10/26/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E2gEX33f4/
In the Netherlands, 11- and 12-year-olds take an official exam, not in maths, but in cycling.
It's called the verkeersexamen, the traffic exam, and it's meant for pupils in the last years of primary school.
First comes a theory test about traffic rules and signs. Then the practical part: children cycle a set route through their own town or village.
Volunteers stand along the route and watch closely. Do they look over their shoulder? Signal with their arm? Stop at the right places?
Pass, and you get a certificate. For many Dutch kids it marks the start of cycling to secondary school on their own, sometimes many kilometres each way.
Not a small thing in a country with more bicycles than people.
The photo shows children with their bikes at a traffic exam in 1953. Generations later, the tradition is still going strong.
Did you have to take a cycling exam at school? Did you pass? 🚲
