The measure is a step in the fight against the nuisance of performed e and fatbikes. Tieman explicitly says that he wants to introduce the helmet obligation and still have to work out the measure. That fits the current state of the coalition; After a double cabinet trap, VVD and BBB are left with 32 seats, and so Tieman depends on support from the Lower House.
He demanded from former traffic minister Barry Madlener that there would only be measures for fatbike users. That is impossible and so the minister opts for the helmet obligation. It may also apply to other electric vehicles, such as e-steps. This should prevent children from switching en masse to those vehicles.
Alarm to rise e-steps on the cycle path: ‘They have gone completely crazy, even more junk’
The Minister of Ienw writes this to the Lower House on Thursday in the run -up to a debate on road safety next week. The amendment to the law should be ready in a year.
Young people often victim through Fatbikecrash
The Fatbiketerreur dominates the road safety debate. Since the rise of the Dikkebandenfiets, experts have sounded an alarm about the serious injuries that often young children end up in the hospital. Certainly the illegal Chinese beun bikes are easy to increase, while they are of broddeling quality. “The last figures show that in 2024 six times as many young people ended up on the electric bicycle on the emergency room with brain injury,” says Tieman.
That is precisely why a helmet obligation for all minors has been chosen. They stand out in the accident statistics and the number of brain injuries after bicycle accidents among 12 to 17-year-olds has been saturated in five years.
Again Fatbike makes a lot of more victims: number of injuries rises explosively
Tieman also wants a ‘behavioral approach’ and a quality mark. There are already campaigns to point out to young people and their parents to the dangers of performing Fatbikes and the associated financial risks. For example, in the event of a collision, the insurer closes the door.
Fatbikes on the schoolyard of a high school. © ANP/HH
Age limit and license plate for e-bike on the table
Tieman therefore does not opt for an age limit for e-bikes or a so-called type approval, where e-bikes get a license plate. As far as he is concerned, those options are on the table, according to the letter of Parliament. The minister wants to view them, already outlines the pros and cons, but first wants to know if the room also sees something. Type approval would, for example, make bicycles more expensive and require more supervision, but improves road safety.
In the meantime, the problem of the raised bicycles continues to exist. Illegal Fatbikes continue to flood Europe, experts say. A well -known route ran through the Greek port Piraeus, which is in Chinese hands. Brussels intervened there in July this year, but that is just a drop on the glowing plate, it sounds in the industry. The input continues, also through other routes.