Experts warn against young teenagers using fat bikes in view of the increasing number of accidents

Road safety experts call for a minimum age in which Young people can use Fat bikes – bulky electric bikes with wide Tires – due to an increase in accidents.

The safety campaign group VeiligheidNL said NOS station The minimum age for using these bikes should be 16 after doctors reported a “worrying” increase in the number of accidents involving young teenagers on two-wheelers.

In 2022 only seven Fatbike drivers ended up in hospital emergency rooms, but last year that number had risen to 59. In the first four months of this year, there were 33 hospitalizations, a trend that, if continued, would bring the total for the entire year to around 100.

The figures only take into account accidents in which the driver himself was injured, not those in which Fat bikes hit other vehicles or pedestrians And are based on information from 14 of the 83 emergency departments in the Netherlands.

Bicycle union Fietsersbond said retailers and parents must take responsibility for the problem. “It would be good if parents realised that their children are not insured in the event of an accident,” spokeswoman Esther van Garderen told the broadcaster.

The union is calling for a minimum age of 12, but according to VeiligheidNL the limit should be 16. “When we talk about these speeds, the minimum age must be set at 16,” said the organization he said. “Children can already have a moped at that age, they are more aware of risks and can better assess what they are doing.”

David Baden from the emergency room Doctors Associationcalls for a major campaign to encourage users to wear helmets, pointing out that only 8% of e-bike owners do so.

The helmet requirement is a difficult issue, he said. “We know how the Dutch are. We will only fight the idea even more if what you Really We want to make it a habit to wear a helmet when riding a motorized two-wheeler.”

Research via insurance comparison portal Independent A study published earlier this week suggests that three in four people think wearing a helmet when riding an e-bike makes sense, and one in three thinks helmets should be mandatory.

However, despite support for head coverings, 82% of people in the Independent Surveys have shown that they do not wear face masks and have no intention of doing so.

Last year, 684 people died in a traffic accident in the Netherlands, 61 fewer than in 2022. But cyclists made up the majority of the largest group for the fourth time in a row and in 40% of cases they used an e-bike, the national statistics office CBS announced in April. About 40% of them were over 75 years old.