More local councils may ban nuisance fatbikes: survey

Around 30 local councils may ban fatbikes from some places, according to a survey by news agency ANP, ahead of Amsterdam’s Vondelpark ban which is set to come into effect next week.

Some 246 out of all 342 local councils participated in the survey, of which 29 said they are contemplating a move to ban the bikes, which are widely seen as a threat to traffic safety as well as dangerous for riders.

Enschedé and Amsterdam have already decided to ban the bikes from certain areas, with Amsterdam’s Vondelpark ban coming into effect on Monday.

Alkmaar, Zoetermeer and Zandvoort local councils said they would not ban fatbikes but carry out more checks on bikes being used in pedestrian areas, while Nieuwgein is to tighten controls on doctored fatbikes.

Almost 70 local councils said they had no plans regarding fatbikes, of which a third said they would wait for a national policy. A fifth of the local councils said they would wait to see how efficiently the schemes in Amsterdam and Enschedé would be policed. Smaller local councils most often said fatbikes did not pose a problem.

The cabinet is currently 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 has asked a research bureau to look into how fatbikes can be differentiated from normal e-bikes so that new legislation is grounded in law.

“We’ve reached a deadlock because of striving for the perfect definition,” he said.  A legal description which covered 80-90% of fatbikes would solve most of the problems, he said.

The outcome of the investigation is expected after the summer.