Amsterdam calls for crackdown on menace of souped-up e-bikes

Demon young riders speeding at 40kph are making the once cycle-friendly streets dangerous – and the problem is spreading

Debby Nieberg was cycling home from the dentist last October, when she was knocked to the pavement and broke her shoulder.

According to her police report, the youngster on an e-bike – overtaking Nieberg on Amsterdam’s narrow cycling lanes – got up and cycled off, a crime in itself. “This unfortunately has become a big part of my life because of the ‘need for speed’ of those on e-bikes,” says the 56-year-old freelance translator, who has just started cycling again. “The bike situation is definitely unsafe.”