Amsterdam: scooters on bike path?
Jul 29, 2016, 3:32 am
#16
Join Date: Jun 2016
Programs: BAEC, IB+, TAM multi+
Posts: 453
You will only ever get fined if you run into one of those control operations. And generally yo ucan see them coming from a mile away and will just go back.
Its the same with bikes and running through red light, riding without lights etc. Yes there are controls sometimes but generally you can see them coming. And if you are cycling without light and a police car passes by, they won't even bother you.
I only got fined once for running a red light while I (like everyone) do so all the time, and I never ride with lights and never got a fine (well, as a kid I got a measly 20 eur fine, haha).
Its the same with bikes and running through red light, riding without lights etc. Yes there are controls sometimes but generally you can see them coming. And if you are cycling without light and a police car passes by, they won't even bother you.
I only got fined once for running a red light while I (like everyone) do so all the time, and I never ride with lights and never got a fine (well, as a kid I got a measly 20 eur fine, haha).
Jul 29, 2016, 3:33 am
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
You don't need a helmet if the scooter is regulated to max 25KM/h. Normal scooters, are allowed to go a max speed of 45km/h but a helmet is obligatory. Police does do checks, but there has been a huge surge in the use of scooters and mopeds lately, so they're lagging behind a bit. If police finds a scooter to be going over their max allowed speed, it will be confiscated.
Plus scooters with 2 passengers are a bit wide to share the bike lane.
Jul 29, 2016, 3:38 am
#18
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
The city of Amsterdam has some fact and figures on their site (you made me look):
- 57.000 scooters (27000 yellow/ 30000 blue in Amsterdam)
- 81% of scooter drivers go faster than allowed
- 22% of those aged 16-17 drive without the required license.
So they are a PITA.
- 57.000 scooters (27000 yellow/ 30000 blue in Amsterdam)
- 81% of scooter drivers go faster than allowed
- 22% of those aged 16-17 drive without the required license.
So they are a PITA.
Jul 31, 2016, 3:21 pm
#20
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,110
The scooters in Amsterdam are one of the few noticeable hazards; the riders go at high speed (as discussed above), may well flout signs, not give way as they should, and so on. Since many are scofflaws (by doing all these things), they then feel uninhibited in committing other crimes, such as assault.
The most serious injury I know of anyone in Amsterdam was a former colleague who was hit by a scooter in a cycle lane. The scooter riders then stopped and kicked his head in because their scooter had been damaged. He returned to work after several months of recovery, still not walking normally and with the shape of his skull changed enough that his eyes were now a different shape and he didn't require reading glasses any more!
Amsterdam is a pretty safe place apart from the scooters, and the somewhat higher chance of being mugged in the side streets of the red light district. Everything else there is mostly harmless.
I can't wait for the day they are banned from the cycle paths and this is properly enforced.
The most serious injury I know of anyone in Amsterdam was a former colleague who was hit by a scooter in a cycle lane. The scooter riders then stopped and kicked his head in because their scooter had been damaged. He returned to work after several months of recovery, still not walking normally and with the shape of his skull changed enough that his eyes were now a different shape and he didn't require reading glasses any more!
Amsterdam is a pretty safe place apart from the scooters, and the somewhat higher chance of being mugged in the side streets of the red light district. Everything else there is mostly harmless.
I can't wait for the day they are banned from the cycle paths and this is properly enforced.