The EU-wide speed limit for conventional e-bikes is a dilemma: 25 km/h is actually too slow for driving on the streets in crowded city centers, but depending on the volume of traffic, it can be too fast for cycle paths. But: You are generally making good progress.
As the IT specialist magazine “Heise” reports, officials from the Amsterdam traffic department are discussing reducing the maximum speed by 5 km/h to 20 kilometers per hour. The Amsterdam traffic chief Melanie van der Horst gives the reasons for this in a letter to the city council.
Accordingly, not only has the number of accidents in connection with e-bikes increased sharply, but also the number of electric bikes. Van der Horst writes that half of all new bicycles in the Netherlands are e-bikes. This means that there are again large speed differences on the cycle paths. Again, because that was the case until 2019, when scooters were still allowed to drive off-road.
The letter cites a poll of 1,900 people that found 76 percent felt safety on the city’s bike lanes had deteriorated since the advent of e-bikes. However, this is not only related to the comparatively high speed, but also to the size of some electric bicycles, especially cargo bikes. Van der Horst underlines this impression with hard numbers: According to them, the number of accidents in connection with e-bikes has increased by 50 percent within one year.
However, there is currently no legal framework for lowering the maximum speed for bicycles. After further investigations into what the numerous electric bikes do in city traffic, the next step is to contact the state government. Since a change in the law would be necessary, one should want to slow down cyclists in general. By then, there should be smart solutions that ask drivers to brake voluntarily if they exceed a certain speed.
In Germany, too, there are increasing reports that the many cargo bikes in particular are becoming a problem for cycle paths. In connection with a certain speed, the large e-bikes pose a very high risk of accidents – many traffic police have already warned of this. If the speed limit for e-bikes is lowered in Amsterdam and catches on there, it will be interesting to see what that could mean for other cycling cities.
