Amsterdam mayor angered by “absurd” e-bike augmented reality game

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema called it "completely absurd" that e-bike manufacturer Cowboy has developed an augmented reality game in which cyclists race against each other. She said during a committee meeting of the city council that the so-called triangle (mayor, police, Public Prosecution Service) will look into possible measures to be taken against this.

The game involves cyclists making as many meters as quickly as possible on their e-bikes or racing against each other. A spokesperson for Cowboy told Het Parool that the people involved will stick to "the maximum speed limits that apply in the areas." Cowboy said the game can only be played in places judged to be “safe cycling areas,” like parks. But it added that ultimately the cyclist is responsible for determining what is and is not a safe situation.

Halsema said this in response to questions from D66 MP Elise Moeskops. "I was not aware of this yet," said Halsema on Thursday. "but it is indeed completely absurd; we can all agree on that." Along with the police and the Public Prosecution Service, she wants to look into potential steps that can be taken to combat this.

Traffic alderwoman Melanie van der Horst also said she is unhappy with the augmented reality racing game. "Traffic is definitely not a game, and inciting people to race against each other in a busy city is very irresponsible. In the increasingly busy city of Amsterdam, it is very important that everybody pays attention. Games, racing, those types of distractions cause more unsafe situations."

Cowboy CEO Adrien Roose announced the game on LinkedIn last week. "Rediscover the city while you race against other Cowboy riders and take part in a real competition," Roose said, "Pokemon Go, but on a bicycle," he called it.

"We work very hard to improve the traffic safety by, for example, lowering the maximum speed and seeing if we can introduce a maximum speed on the bike lanes," said Van der Horst. "apps that call on people to race against each other do not help with this. And that certainly also applies to parks, where people walk, and children play."

Statistics provided by the Dutch Cyclists Union show that the number of accidents involving an e-bike has increased lately. One of the reasons for this is that many bicycle lanes are not built to accommodate the increasing diversity of bicycles, like e-bikes, according to police.