NOS recently released this video (in Dutch) about the problem of "fatbikes" in the Netherlands, and it's a good summary of the issue for anybody interested!
Fundamentally though, I really don't understand why there is so much talk about creating new laws to restrict fatbikes. We already have a definition of an "e-bike" in the Netherlands: 250W motor, speed-limited to 25 km/h, and you must pedal to make the motor turn on (no throttles allowed).
If a bike meets these requirements, it can be ridden on the bike path. If it does not, then it cannot, and it should be treated like a bromfiets or a speed pedelec.
The vast majority of these fatbikes have throttles (which makes them a bromfiets), motors > 250W (which makes them a speed pedelec), and their owners remove the speed limiter (which is already illegal). I hate it when people ride these things at high-speed through a crowded fietspad of course, but it seems like a problem of a lack of enforcement of existing laws to me.
Plus, as Meredith Glaser points out in the video, cars and trucks are way more dangerous than any of these ebikes.
Not Just Bikes
NOS recently released this video (in Dutch) about the problem of "fatbikes" in the Netherlands, and it's a good summary of the issue for anybody interested!
Fundamentally though, I really don't understand why there is so much talk about creating new laws to restrict fatbikes. We already have a definition of an "e-bike" in the Netherlands: 250W motor, speed-limited to 25 km/h, and you must pedal to make the motor turn on (no throttles allowed).
If a bike meets these requirements, it can be ridden on the bike path. If it does not, then it cannot, and it should be treated like a bromfiets or a speed pedelec.
The vast majority of these fatbikes have throttles (which makes them a bromfiets), motors > 250W (which makes them a speed pedelec), and their owners remove the speed limiter (which is already illegal). I hate it when people ride these things at high-speed through a crowded fietspad of course, but it seems like a problem of a lack of enforcement of existing laws to me.
Plus, as Meredith Glaser points out in the video, cars and trucks are way more dangerous than any of these ebikes.
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,021