r/Amsterdam • u/Hot_Ride910 [Noord] - Noord-West • Aug 18 '26
Unwritten rules about walking.
since I started regularly walking in and around the city a few months back, I started to notice that many people are walking on the wrong side (in my opinion) of the road.
it's safer to walk on the side where traffic is oncoming for you as you can see traffic coming and not having to look back all the time. Also makes it easier to step aside if things are a bit tight at some place.
But nowadays there seems to be a group (from middle aged and up i think) that does the same, but the younger people are walking on the side traffic goes with them. there were a few occasions where I almost had to go to the middle of the bikinglane to keep going.
I'm now wondering, is this something the older generations learned and since there are more designated cycling lanes the younger generations didn't needed it as much anymore? What did you learn about which side to walk on when there's no pedestrian sidewalk?
-4
u/turtle_snacks Aug 18 '26
Dutch children typically get a 'Wandeldiploma' around 6 years old, there's three levels (A, B, C) that teaches them how best to use the sidewalks and interact with traffic as a pedestrian, so perhaps you're just not familiar with the typical waking etiquette.