Government to bring in minimum age, helmets for fatbike users

The cabinet is working on new legislation to cover the use of fatbikes, including a minimum age for users and compulsory helmets for all young e-bike users, infrastructure minister Vincent Karremans told MPs in a briefing on Friday.

The minister said he is also working on a “legal basis” so that local authorities can introduce fatbike-free zones. Enschede has already banned fatbikes from the city centre and Amsterdam is planning to ban them from the Vondelpark using local bylaws, but legally there is no difference between fatbikes at the moment and a normal electric bike.

In particular, Karremans said he wanted to help councils make inner cities and shopping areas safer. There has been a “worrying rise in the number of accidents involving youngsters”, he said.

In 2020 there were no recorded instances of injuries to fatbike users but in 2024 there were 301 nationwide, and half of the victims were aged 12 to 17, the minister said.

Karremans has asked a research bureau to look into how fatbikes can be differentiated from normal e-bikes so that new legislation is grounded. “We’ve reached a deadlock because of striving for the perfect definition,” he said. “But the problem is playing out in front of us.”

A legal description which covered 80-90% of fatbikes would solve most of the problems, he said.

Legislation mandating a helmet for all e-bike users under the age of 18 is still being worked on, and Karremans said he hoped that could come into effect in September 2027. That legislation would also cover electric scooters and all other types of “light electric vehicles”.

The government is also planning a campaign to get users to improve their road safety awareness and skills, and to step up checks on the import of fatbikes which do not meet safety standards.

Police and local authorities earlier welcomed government plans to make helmets compulsory for under-18s on e-bikes and fatbikes from 2027, but cycling organisations say the measure misses the point.

The RAI association, BOVAG, ANWB and campaign group Fietsersbond said in a joint statement last August that accidents are mainly caused by tampering with bikes, illegal imports and reckless riding.

“The real issues are not being tackled,” they said. They also warned that compulsory helmets would discourage cycling, pointing to I&O research figures showing a majority of Dutch people oppose such a rule.