I did not see many pavements in Amsterdam city center that had salt or sand on them to make them less slippery. It was very difficult to walk for a young healthy person, in some cases I had to hang on to the bridge railing to be able to walk up and down, I can imagine this must have been a nightmare for the less fit ones. What happens if you fall and injure yourself on theice covered pavement - can you claim compensation for lost health and working hours from the council?

By AW | February 1, 2010 4:18 PM

so it was a gloomy month for the medical insurance companies?

Coincidentally a woman fell from her push bike outside my daughter's house. She fell with full force on her head, broke her skull, went in to a coma and died later in hospital.

There must also have been some other deaths from this Wintry weather?

I fell from my scooter 3 weeks ago doing 10 kilometers per hour on black ice & injured my leg. My only worries were A: "Hope the scooter is not damaged and B: "Hope the car behind doesn't run over my head!"

One can never be too careful!

By stevie | February 1, 2010 6:10 PM

38m Euros? It's obvious that people who go outdoors in the winter should have to pay higher insurance rates. It's not fair for those of us who live our lives indoors to have to pay for the careless actoins of a few.

By Tim | February 1, 2010 9:21 PM

Why is sodium chloride used to melt snow in the Netherlands? Why is NOT calcium chloride used? Calcium chloride emits heat when it is solved in just small amount of water, which accelerates snow melting and providing water to solve more calcium chloride resulting in more heat emission. Sodium chloride only lower the melting point to -4 degreeC, which does not work effectively when the temperature is lower than -4 degreeC. Calcium chloride is widely used in snowy area of Japan.

By Yoshio | February 1, 2010 9:26 PM

One thing I am yet to understand about this country is why it can never seem to withstand any form of over average temperature. Too much heat things get chaotic, too cold, it gets chaotic, and too much snow and its standstill.

It has been over a month now since the major snow weekend. How is it still possible that they cannot seem to figure out how to manage the ice and cold.

By B | February 2, 2010 7:49 AM

Where's the Salt ?! - Another Bad Job.

By harry | February 2, 2010 9:22 AM

I was a visitor from Australia and could not understand that the snow and ice problems are not addressed. I also fell while and bruised my hip and elbow badly.
i was lucky I did not need medical attention.

By lisa correy | February 3, 2010 8:17 PM