Country-wide, 60% of serious bike accidents are single-vehicle accidents, involving a single cyclist colliding with bollards or concrete blocks. Cyclists also fall when riding over loose paving stones, defects in the road surface, or roads made slippery by gravel, snow, ice, or rain. In Greater Amsterdam an estimated 4000 people are the victims in single-vehicle accidents each year. More than 400 of these get seriously injured, and bollards are partly to blame.
The Fietsberaad and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment have started trials to see how single vehicle cycling accidents can be prevented in practice. Greater Amsterdam participates in a project to reduce the number of dangerous bollards. Cyclists can indicate which bollards they consider to be dangerous, after which the municipality will decide which bollards need to be dealt with first. People can also indicate which bollards should definitely remain in place, such as the ones preventing cars parking on the cycling path.