The municipality of Amsterdam wants e-cyclists to slow down and enjoy the ride. They’re proposing a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour (km/h) on cycle paths.
According to RTL Nieuws, Amsterdam alderman Melanie van der Horst hopes to encourage safer travels on the road by lowering maximum e-bike speeds.
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Amsterdam is not the baas
Unfortunately, Amsterdam can’t just change the speed limit for e-cyclists. There are national laws and regulations in place.
So how are they going to make it happen?
The municipality of Amsterdam needs to convince the Dutch parliament and lawmakers in The Hague that slowing down is best for everyone.
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Safety first
Think that 20 km/h is already quite haastig (speedy)?
Well, the Netherlands currently only has a speed limit of 25 km/h for electric bicycles on a fietspad (bicycle path). Other countries have a maximum speed of 32 km/h.
Electric bicycles and scooters zooming by at these speeds have made Amsterdammers feel unsafe. And for good reason.
According to police, e-bikes were involved in more accidents in 2022 than in 2019, and with life-threatening results — more people are dying in accidents involving electric bicycles.
We’d definitely rejoice in a slower speed limit — one that we mere humans will probably still not be able to reach.
Would you like a lower speed limit for electric bicycles? Tell Let us know in the comments!
On my normal bike I cycle over 20km! I think 25 for electric ones is fine. People don’t have an issue with cars going 40km or more next to them on the roads – why don’t we push the government to push out the cars so different types of cyclists can better co-exist on wider cycle paths? Focusing on the wrong issues here.