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Makes sense that they would cause issues when there are so many bicycles and pedestrians around.
Make it so they have to be licensed, insured and are legal on the roads. But then allow for the bikes to have speed increases.
Basically a really cheap electric motorcycle.
seen this in CH. (my first lemmy comment 🖖)
These are not fatbikes. Fatbikes are normal pedal bikes with big tires that are good in snow.
These are Fat Tire e-bikes. You should always be calling them ebikes when discussing them in English. Perhaps this is a mis translation.
e-bike is also horribly misused. It's everything from a bike with a little battery that kicks in a bit when you pedal, to what can only be described as an electric powered motorbike.
It's in the first par. of the article.
" .. thick-tyred electric bikes.. the Dutch call “fatbikes”
human powered locomotion (foot, bike, skate, etc) and mobility assist devices, should be completely separate from motorized vehicles (electric bike, scooter, cars, combustion,etc). simple as.
That is sort of true. Electric bikes are allowed because they provide assistance only when humans are riding (pedal assist), never autonomously. The initial idea was to help elderly people cycle. The category has been abused over the years in such a way that we now have bikes that compete with motorized vehicles and unsafe import that is easy to tweak, pushing bikes way beyond their legally intended limits.
That was sadly exactly what I was expecting from the electric motorization of bicycles. It is a history that has repeated itself many times in the last 70 or 80 years since the first combustion engine mopeds.
The fact is that the human-powered bike is at a sweet spot of efficiency and safety. Once you go faster, you need a helmet, a heavier frame, wider tyres, better brakes, wider lanes, protective clothing, protection against cold, a heavier motor for propelling all the extra weight, and so on. The energy input from you the human dwindles.
It is not any more a bicycle.
You need a helmet on purely muscle-powered bicycles, too. A helmet saved both mine and my father's life in accidents that would not had happened were we not riding bikes that moment.
A majority of bicycle accident fatalities could have been prevented with helmets.
Wear helmets. There are cool models, too, don't try that excuse.
Oh man I got a concussion while wearing a bike helmet I probably would have died if I wasnt wearing it. And we were just kids makings jumps in the driveway...
The annoying part is having to carry the helmet around with you when bike is parked.
Why are 12 year olds even allowed to drive what is essentially a motorbike?
A question the Dutch government won't answer.
Let's give motorcycles with insane torque to children, What could go wrong?
Most of those even don't need you to pedal (which where I live is a prerequisite for e-bikes).
Who knew that reinventing the motorcycle for like the third time was going to have the exact same result.
I think the laws where I am in Germany are stricter than the Netherlands. But it's always worth trying more granular rules. Such as age limit, helmets for kids, fines for increasing performance, speed limit or ban in parks. This is fairer, but much harder to police than an outright ban. But big enough fines should be a deterrent. And might be preferred by fat bikers.
The second I saw the first fat bike I knew it was a bad idea
It's literally a worst of all worlds type vehicle, why are they so popular anyway? Is it just the "cool" factor?
they can go around 45 kph with minimal pedaling and doesn't require a moped license.
They should require a license...
Exactly, they're misclassified mopeds (which do require a license, helmet, and rider age at least 16)
Yes, these bikes can be dangerous. I've seen, and almost be hit by people riding them top speed on a shared pathway.