell and light, you can make yourself more noticable to others and thus protect others, which is why they are mandatory.
Plus, we have very good bike infrastructure, so cycling is relatively safe... unless you're in Amsterdam and late for something, because after living there for a year I wonder how I ever survived that xD
Tennants are extremely well protected in this country. If you own a house and have rented it out and while the lease is active you want to sell it then the buyer has to buy it lease and all. They cant evict the tennants nor can they randomly raise the price. Thats why people arnt allowed to sub let. Thats probably why theres laws against too many people not from the same family living together. Also there are appartments designated as student housing. Cheaper and multiple people can live in those as long as theyre a student.
In most of the provinces in the Netherlands, the bike lane('s) is separated from the main road, so "no need for helmets", since you do have to deal with cars. Oh and the same goes for foot traffic, most of the time they have there own lane/side walk, so please do not walk on the red/bike lane, you can see a sort of example at 3:44, but this is a "big city" example.
The peeing in the canal one has to do with drunk people who tried to pee in a canal and ended up falling in and drowning. It's also a law that is local to cities that actually have canals, which the majority of Dutch cities don't have (at least not a network of them running through the city). Pregnant women are probably exempt because with the baby pressing down on their bladders, they are more likely to be in need of a sudden pee. And as others have said coffee shops in the Netherlands are places that "legally" sell weed, not places where you go for drinking coffee. There is probably a historical reason for why these places are called coffee shops that has to do with the time this wasn't "legal". If you want to get a cup of coffee, go to a cafe, a bar or a restaurant (or one of the many starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts that seem to be popping up all over the place lately). The house sharing law I've never heard of, but that could be a tax related one. There are plenty of student flats where multiple single people share houses, so if this law exists it must be a very specific one. As for the fireworks one: yes, the period you can buy fireworks and light them off is indeed the few days and hours before and on new years, but the Dutch go crazy for those few days and spend copious amounts of money on fireworks. Around new years it's like living in an extreme war zone.
and since this year (2020/2021), no firework AT ALL!!!
Bells and lights on your bike are all about preventing an accident, a helmet just protects you when an accident actually happens, which doesn't happen a lot here and most of the time you don't really fall on your head. riding bikes is very safe here, so a helmet isn't necessary
1 fireworks jep officially illegal until dec 31st 6pm but it is a warzone way before that.
2 & 4 bicycles: by law they must function properly, working brakes, bell, lights front & back, reflective surfaces must be visible, no hand held phones/electronics (like in cars). When you hit a cyclist with your car it's automatically your fault, trespassing on bicycle lanes is a fine-able offence. There are so many laws that primary school kids (10/11 years) get special lessons and exam on how to behave in traffic as a cyclist. As our traffic is fully optimised to accommodate cyclists and we learn to ride a bike from a very young age (usually at I think 4/5 years old) helmets don't seem necessary to the Dutch people "stop babying us gov. we know better" (and way back when these laws were made and bicycles were widespread, we didn't have enough money to buy helmets).
3 drills, yep and most people get a loud test message on their phones I think every other month or so, rather safe than sorry in case of an emergency (huge fire/chemical spill/terrorist attack/ natural disaster/dyke break/ etc.)
4 see 2
5 stops green card weddings I guess, dunno, never heard of this one.
6 3 people: this is for buying a house, although outdated in current relationship rainbow variety. It was originally meant to stop unholy living conditions, our country has a strong Christian (northern half Protestant, southern half Catholic) heritage so probably an old church influenced law that hasn't been updated yet. Renting with several other people is possible but with strict rules.
7 coffeeshops: basically weed, joints, edibles, etc. Are legal here but still the laws are quite crooked and complicated. One Dutch common sense unwritten rule don't mix your drugs and don't mix drugs & alcohol. The combinations could lead to unwanted side effects, bad trips, hospitalisation or even death. If you experience any negative effects, don't hesitate to call for help, inquire at the shop or call the emergency services on 112.
8 the concrete poles, well yeah sounds legit.
9 tennant laws are complicated, both sides are protected but the tenant a little more. They are allowed to evict if tenant break contract but the court does need to give it an ok. This way the landlords are not king in their own house, and can't evict people just for nonsense reasons or monetary gain.
10 canals; most canals (mainly in Amsterdam & The Hague) have no fencing, plenty of drunk tourist (domestic and foreign) have fallen in whilst urinating and drowned as the canals are very deep. The urine also wrecks havoc with the canal's eco system and lots of (living)boat owners rather prefer you not to urinate on their property. Most cities have lots of pop-up urinals but women have tough luck as they rarely have a public bathroom, since pregnant women are not allowed to drink and sometimes have to go right then and there because the tiny tot decides to dance on her bladder they are exempt (to a certain extent) from that law.
Hope this clarifies things.
the problem is that we dont have enough public toilets and people (in crowded plaxes) wont let you use the toilet in the shops , it is allowed bij law to do your thing outside of the residential places
I feel like all those laws in the video were either given the wrong context or not close to enough context to actually understand the laws. Guess they did so to make the laws come across as "crazy", when they most times aren't that crazy if at all. Well good video, glad you actually speculate about things and not just nod along. Also a good guess on the coffee shops law, but it was the other thing we are known to have legalized, drugs is being sold there.
The reason people under 18 arent allowed in coffeshops is because the word has a different meaning here. A coffeeshop is actually a weed dispensary where there is usually no actual coffee. A cafe is where coffee is served
Well the thing about urinating in the canals is actually because it is dangerous...when intoxicated your veins dilate. When urinating you create a pressure that causes a drop in blood pressure, they pass out and then fall into the canal and because they’re drunk they can’t get out and drown...happens quite often
Nice video, thanks man!
Ahhh, bicycle helmets, yeah, you have to consider that practically every cardriver (i.e. most of us) in the country also owns and rides one or more bikes and has loved ones who ride bikes. So everyone understands how vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians are and thus adapt their behaviour. Plus, we all basically grow up on bikes and protecting your head when falling becomes muscle memory and instinctive, kind of like athletes or stuntpeople. And over time more and more of the most dangerous streets and intersections have had their trafficflows separated as much as possible, which makes a big difference. But helmets for the younger kids that still ride with Mom or Dad in one of those children's seats are a good idea, when falling, those kids don't have much control over how they hit the ground. It's kind of amazing though that this comes up every time in videos by foreigners. It's not against the law to wear one so if people feel unsafe without they are welcome to get one. But for most of us it's simply not worth the expense.
No peeing in the canals but expecting mothers can, that one I wasn't aware of. Cool! I suppose most of the nightlife happens downtown which is also where you find the canals. Canals and drunks don't really mix very well. We like to protect our drunks because it could be any of us at some point in time. LOL. And pregnant women don't usually go around town pissdrunk.This might be a leftover from the past because peeing in public is prohibited anywhere in built up areas in any case so that seems a weird overlap. I'm guessing that, like me, nobody knows about this one. And sadly, it still happens occasionally that some reveller finds him/herself ending up as fishfodder. Strangely, everytime it happens, and I can remember 2 or 3 over the course of my life, you see conspiracy theories spring up about the police or municipal authorities covering up for a murderer, because "I knew so-and-so and he wasn't the type to walk into a canal." Funny that.
Anyway, thanks again for the video, dude. Very enjoyable.
PS. In case anyone wonders, yes, rambling because high AF.
The fireworks laws aren't about allowing fireworks, it's about permits. So with New Years you don't need a permit to sell and set off fireworks. The rest of the year you do. But there's still fireworks at festivals etc., just better regulated.
That thing with the tenant gets better when you realise that they can actually kick the landlord out. My sister actually rents the apartment she shares with her boyfriend from her boyfriend (official he doesn't live there😬) and she can actually kick him out because of this law
We don't have mandatory bicycle helmets, because Dutch streets are extremely safe for bicyclists. They are designed with bicyclist safety in mind, and if they haven't: they will be redesigned in the near future.
As a result number the injuries sustained, esp. head injuries, rank as one of the lowest in Europe and maybe even the world, reducing the need for mandatory helmets.
But, when you're bicycling faster than average, I'd recommend wearing a helmet, I do, too:
when I bicycle I reach somewhere between 20-25km/hr depending if I have a headwind or not -I might get closer to 30km/h if I have the wind in the back and downhill I touched 40km/hr once
Adn I'm not even a sports bicyclist, they will reach even faster speeds!
They actually changed the law, where for certain e-bikes (pedal assist bikes that assist over 25km/hr and de-limited throttle activated bicyles that allow over 25km/hr speeds) helmets have become mandatory, as they offer maximum speeds of around 45km/hr -which is moped territory (and 45km/hr moped have helmets requirement. Although I believe they changed the laws for speed limited (
Another one for you my man..
People who pee in canals are mostly drunk. There are no rails of anything to prevent you from falling in to them, so thats why.
On the other hand, it's not perse canals, but pregnant women are allowed to pee outside (in general), we call it 'wild plassen'.
Cheers
Drunk people always need to pee, you stand at the edge, get dizzy, fall in the canal and drown, canals have smooth brick walls, they dont have a ladder or anything else to get out unless you are lucky to have a boat,bridge or something else nearby to grab on to, you will drown at 02:05 , 5 minutes after the bar closed.
The pregnant woman thing, never heard of it, i am dutch.
Hej Reggie,
It's so not cool to wear helmets, haha. The only people who fall off their bikes are foreigners. Lights and bell are realy important. So many people commute on bikes, so the bike lanes can be very busy. When it's dark cars need to see you and when overtaking you realy need a bell.
Come and visit, i'll teach you how to ride a bike in the Netherlands my good sir!
Our accident rate with bicicles (i have been told) is one of the lowest in the world.
And in a coffeeshop you can drink coffee, but it is to buy (or smoke) 5 grams of weed. If you want to drink coffee you go to a café.
The law that you cannot live with more than 3 persons in a house, never heard that before
Well, that about bicycles isn't really true. we have one of the lowest major bicycle-related accidents in the world. most accidents are small and thereforee we do not need helmets.
Studies shown that not wearing a helmet makes you more involved in traffic and makes you pay more attention. Next to that, everyone who drives a car here also rides a bike regularly. So everybody knows what its like and is always looking out for bikes everywhere.
also, some of the "rules" on this list are complete bullshit. the housesharing one for instance, not true.
Mijn tweelingbroer kocht een huis uit 1892 in Spakenburg, maar het was verhuurd.
Of je moet zelf vervangende woonruimte regelen, anders mag hij blijven tot hij zelf iets gevonden heeft.
Peeing in the canals is “deadly” because most time people do it, they are really drunk and are to drunk to swim or the water is so cold you freeze and can’t swim. But why pregnant women are allowed to do it, idk haha
Because pregnant women arent allowed to drink
Because pregnant women have a baby pushing on their blatter and have to pee more often and also cannot hold it very well. The law isn't specific to canals, they can pee almost everywhere.
House sharing is not illegal, but if you rent out a place to three or more people that are individual payers, and therfore not one household, you should get a 'profit-making' permit
Bicycle helmets are not mandatory because people have been driving them for eons and traffic here is used to them. Also, cyclists, like pedestrians, are deemed weak participants in traffic and are therefore guarded in a sense. If you're driving a car and you get in an accident with a pedestrian or cyclist, you are legally at fault (even if you really didn't cause it). For that reason also, since bicycles actively participate in traffic, they need to be visible at night, hence the mandatory head- and tail light, and as a cyclist you need to be able to audibly signal others in case of imminent danger, hence the mandatory bell. When cycling, if you want to turn left or right, you are also supposed to look over your shoulder first, then stick your hand out left or right, to let other traffic know where you're heading. Not many people do that any more, but if police wants to, they can give you a ticket for it if you don't.
very nice to see americans are open up to the rest in the world with interest ! , Before if you tell an american im from The netherlands they think its Amsterdam only or its in Germany or something .
This will help America to become a better country . Because they can learn so much from us. We learned alreay alot from them
If you want to no more about the Dutch traffic system you might like Not Just Bikes. He is from Canada and has lived all over the world to finally settle in the Netherlands.
5:00 I house is a no go but like student apartments or dorms are allowed. so if you live in one of these then you can bunk up with your buddies.
Canal pie: I think its cause drunk dutch people pie in them and fall in. And cause they are drunk they can't swim their way out and drown. But pregnant ladies don't drink but need to pie a lot....so they are the exception to the rule. It makes sense if you think about it.
House sharing: also a hoax. There are stipulations, to avoid “slumlords”. But you can share a house. Though on the other hand, it is weird that there are s9 many roommates in the USA. Why? Aren’t there enough houses? Don’t you respect your citizens? So I like to reverse the arrow here.
that house sharing rule is weird af, because im in the netherlands desperately looking for a home. And it's very hard to get a room of apartment with my friend, but you can easily find single room "apartments" where you still have to share the bathroom, kitchen and all that. but you do pay close to full price or more sometimes. Fkn hate that shit
Check out the fireworks in the netherlands, then you’ll understand why this law is so stricked.
Cyclists don't need helmets here in the Netherlands because our road systems are designed to prevent collisions between bicycles and cars.
you need to know that we have seperate roads for bikes only, and the bell and lights actually make you visible at night and able to warn others you are coming. the right of way only aply's when you are cycling on said roads for bikes only, if you cycle on the sidewalk the cycler is in the wrong. more then 3 people sharing a house resulted in 12 to 25 people sharing a house, you can rent a room in a house and have like 6 people live under 1 roof, but not have more then 3 people living in the same room (fire hazards and such, also keep in mind houses in nl arent as big as in the usa). a coffee shop in nl isnt selling coffee so much but legally selling weed, mariuana and hashies, hence the rule you need to be 18+ just like alcohol. tenant laws are put in place to protect the family renting from landlords that tend to milk a house for the rent (mostly used in case of rooms rented out) but also protects complete house renters. never seen the pee law used, we have public toilets everywere in big city's so not a issue at all. not sure why we even have that law but peeing guys usually do it against the side of a house or in doorways and then you can get a fine for sure. imagine living in amsterdam and you have 200 guys per weekend (friday and saturday mostly) going out and peeing in your doorway...
I remember seeing that vid, I was so... let’s say extremely annoyed. They claim you have to be 18+ to buy coffee here! Talk about not doing your homework. The makers have clearly never been here, they just want to score hits by being preposterous. A ‘coffeeshop’ doesn’t sell coffee except by accident. It sells soft drugs, which is legal - to an extent. They also clearly have no idea about what bikes mean here. We cycle as easily and often as anyone else would walk, they’re nearly like shoes. You don’t wear a helmet when you walk, we don’t wear helmets on our bikes. Except for those who cycle for sports but they go fast
research has shown that people who wear a helmet are more likely to get into accidents. the lights are to be vissible at night and the bell is to notify people you are overtaking them.
Peeing in public within the city limits is forbidden, so also in the canals. For everybody. Amongst others it is indecent exposure. I just checked, but I cannot find any exemptions for pregnant women. The Netherlands is a modern country, with modern laws. But still with a minimum of decency.
We only emphasize bikes in comparison to other countries. To most Dutch folks they're just a way to get from A to B.
The Netherlands was 'the' first country to legalize Gay Marriage. Denmark had us beat on civil unions? Registered partnership? Meh. Not sure what you'd call them.
Helmets are useless in most accidents, detrimental in some, and overall are not required if 'accidents' aren't normal. Not using a light or having a way to warn people you're approaching makes accidents more common. Infrastructure is focused on prevention rather than mitigation.
I have no idea what the 'no house sharing law' is. o0 I lived in a house with 3 other people (+girlfriends) perfectly legal. We all had our own rooms though? This might be a law specific to house OWNERSHIP, so buying vs renting. It's probably the concept that only one person may own a house. (Or two, if married, with co-ownership)
Coffeeshops are literally the name of our "WEED SHOPS" x'D So obviously, 18+. There are 'coffee houses' and 'cafés" for your regular caffeine fix. :p
Tenant protection just means that if you do not agree to leave, the owner has to go to court. It's usually very obvious who is in the wrong, so it only reaches that point in particular divisive circumstances. Being a landlord is already a stupid privilege's, I want such laws to be more hard on that fucked up practice not less. xP Cultural difference?
Nice video +1
-- Here is a (unwritten) bike law that not many know... As a biker, i'm allowed to run a red light when.. 1. I don't bother/obstruct any other user of the road. 2. make a right turn at the traffic light..
-- and NO..!!! it's not true about pedestrians being accountable for the biker falling down !!! If i walk on the walk way, and a biker hits ME... HE is responsable.. he got too close to the walk way... BUT.. If i walk on the bycicle lane... and get hit... THEN it is my fault!!
-- Marriage laws are complicated.. IF i as a dutchy wanna marry a foreign girl.. it's about a 1 year wait before she can live in NL with me... If I get married in her country.. it's less then one year... but get this... IF someone living in NL for many years but isn't dutch, and gets a GF from outside of NL.. they can marry outside of NL, and the next day, she is allowed to come and live in NL...
-- The max 3 in one house.. never heard about it.. I know people that lived in such a big house, they were with 5... ONLY reason i can think of... is the social security benefits.. but this is just guessing.
-- I guess the makers of that video don't know the difference between a coffeshop and a "coffeeshop".. the first is a place to get coffee... the other is a place to get softdrugs (weed and hash).. There enough coffee places where people can go to for their instagram coffee.... but at the coffeeshop for smokers... usually they don't serve instagrammable coffee and some shops don't allow you to take a picture... ((i work in a hotel, and always need to ask "what kind of coffeeshop do you mean" when guests ask me for one...
-- public urinating is illegal, and this is the first time ever, I hear pregnant women get a free pass..
About the helmets. Our laws protect the weakest. 1 pedestrians 2 biciclist 3 cars and when a car hits a pedestrian he is almost always fined.
Then 3 people living in 1 house, there many people (not related)
In studendhouses
Bicylce helmets don't improve safety, our infrastructure and mass use of the bicycle is what is making it safe. And you don't get blamed for an accident with a bicycle, the heavier traffic is responsible for the damage. This does not necesarily mean guilt. (in the case of a pedestrian, it even means that the cyclist is the more heavier traffic and responsibility for the damage is for the cyclist). This means the weaker traffic is protected.
oh man newyears eve normally ended up like a warzone in the netherlands, for a foreign person it will look like all mayhem got loose
as a dutch person, I didn't know about the 3 single people in one house rule
Dutch people are so good at riding bikes and the infrastructure for it is perfect. So a helmet os basicly unnescesarry because we almost never fall.
I think the last one about the pregnant women and canals doesn't have anything to do with canals specifically. It's probably to do with pregnant women being allowed to pee and use restrooms in places where most other folks couldn't, because they need to use the restroom much more than the average person. So this channel just took that fact and went looking for the weirdest place where people aren't allowed to pee and left all other, normal, places to pee out of the 'fun fact'. It's not like pregnant Dutch women are all flocking to canals to pee.
we should start a go fund me for this guy, get this man to holland!
They're wrong on coffeshops.
You can enter a Starbucks in the Netherlands under 18.
The difference is in the meaning of "coffeeshop".
All over the world a coffeeshop is a place to buy coffee, and maybe drink it, depending on your order to be to go.
Think Costa, Starbucks, Horton's, McCafe, everything in between the largest chains and the smallest snobby barista place.
In the Netherlands, it's a place to legally buy cannabis. It's euphemism, the term "coffeeshop" with quotation marks, the handmovements, was used to remove the focus from the cannabis the patrons came for to on the cup of coffee they _could_ order with your jamaican or your dutch*
It maybe also has to, or had to, do with the Dutch laws, as "Coffeeshops are allowed to sell cannabis, but they can't legally buy the Cannabis they're selling, so they coudn't call them CannabisShop.
(Maybe that changed by now, but not when the term "coffeeshop" was euphemistically appropriated)
Much like calling a brothel "massage parlor", wink wink, nudge nudge.
For entering the "Coffeeshop", you have to be 18+
*this is based on a story a Canadian friend told me once, about as naive as he was in the early eighties -when visiting Amsterdam, he ordered a "Jamaican" and his friend a "Dutch", assuming this would be the coffee, whether it be the bean (or where it grew), the roast of the brew type. They were still waiting for their coffee when the waiter offered them both a cigarette....
Watch #how to survive Dutch fireworks and realize it is a big thing and why it’s on debate to be banned.
It’s not weird if you’re renting you have you’re rights.
Pissing in canals is deadly because most of them were drunk, they lean over and fall in them, but because of the walls they can’t find a good spot to climb out.
In the netherlands the only coffe shops that are 18+ are coffeeshops where you can buy drugs like marihuana other drugs that you can smoke, all the other coffeshops are legal for people under 18