Municipalities are fed up with the nuisance caused by fat bikes, according to a survey by NU.nl. They hope the national government will come up with regulations, but for the time being, that is not the case.
Local administrators in more than twenty of these municipalities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, feel it is high time for national regulations. Since they raised the alarm with a letter to the minister in 2023, the concerns of municipalities have only increased.
Introducing a fat bike ban, as Enschede wants to do, is not something they are considering. According to the municipalities, this is legally too complicated, because a fat bike is legally the same as an electric bicycle.
Because the fat bike looks so much like an electric bicycle, manufacturers can quickly adjust the fat bikes after a ban, so that they are still allowed. However, aldermen are watching the developments in Enschede with interest to see what they can learn from them.
Municipalities are annoyed that they have to combat the nuisance caused by fat bikes themselves. Delft says it “regrets” the lack of an “adequate response” from the minister. Amsterdam calls it “idiotic” that cities have to find their own solutions to make things safer. “This is not a problem in a certain area. It is dangerous everywhere,” says a spokesperson for the capital.
National rules not yet on the agenda
Those national rules are not yet in place. The House of Representatives wants a helmet requirement and a minimum age of fourteen for fat bikes, but the Minister of Infrastructure has not yet introduced those rules.
However, the minister is having an independent study carried out for the third time to determine whether there is a difference in regulations between fat bikes and electric bicycles. The distinction may lie in the weight and traction of fat bikes.
More than forty municipalities already raised the alarm with the minister in a letter two years ago. They hoped that he would quickly come up with a package of measures, but that did not happen.
Information for young people and their parents
All municipalities that NU.nl spoke to mention examples of dangerous situations with fat bikes. In Utrecht, they see fat bikes driving through busy bicycle streets at more than 40 kilometers per hour. Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht mentions the danger of cutting people off and riding on the sidewalk. And a spokesperson for Schagen mentions not paying attention in busy places as an example of danger caused by fat bikers.
While waiting for concrete measures from the minister, municipalities are trying to provide information to young people and their parents about the risks of fat bikes. The ministry is also involved in the campaign ‘t kan hard gaan.
The ministry hopes that the third study into separate regulations for fat bikes will be published by the end of this month. On September 4, there will be a debate in the House of Representatives about the electric bicycle with thick tires. A majority of the House is in favor of a helmet requirement and a minimum age for fat bikes.