Governance and democracy
Fat bike ban: safety without casting a group of young people aside
Carla opposed the fat bike ban. Not because nuisance and accidents are not a problem, but because banning one type of bike does not solve the real problem: excessive speed and tuned-up e-bikes. She doubted the ban would hold up legally, warned that it mainly affects a particular group of young people, with a risk of ethnic profiling, and argued for enforcing speed and behaviour and for an approach together with parents, schools and the neighbourhood.
What Carla did
Committee
The video brings together all her contributions on the ban: in committee, her explanation of vote in the council and her farewell speech (in Dutch). She asked whether a ban on fat bikes alone is legally possible, since a fat bike is a bicycle, and proposed tackling all tuned-up e-bikes that go too fast by enforcing speed and behaviour. She saw the nuisance as a social problem: talk to the neighbourhood, parents and schools and invest in good campaigns. In an interruption she warned of ethnic profiling if the focus is on one group of cyclists.
Commitment
In response to her question, Alderman Van der Horst promised to monitor whether the ban pushes the problem to other neighbourhoods, as the Zuid district had warned.
Council
The council adopted the by-law change, with amendments by IJmker et al. limiting the ban areas. Carla in her explanation of vote: “We support a number of amendments and a motion, but we do not support the proposal because of the references to the fat bike and the debate about it.” (translated from Dutch)
Media
NH Nieuws: on a proposal by GroenLinks, DENK and PvdA, the words “intimidation” and “pursuits” were removed from the text because a particular group of young people was being stigmatised. Partij voor Morgen voted against.
Council
In her farewell speech: “Being against the fat bike ban when others are relieved about it, while little girls of fourteen then write to Het Parool that it frightens them.” (translated from Dutch)
Media
The ban takes effect in the Vondelpark: fat bikes with tyres wider than 7 centimetres, a fine of 115 euros (57.50 euros for ages 12 to 15).