NationStates Jolt Archive

Original article (Dutch) (http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/866191.html)

I obtained my Bachelors Degree in Nijmegen the last three years, so I know this place. A report on our heroes in blue, in six pictures.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm1.jpg

We write the 8th of May 2006, a calm day in the Dutch town of Nijmegen. As always, many streets have been broken up. This time its is the turn of the Heyendaalseweg, an important thoroughfare between the town and the university. Nothing wrong here.... hey... a student!

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm2.jpg

But wait! Two gentlemen lying in ambush, taking up covert position around the corner of the street. They have ticket books in their hands. Whatever could they be doing?

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm3.jpg

Yup. They really are targetting all the students who are forced to use a bit of the pavement to reach their destination.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm4.jpg

Write, write, ticket, write ticket, write, write, ticket, write, ticket

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/held2.jpg

"Two more hours, and my annual performance target for ticketing will have been met. I could have been standing at the front end of the street, to talk to people about the dangers of cycling on the pavement. But this makes me so much more of an asshole."

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/held1.jpg

"You really can't do that, little sir!" Would these be the same officers that swiped the arrest of their ex-boss under the carpet?

Oh you crazy nederlanders.

Anyway - the obvious answer?

Make it like Venice, with canals, so that there are no roads to break up. And let people change their bikes for jetskis, obviously :p

cheeky fuckers. and people keep telling me that the police should never have their judgment quetioned, obviously they are all so virtuous.

shouldn't they be doing something more important?

and there uniforms are silly :D

Oh you crazy nederlanders.

Anyway - the obvious answer?

Make it like Venice, with canals, so that there are no roads to break up. And let people change their bikes for jetskis, obviously :p

We have one town like that. Giethoorn. (Pictures (http://images.google.nl/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=nl&gbv=2&q=giethoorn+&btnG=Afbeeldingen+zoeken)). It has no roads, only waterways and (nowadays) bike lanes.

shouldn't they be doing something more important?

and there uniforms are silly :D

You'd think so. :mp5:

Though this is arguably a very effective way to make money. Fast.

Original article (Dutch) (http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/866191.html)

I obtained my Bachelors Degree in Nijmegen the last three years, so I know this place. A report on our heroes in blue, in six pictures.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm1.jpg

We write the 8th of May 2006, a calm day in the Dutch town of Nijmegen. As always, many streets have been broken up. This time its is the turn of the Heyendaalseweg, an important thoroughfare between the town and the university. Nothing wrong here.... hey... a student!

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm2.jpg

But wait! Two gentlemen lying in ambush, taking up covert position around the corner of the street. They have ticket books in their hands. Whatever could they be doing?

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm3.jpg

Yup. They really are targetting all the students who are forced to use a bit of the pavement to reach their destination.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/nijm4.jpg

Write, write, ticket, write ticket, write, write, ticket, write, ticket

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/held2.jpg

"Two more hours, and my annual performance target for ticketing will have been met. I could have been standing at the front end of the street, to talk to people about the dangers of cycling on the pavement. But this makes me so much more of an asshole."

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/held1.jpg

"You really can't do that, little sir!" Would these be the same officers that swiped the arrest of their ex-boss under the carpet?

They are bastards.

End of.

I wonder who'd win in a fight between Netherland traffic wardens and thier notorious London counterparts.

I wonder who'd win in a fight between Netherland traffic wardens and thier notorious London counterparts.

sidewalk anarchists of course :cool:

Ugh, that's ridiculous. Confirms all the suspicions everyone ever had about how traffic tickets are given out...

We have one town like that. Giethoorn. (Pictures (http://images.google.nl/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=nl&gbv=2&q=giethoorn+&btnG=Afbeeldingen+zoeken)). It has no roads, only waterways and (nowadays) bike lanes.
Giethoorn, eh?

Looks very nice, maybe the rest of the Netherlands should follow suit :)

Looks very nice, maybe the rest of the Netherlands should follow suit :)

did you miss the massive hole in the ground in those pic's?

Giethoorn, eh?

Looks very nice, maybe the rest of the Netherlands should follow suit :)

Nice idea, but not feasible in practice. Bike lanes are nice, though, and they are nearly everywhere. Replacing roads with canals would seem to me precarious at best, not to mention physically impossible.

double posts suck

Old School: but still good:

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/policieb.jpg

In the Brabant town of Kaatsheuvel, on friday night, a police vehicle thrust itself into the front of a house. The police officers had just started pursuing a man who had ignored a police stop sign.

http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/images/bo32.jpg

The car came to a stop at about 35 km/hour in a corner of the living room. Nobody was hurt.

Are you sure you didn't import your cops from Reno?

Are you sure you didn't import your cops from Reno?

I would insult their manliness but that would technically be a crime...

... although recently, a man who had raised his middle finger to police officers was pronounced innocent. (The gesture could not be proven as having had insulting intent. *smirk)

Wow. That's cold. Still, it is the Netherlands... is there not as much for the police to do? :p

Yesterday my dad was booked for talking on his mobile. Okay, all well and good, except a cop on foot saw him on one street and told a nearby patrol car to get him. This patrol car decided to chase him for about 20 kilometers across the city.

Wow. That's cold. Still, it is the Netherlands... is there not as much for the police to do? :p

Yesterday my dad was booked for talking on his mobile. Okay, all well and good, except a cop on foot saw him on one street and told a nearby patrol car to get him. This patrol car decided to chase him for about 20 kilometers across the city.

Ouch. Generally, though, when a police patrol car is chasing you, it is wise to stop? >_>

And contrary to the candy-and-sugar wooden shoe paradise that you might expect, we do actually have crime.

I would insult their manliness but that would technically be a crime...

... although recently, a man who had raised his middle finger to police officers was pronounced innocent. (The gesture could not be proven as having had insulting intent. *smirk)Wow.. insulting a cop is a crime there?


Over here in the states it just gets your ass beat with a billy club:p

Ouch. Generally, though, when a police patrol car is chasing you, it is wise to stop? >_>

And contrary to the candy-and-sugar wooden shoe paradise that you might expect, we do actually have crime.
The car wasn't flashing its lights for a while. I'm not sure for how long it was behind him, too, it was probably just dispatched from nearby. He was rather surprised when the car came and stopped him after ten minutes of driving along perfectly normally, to say the least.

But... but... but... crime? In Europe? :eek:

Yeah, I know.

The car wasn't flashing its lights for a while. I'm not sure for how long it was behind him, too, it was probably just dispatched from nearby. He was rather surprised when the car came and stopped him after ten minutes of driving along perfectly normally, to say the least.

But... but... but... crime? In Europe? :eek:

Yeah, I know.

Uhm. Yes. In case you expect some crime-less paradise, let me just get the crime statistics:

Assaults: 44,129

Car thefts: 38,320

Drug offences: 47 per 100,000 people (United States: 560.1 per 100,000 people)

Illicit drugs: major European producer of synthetic drugs, including ecstasy, and cannabis cultivator; important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy; large financial sector vulnerable to money laundering; significant consumer of ecstasy

Murders: 183

Murders (per capita): 0.0111538 per 1,000 people (United States: 0.042802 per 1,000 people)

Rapes: 1,648

Rapes (per capita): 0.100445 per 1,000 people

Total crimes: 1,305,640 (United States: 23,677,800)

Total crimes (per capita): 79.5779 per 1,000 people

EDIT: I recall we have one of the highest crime rates in Western Europe However, if you discount bike theft we actually have one of the lowest crime rates in Europe.

EDIT: I recall we have one of the highest crime rates in Western Europe However, if you discount bike theft we actually have one of the lowest crime rates in Europe.

you have a Bike ring for stolen push Bikes :eek:

you have a Bike ring for stolen push Bikes :eek:

Bike theft is just not regarded as a serious crime, even amongst law-abiding citizens. Everyone buys bikes from junkies for the equivalent of five (EDIT: sorry.. twenty..) dollars.

Also, when you arrive at your local train station past midnight and find your bike stolen, the urge to take someone elses wheels to get home can be overwhelming. This is why most people have locks that are more expensive than the bikes themselves.