“But I still struggled to navigate complicated traffic situations in the old city. Keeping track of all the other bikes, cars, mopeds, and pedestrians—all moving in different directions, at different speeds—seemed to exceed my processing power.
Why were the Dutch so much more comfortable on a street that I saw as filled with dangers? As with so many aspects of their society, it seemed to depend on subsuming the needs of the individual to the needs of the community. “If you are not able to anticipate what other people will do, you will have lots of small accidents, or near accidents,” Bot told me, in a café down the street from our apartment. “You must be communicating with your eyes to the other riders in the street. Your decisions must be based on what is best for the flow of traffic, not what is best for your trip in particular”
They are talking about riding in the historic city center, where streets are narrow, there are no bike lanes, and there are tons of pedestrians and bikers.
Interestingly enough, I think downhill skiers would do better than the author.
It is the exact same thing: both on bikes or skis, you absolutely do not want to stop, but itks easy enough to adjust your course a bit so you swing around someone.
Also, in both situations, you need to be predicatable in your actions, so that others can adapt to your course.
notice the similarities in these two images, on of the main square in Delft, on from a ski run: