More and more young people are discovering the e-bike, but is it mainly a nice gadget or just a solution to get to school faster? This is the opinion of the DVHN Youth Panel.
Isn’t it just cheating on the e-bike to school? Laziness? Isn’t an electric bicycle mainly for the elderly? And does the DVHN Youth Panel actually still cycle without an electric drive?
Sophie de Vries (15)
“Electric bicycles; for many people it really is a godsend. Certainly also for young people who are still too young to get a scooter driving license, but who have to cycle a long way every day. It is an improvement of a regular bicycle and certainly not a gadget, it is too expensive for that.
I myself have a regular bicycle, but as far as I’m concerned electric bicycles are not cheating or laziness, but a convenient means of transport.
Imagine, you have to cycle to school for an hour with a normal bicycle. Even before your school day has started, you have used up a lot of time and energy and then you have the whole day to go. After school you have to cycle back home, once you come home and are completely tired you still have to do your homework, or play sports or work.
Some people find electric bicycles something for the elderly, and I think it can be a godsend for them too. But I do regularly see dangerous traffic situations with the elderly on an electric bicycle. They often go faster than is safe for them.
An electric bicycle is not something that should be linked to a certain age group. If you need it, use it. As long as you get to your destination in a safe way.”
Fienne Gozens (16)
“I agree with the statement, the e-bike is a fantastic solution to get to school faster. I myself have been going to school on an e-bike for years and that makes long-distance cycling a lot less bad.
At the beginning of my school period I lived 15 kilometers from school. Besides the fact that you have to get up very early to make it to your first hour if you go on a regular bicycle, you are also home earlier on the e-bike, or if you have to go on until late. And so you have time for your homework, and a social life.
I don’t think it’s lazy to ride an e-bike, for long distances it’s a godsend. People also leave their car at home more often, which is better for the environment.
Cycling is less heavy thanks to the e-bike, and as a result many people take the bike more often just to cycle around, and that is good for public health. However, people in the city also increasingly have an e-bike, which in that case is not really necessary. That is not so good for the environment, because the production for the batteries of e-bikes requires materials such as lithium and cobalt. And those substances are not easily biodegradable.
Motorists are also unable to properly estimate the speed of people on an e-bike, which causes accidents. But with the right regulations, that should be preventable.”
Mart Aukema (15)
“In recent years, more and more people are using e-bikes, including young people. I also notice that when I cycle to my school in Groningen, there are now many more e-bikes on the road than five years ago.
In itself this is not so bad, but using e-bikes leads to more accidents. Among young people (12 to 17 year olds), the percentage of accidents with serious injuries increased from 4 percent due to e-bikes to 22 percent. Young people also often cycle more recklessly than older people, which also increases the risk of accidents.
In addition, accidents with e-bikes often have greater consequences, because of the higher speeds the impact is usually much heavier.
This seriousness of the accidents could be greatly reduced if road users in the Netherlands would wear helmets more often.
The only problem is that Dutch cyclists, especially teenagers, think helmets are excessive. I say Dutch, because cyclists abroad do wear helmets, completely voluntarily, because the government in these countries, for example Denmark and France, has organized campaigns to make the bicycle helmet popular again.
So this works. That is why I think the Dutch government should consider a similar campaign, through commercials and, for example, providing a free bicycle helmet with every e-bike sold.”