Banning scooters from the cycle path has been in the works for a long time and as of July 1, 2018, municipalities were given the power to indeed implement such a ban. Amsterdam is the first municipality to do so and, as such, you may have already seen signs pop up around the city informing those travelling on scooters with a blue license plate that as of April 8, they will need to take to the road wearing a helmet.
Scooter users will need to move from the cycle path to the roads within the A10 motorway. There are, however, a few exceptions, shown in purple on this map. Scooter users will also be obliged to wear a helmet, something which isn’t sitting well with young people in particular. In fact, some are so concerned about helmet hair causing them not to look their best at work or have a sweaty scalp in the summer that they are selling their scooters en masse.
This is, of course, just one of the reasons that young people are choosing to get rid of their scooters. Another is safety. Some feel that they will be too vulnerable on a scooter between all the cars, buses and lorries, especially as scooters are only legally allowed to reach speeds of 25 km/h. A helmet can only help you so much if you have an accident and does not prevent you from breaking a leg, for example.
According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), there are about 750.000 scooters in use in the Netherlands, four percent more than last year. In Amsterdam, there are around 32.000 scooters, of which about 9.700 are used by 20-year-olds. In the province of North-Holland, scooter sales have declined since the ban of scooters on the cycle path was announced and Amsterdam has seen a surge in the number of people selling their scooters.
Once the ban is put in place on April 8, people driving a scooter either on the cycle path in prohibited areas or on the road without a helmet will be subject to a fine of 95 euros. Traffic controllers will be present throughout the city during the first two months after the ban to help and inform scooter users of the new regulations.