Scooter emissions bad for cyclists' health: public health study

Emissions from scooters and mopeds are so high that they are harmful to cyclists' health, according to a study done by municipal health institute GGD Gelderland-Midden. The health institute calls for scooters and mopeds to be removed from the bike path and onto the road in order to immediatley improve the air quality for cyclists, RTL Nieuws reports.

The GGD did measurements on bike paths at 19 different locations in Amsterdam, Arnhem, Nijmegen and Hardewijk. These measurements revealed that almost a quarter of the pollution on bike paths can be attributed to scooters and mopeds. They cause peaks in the concentration of fine particles in the air that are up to 20 times higher than usual.

The municipal health institute calls for scooters and mopeds to be banned from bike paths and for environmental zones to be implemented against scooters and mopeds. "A bigger distance between scooters and cyclists, even if only a few meters, is already beneficial for air quality on bike paths", Moniek Zuurbier of GGD said, according to the broadcaster.