this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
371 points (99.2% liked)

Europe

8940 readers
1392 users here now

News and information from Europe 🇪🇺

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
  10. Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.

(This list may get expanded as necessary.)

Posts that link to the following sources will be removed

Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media (incl. Substack). Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com

(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)

Ban lengths, etc.

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
federalreverse@feddit.org
poVoq@slrpnk.net
anzo@programming.dev
EuroMod@feddit.org
371
Amsterdam prepares to ‘ban the fatbikes’ amid rise in serious accidents [The Netherlands] (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by HowRu68@lemmy.world to c/europe@feddit.org
168 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The safety organisation VeiligheidNL estimates that 5,000 fatbike riders are treated in A&E [ i.e Accident & Emergency] departments each year, on the basis of a recent sample of hospitals. “And we also see that especially these young people aged from 12 to 15 have the most accidents,” said the spokesperson Tom de Beus.

Now Amsterdam’s head of transport, Melanie van der Horst, has said “unorthodox measures” are needed and has announced that she will ban these heavy electric bikes from city parks, starting in the Vondelpark. Like the city of Enschede, which is also drawing up a city centre ban, she is acting on a stream of requests “begging me to ban the fatbikes”.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 99 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (23 children)

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.

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 66 points 1 day ago (22 children)

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.

[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 hours ago

The annoying part is having to carry the helmet around with you when bike is parked.

[–] CovfefeKills@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

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...

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, right.

But: A bike helmet won't help you much if you have a collision at 50 km/h. If you go at moped / light motorcycle speed, you need a motorcycle helmet, too.

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yeah, obviously you need different helmets for different speeds. But the comment I responded to was worded like you wouldn't need a helmet on bicycles at all.

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

In principle, this is correct. But the need for a helmet increases massively with speed.

Consider the end speed of free fall when falling a certain height - or the inverse, height in meters versus speed in kilometer per hour. It is:

10 km/h   ..... 0.39 meter
20 km/h   ..... 1.57 meter
30 km/h   ..... 3.54 meter
40 km/h   ..... 6.29 meter
50 km/h   ..... 9.83 meter

Would you jump from ten meters height into a concrete surface? Few people would, because it is almost certain that you die. But the frame pillar of a car is equally hard as such a surface.

Another data point: In the center of Copenhagen, not so many people use a helmet, but the speed is typically between 10 and 15 km/h - so many bikes there ! - and the number of serious accidents is very low. The contrary is the case for Germany.

And just to make a point: Using a helmet is always safer.

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

So? Nobody is arguing about this but you. Again, my point is not about speeds or certain types of helmets. I just said you should wear a helmrt on bikes FFS!

[–] cristian64@reddthat.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think the point is that the convenience of being able to ride a bike without having a helmet at hand is something beneficial for the group. That it, there would be fewer cyclists if wearing a helmet was mandatory, and that would harm cyclists as a group.

By all means, if you consistently go over 20km/h on bike, wear a helmet, as at that speed it's starting to get dangerous.

[–] pupbiru@aussie.zone 1 points 7 hours ago

people probably said the same about seat belts once upon a time

helmets should be mandatory, just like seat belts

(and they are in australia)

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 5 points 1 day ago

Here is the python code I used to compute the above table:

 >>> def fall_height_from_fall_speed_kms(v):
 ...   v_ms=v/3.6
 ...   a = 9.81 # m / s **2
 ...   t = v_ms / a
 ...   h = t ** 2 * a / 2
 ...   return h
load more comments (18 replies)
[–] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

Yes, a motor vehicle is a motor vehicle creating motor vehicle hazards, regardless of how exactly the motor makes its power, and how that power output is controlled.

load more comments (21 replies)