Nearly a hundred people riding a fat bike ended up in the emergency room after an accident in one week. This is evident from new figures, which have been recorded for the first time throughout the Netherlands.
All emergency departments kept track of the number of bicycle accidents for a week in early October. The doctors saw 96 people come in who had been injured in a fat bike accident. Almost half of them were between 12 and 15 years old. In the same week, 715 people riding a normal bicycle ended up in the emergency department, and 480 people riding another electric bicycle.
Of the fat bikers, 22 percent had to be hospitalized for further treatment. This was less among e-bikers and other cyclists: 16 and 13 percent respectively.
The figures have been published by SafetyNL and are the result of a first national measurement week. To this end, all 82 emergency departments (ED) in the Netherlands have kept data on bicycle accidents. According to SafetyNL director Martijntje Bakker, ‘the results underline the need for measures’.
‘Stricter enforcement’
Amsterdam traffic councilor Melanie van der Horst calls the figures on fat bike accidents ‘really shocking’. She wants the rules to be tightened as quickly as possible. “I call on the minister to take measures more quickly. Every week later means more children who are scarred for life,” the councilor responded to the ANP.
Van der Horst also wants the police to enforce more stringently and to tackle both the import of illegal fat bikes and the sale of performance sets more rigorously. She advises parents against giving their children a fat bike. E-bikes with fat tires are especially popular among young people.
Helmet requirement and minimum age
A majority in the House of Representatives recently voted for a minimum age of 14 years and a helmet requirement for fat bikes. SafetyNL hopes that there will be a minimum age of 16 for all electric bicycles.
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Source: www.bright.nl
