Infrastructure min. says age limit and mandatory helmet for fatbikes is "unachievable"

A minimum age and helmet requirement for just fatbikes is “unachievable,” Barry Madlener, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, said in a letter to parliament. Instead of developing new rules, he wants to work more on enforcement, surveillance, and communication.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, wants a legal distinction between fatbikes and other electric bicycles, but Madlener had already said in the past that this is pointless.

Researchers wrote last month that is a “futile path” to try to make a legal distinction between fatbikes and other bicycles. They formed this opinion after conversations with organizations within the sector. Characteristics like width of tires are easy to circumvent, and other characteristics are not unique to fat bikes.

Madlener does not want to commit to rules for all electric bikes. He wrote that although electric bicycles have been more likely to be involved in accidents in the last few years, he thinks it is too early to conclude that they are more unsafe.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management launched a campaign last year which pointed out the risks of souped up fatbikes. Madlener is going to continue with this. He also wants to hold talks with customs to see whether illegal models can be blocked.

The Tweede Kamer debated the fatbikes issue on Wednesday afternoon. Olger van Dijk of the NSC said that he finds it “incomprehensible” that the Cabinet are not going along with the Tweede Kamer’s wishes on this matter.

Van Dijk and Hester Veltman of the VVD submitted the motion in September for mandatory helmets and a minimum age for fat bikes, which was supported by most parties in the Tweede Kamer.

Van Dijk has suggested a new category for “heavy e-bikes,” which would be based on weight and the speed of the bicycles. “Either way, this minister needs to work on a separate category,” said the NSC MP.

Veltman also criticized the minister’s stance regarding this issue. “This minister keeps coming up with bureaucratic excuses about why he can’t change anything about the rules for fat bikes,” she said in a statement. “The minister needs to get to work and return to the drawing board, just as long until there is a solution.”

A weight limit of, for example, 30 kilograms would be hard to determine, the advice read. Cargo bikes are heavier than that, for example. “In addition, there are women’s e-bikes which are lighter than this.”