bicycles are slow, heavy utility bicycles rather than road and mountain bikes (though all types of bikes are to be seen, from road bikes, to recumbents, right through to velomobiles, though there are extremely rare—ridden by less than 1% of the Dutch population). The Dutch mainly choose to ride roadster bicycles, like the ubiquitous and infamous Omafiets, which are practical (for the Netherlands, due to its almost complete lack of hills and urban sprawl), low-maintenance and suited to load carrying, with mudguards and skirt-guards, and where the rider is seated in an up-right position, making for a comfortable (for very short distances of no more than 3–4 miles), very slow (between 8 and 15 mph), leisurely ride on flat terrain. Bicycle baskets, panniers and load-carrying trailers are common for carrying items to school or work or for carrying shopping items back home from the shops. Training The Dutch train their children to ride so they can confidently ride in the roads when they are around 12 years of age, just before they start secondary school. Only if they pass their traffic exam are they awarded their Verkeersdiploma (traffic certificate). This training is deemed necessary as 75% of secondary school students cycle to school, rising to 84% riding for those living within 5 km of school. Even for distances of or over, some 8% of secondary school children cycle in each direction to school, though this is mainly in rural areas where the closest secondary schools can be a fair distance away. (Some 49% of primary school children ride to school, but distances are shorter and adults often accompany the younger ones.) Dutch motorists are also trained for interaction with cyclists as part of their driver training when going for their driving licence. For example, trainee motorists are trained to check and re-check their right-hand side for cyclists before making a turn to the right. These factors together far outweigh the negative factors of wet and windy weather, strong winds due to the flat terrain, and frequent bicycle thefts. Over a quarter of all journeys made in the Netherlands are by bicycle. Even the over 65 age group make nearly a quarter of their journeys by bicycle — though, among this age group, electric bikes are very popular. In some cities over half of all journeys are made by bicycle. By 2012 cycling had grown tremendously in popularity. In Amsterdam alone,