Most Dutch want age limit, mandatory helmets for fat bikes: Safe Traffic Assoc.

There is broad support among Netherlands residents for stricter regulations around fat bikes, the safe traffic association VVN found in its annual survey. Nine out of ten Dutch want a minimum age for using a fat bike and over eight in ten want a mandatory helmet.

The VVN surveyed over 6,900 Dutch adults. They found that almost all respondents knew what a fat bike was and 2 percent actually owned one. Ownership was highest among young adults aged 18 to 30 at 7 percent. Most young adults see fat bikes as an affordable alternative to cars, scooters, or e-bikes.

Still, eight out of ten Dutch consider the fat bike to be dangerous. Young adults also share this sentiment, with three-quarters calling it a risky mode of transport. Most concerns are about the use of fat bikes on bike paths along with much slower bicycles.

Support for stricter rules is therefore great, with over 90 percent of Dutch calling for an age limit and 83 percent for a mandatory helmet. Among young adults, support for these measures is 90 and 72 percent, respectively.

“The results of our survey show that there is strong social support for regulations around fat bikes and other light electric vehicles on the cycle path,” said VVN director Evert-Jan Hulshof. “The fat bike offers advantages as a sustainable means of transport, but safety in traffic must be given more priority. We, therefore, advocate a national helmet requirement and a minimum age for fat bikes. In addition, enforcement of speed and turned-up vehicles remains of great importance.”

A majority in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, has also called on the government to implement an age limit and helmet requirement for fat bikes. Infrastructure Minister Barry Madlener said he would see what he could do but warned that any measures implemented on fat bikes may have to apply to all e-bikes.