{"id":735847,"date":"2026-06-14T08:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T08:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735847\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T08:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T08:46:08","slug":"trial-of-12mph-bike-lane-speed-limit-grinds-gears-of-dutch-cyclists-netherlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735847\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial of 12mph bike lane speed limit grinds gears of Dutch cyclists | Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

As road deaths increase and cycle lanes overflow with e-bikes, the Netherlands<\/a> is considering a cycling speed limit of 12mph (20km\/h).<\/p>\n

The government has started a two-week trial in Houten, near Utrecht, to gauge whether freedom-loving Dutch cyclists are willing to slow down \u2013 and whether they have any idea how fast they are going in the first place.<\/p>\n

Last year, an estimated 80,900 cyclists<\/a> ended up in A&E departments after accidents, and cyclist deaths rose 14% to 281<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraffic safety is ever more important because more and more different types of road users are on the bike paths,\u201d said Houten\u2019s transport chief, Wouter van den Berg. \u201cSpeed pedelecs<\/a>, fat bikes, racers, golf carts with children in them \u2013 you name it. So when the government suggested this pilot, Houten stuck up its hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cameras were installed last week to measure the normal situation on Fossa Iberica, a 130-metre road that includes a low-visibility crossroads where 3,000 people a day travel in one direction and 1,000 travel in the other. Speed limit signs were installed on Monday and next week a research team will measure the results.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands may have excellent cycling infrastructure, with bikes used for 27% of all journeys<\/a>, but Van den Berg said it was difficult to retrofit the urban environment. \u201cIt all starts with how you organise public space, the roads and the streets \u2013 especially in new developments \u2013 so that the slowest traffic gets priority,\u201d he added. \u201cBut here, you can\u2019t widen the cycle lane, otherwise you\u2019d be in people\u2019s living rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

JanPeter Westein, 80, of the cycling association Fietsersbond Houten, said the group was glad the council was taking its concerns seriously. \u201cI avoid the busy times because I\u2019m an older chap. But pretty much all of the primary schools in Houten are on the bike paths \u2026 and you don\u2019t want parents to say they will take their children by car because it\u2019s not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some cyclists were unenthusiastic, even before anyone proposed handing out fines. One man told the current affairs programme EenVandaag<\/a> that he probably cycled at about 14mph. \u201cBut how am I supposed to know?\u201d he said. \u201cI just have a normal bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

A woman told the programme: \u201cThis is all about cyclists on motorised bicycles, so I should think you would do something about motorised cyclists. Make a rule for them and not for all cyclists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The speed limit trial is just one of a number of measures to address increasing road accidents. Amsterdam and Enschede are banning wide-tyre fat bikes from some central locations or parks<\/a> and \u2013 to the anger of many cycling advocates<\/a> \u2013 the government plans to introduce helmets for under-18s on electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

Marcel Aries, of the Doctors for Safe Cycling<\/a> group, said behaviour and the environment needed to change. \u201cSafer cycling requires a package of measures, including a minimum age of 16 for e-bike riders, e-bike registration and licensing, better infrastructure and greater use of cycle helmets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But, added Anke Huss, an associate professor at Utrecht University, any cycling was better than none \u2013 even accounting for air pollution and accident risk<\/a>. \u201cThe public health case should focus on that: keep people cycling, and keep cycling safe for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As road deaths increase and cycle lanes overflow with e-bikes, the Netherlands is considering a cycling speed limit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-735847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}