A 26-year-old man riding a fatbike has died in a collision with a car in Emmeloord in Flevoland.

The crash happened at 1pm on the Muntweg, a provincial road which was subsequently closed to traffic. The man was critically wounded in the crash and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died a short time after.

The driver of the car was unhurt in what police called “a very serious accident”. He was not arrested and police are questioning him as a witness, they said.

Fatbike riders are not by law obliged to wear helmets, despite calls from MPs alarmed by soaring accident numbers.

Following a week-long monitor of A&E admissions in October last year, public safety institute VeiligheidNL found that half the people taken to hospital after an accident while riding a fatbike are under the age of 16. Many suffering from serious injuries, including broken bones, cerebral haemorrhages and damage to their internal organs.