Danish proposal for new rules on speed pedelecs raises safety concerns

Throughout March, the Danish Road Safety Agency (Færdselsstyrelsen) has consulted on new rules for speed pedelecs.  The Danish Cyclist Federation and the Danish Traffic Safety Council have voiced concerns about safety.  A new Danish proposal would allow speed pedelecs to enter bicycle paths. The order would also loosen rules for the owner: a license and the registration of the vehicle would no longer be required and the minimum age would be lowered from 18 to 15.

Up until now, speed pedelecs have had the status of a moped because of their maximum speed of 45km/h. In this situation, a licence, registration and a helmet were required and the speed pedelec would have to share the road with cars.

The Danish news site Ingeniøren cites two organisations that are critical of the new proposal; Cyklistforbundet, the Danish Cyclist Federation, views the speed pedelec as ‘a healthy and greener alternative to the moped’, but considers opening bicycle paths to speed pedelecs to be 'a huge risk' and ‘irresponsible’.

In its answer on the consultation, the Danish Traffic Safety Council, Rådet for Sikker Trafik, stressed the higher risk of accidents. In general, the Council argues, the risk of accidents increases when differences in speeds between road users grow. Moreover, users of bicycle paths have little time to notice speed pedelecs and to judge their speed. The Council calls the lifting of the licence requirement ‘irresponsible’. Also, the rules would be very difficult to be enforced.

A transport expert at the political party Venstre is confident that Færdselsstyrelsens ensures the right measures will be taken to accommodate new vehicles on the road. The consultation follows an amendment to Danish traffic law, meant to anticipate the quick developments in traffic, in particular the introduction of new vehicles.

Original article available from: https://www.tu.no/artikler/super-elsykkel-skal-kjore-i-45-km-t-pa-danske-sykkelstier/430715