Police seize fatbike that can reach speeds up to 100 km/h
On Sunday, the police seized a fatbike capable of reaching a speed of 100 kilometers per hour during a check in Boxtel, Vught, and Sint-Michielsgestel. That is 75 kilometers per hour faster than allowed. They also seized a fatbike that could reach 57 kilometers per hour.
“Both drivers received fines, and we seized their bicycles,” the police wrote on Instagram. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) will determine whether the bicycles will be returned to the owners.
The police used the term fatbike, but the photo posted on Instagram looks more like a skinny bike. Fatbikes have tyres of about 10 centimeters wide. Skinny bikes’ tyres are typically under 7 centimeters.
Skinny bikes are an updated model of the fatbike brought onto the market after the government started discussing measures against fatbikes, differentiating between them and other electric bicycles based on the width of the tyres. The skinny bike is meant to circumvent these measures.
Amsterdam and Enschede have banned fatbikes in certain parts of the municipalities, specifying bikes with tyres wider than 7 centimeters. The national government is working on mandatory helmets and an age limit for the bicycles, though it is not yet clear how it intends to differentiate between fatbikes and other electric bikes.
