Pedal power vs protection

Cyclists in Vondelpark in Amsterdam. There are more bicycles than people in the Netherlands, according to government figures. But bicycle helmets are far less common. — Melissa Schriek/The New York Times

“IT’s every person for themselves,” Fallon Albrecht said while cycling one morning through a downtown Amsterdam intersection so chaotically busy that it once had its own livestream.

Like the dozens of cyclists around her, Albrecht, 39, was not wearing a helmet during rush hour, despite the risk and a national campaign in the Netherlands to change attitudes to this piece of personal protection.