Death to the Car! : The 1970s

Pete Jordan, is the author of the In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist. He has lived in Amsterdam since 2002. Pete’s work has been featured on public radio’s This American Life and in the New York Times. He’s also the author of "Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States."

The first introduction of the Death to the Car! : The 1970s the author wants to introduce the Amsterdam that known as Freak City (freaks, nomad, beatricks, hippies, exiles, riffraff and travellers). Pete wants to highlight the reasons of the city’s growing reputation is because of tolerance: its liberal attitude towards soft drugs and “divergent sexual pratices”. Other than that, he also interviewed a recent college graduate who’s making his second trip to Amsterdam told that, “What really draws me to this city is the relaxed atmosphere”. Also, the city represented freedom, relaxation and tolerance.

In this book, Pete discovers the history of cycling in Amsterdam. He successfully delivered the history information with supported facts that mentioning when the history began. He managed to balance his text with precise information and facts about the cycling history that happened in Amsterdam. He also attracted the readers to enjoy the story from the start to finish.

He also mentioned about cycling in Amsterdam- which means riding in a city that is consciously pumping more and more carbon monoxide into its air. It’s no picnic. He stated that between 1965 and 1970, the number of cyclists entering the city centre dropped by 60,000. At the same time, the number of traffic deaths in Amsterdam reached ever higher levels. Due to the increase number of traffic deaths, the protest movements emerged in the city in favour cyclists’ right began.

In May 1971, on Herengracht, a half-dozen Lastige Amsterdammers used sledgehammers to smash the windows and body of a small abandoned four-door Renault while they chanted “Death to the Car!”. In 1972, guerrilla action against the overhelming influx of cars became rife in Amsterdam. 

 

 November 4, 1973, A10 Freeway: During the Arab oil embargo, on the first day of the government-mandated ban on car driving on Sundays, four youths in Amsterdam-West defy the police order against cycling on the freeways.

In June 1974, Amsterdam Autorijj organized another bike demo- KICK THE CAR OUT OF THE CITY. Van Dujin, a member of political party, the PPR (the Radicals Political Party), he recalled,”We wanted a city with fewer cars and more bikes”. The route of the October 1974 demonstration led to raise awareness of their dangers and the need for their transformation. In 1975, members from various activist groups from around the Netherlands met in Utrecht to create a new, nationwide pressure group to advocate for the rights of cyclists called ENWB- an abbreriaction for the “One and Only Dutch Cyclists Union. The aim- to stimulate people to take back possessions of their streets, said Jan Wittenburg, thr group’s chairman.

 June 4, 1977, Rozengracht: Thousands of cyclists participate in the sixth of seven large scale pro-bicycle demonstrations that took place in the 1970s.

Then in 1978, Luud Schimmelpennick, the former Provo leader, main organizer of annual demonstration would be the last. In the previous of thirteen years, Amsterdam had seen everything from guerrilla-style street protests to national pro-cycling advocacy.

Overall, Pete managed to make his readers enjoy with his text and information and the contents of this books is really worth to read if they want to discover the history of cycling in Amsterdam because this book provides all the useful information about it.