Large parliamentary majority want a minimum age for fatbike users, mandatory helmets

A wide majority of politicians in Parliament signaled their support on Tuesday for restricting the use of fat bikes to people who are 14 years of age or older. They also want a helmet requirement for those using the vehicles, which are often sold in the Netherlands as a type of all-electric or electric-assisted bicycle with oversized tires.

Nearly everyone in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, voted in support of a motion put forward by the VVD and NSC calling on the Cabinet to implement these measures. This also indicates that there would also be a majority in favor of the measures in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, should a vote follow party lines.

The motion explicitly stated that the age limit and helmet requirement should only apply to fatbikes. That’s where the problem lies, according to Infrastructure Minister Barry Madlener.

He argued this month that it would be difficult to craft such a legal distinction compared to other e-bikes. Manufacturers can also easily modify fat bikes so that they sidestep the measure, Madlener fears. “You are then of course starting a cat-and-mouse game,” he said earlier.

The Tweede Kamer also supported a motion to give the police the ability to look at a suspicious fatbike’s display and menu options to determine whether they have been tuned to travel at speeds above legal limits. That is already possible, Madlener said two weeks ago, but VVD MP Hester Veltman disputed Madlener’s assertion.