Can fatbikes and e-bikes be banned from bike lanes in Dutch cities?
image: Lucas on Unsplash
Faster traffic on bike lanes is dangerous and the Netherlands’ five largest cities are calling for a ban on electric vehicles. Geerten Boogaard, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, says on ‘EenVandaag’ that a total ban is not the solution.
Children cycling to school are particularly vulnerable when they have to share lanes with bikes that can reach speeds of 45km an hour. The number of accidents involving these vehicles in the first half of 2024 matched the total for all of 2023. The municipal councils believe that one possible solution is to move these kinds of vehicles onto the roadway, but it is doubtful whether they have the authority to do so. Amsterdam and Enschede have already tried banning fatbikes, but with no success.
Professor Boogaard says there is restricted legal leeway to achieve this. Municipalities do not have the authority as it is the government who decides about the safety of vehicles. Moreover, ‘no separate category for fatbikes has been included in national traffic rules and so also no traffic signs.’ Nuisance behaviour can be tackled by formulating an effective prohibition clause that includes the nuisance driving behaviour of these road users, but the professor adds that a total ban is not feasible for the time being.