You come across them on just about every corner of every street in Amsterdam: fat bikes. The electric bicycles with wide tires are (according to legend) limited to 25 km/h, making them almost the speed limit in our capital. And since electric bicycles now drive almost as fast as cars in Amsterdam, they are allowed on the road from today.
On Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat and Bilderdijkstraat, cyclists who go faster than 20 km/h are now allowed to cycle on the car lane, even if there is a cycle path. The trial will last until mid-July. These two streets were chosen because they are busy with cyclists and the cycle paths are on the narrow side. In this way, traffic can be better distributed over the available asphalt.
Why are fat bikes allowed on the road?
Councilor Van der Horst clarifies the action at RTL News: 'We do that for road safety. We have seen a large increase in the number of electric bicycles in recent years. As a result, the cycle path has become overcrowded. These are not only small bicycles, but also large cargo bikes and cargo bikes. That creates enormous tension on the cycle path.'
In the background, the municipality of Amsterdam is also working on a limiter for fat bikes, but that is not available yet. Officially, fat bikes are limited to 25 km/h, but these bikes are often illegally transported. This would allow the bicycles with generous tires to reach speeds above 45 km/h.
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