I too live in the Netherlands and welcome your efforts. I think we can all agree that rules are necessary to some extent, but that Eboards should definitely be legalized. I wouldn’t even mind paying an insurance fee similar to Those riding mopads/scooters in our fair little country 
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Just now got stopped by the police in Amsterdam. For the record I was riding in the bike lane, just ahead of my gf that was on her bike so you can understand how low the speed was. The officer said that it’s not legal and that next time he will be giving me a fine. I asked ofc why, and he gave me the story about not being a registered vehicle, hence there is no insurance etc. I told him about keeping the speed limit, following bike rules bla bla but nothing. He said maybe in a couple years it will be different but for now I cannot drive it. Even asked me how I will be going home and I had to explain that I can also push without the motor and to be honest he did not seemed very convinced. However, he was like ok but if I see you again … Any thoughts?
keep riding, the more people ride, the sooner laws will change
Would check the local laws to see if there is any limit on motorized “toy vehicles” or “electrical mobility assistance devices” in terms of max power or speed and see if you can just adjust things so you stay within those limits (at least in public). I have no idea about Amsterdam, but in Chicago (Oak Park specifically, but I ride between Chicago and Oak Park) they basically have bigger fish to fry and so long as you aren’t posing a threat to people (riding dangerously fast where there are pedestrians or riding on sidewalks) then they don’t seem to mind. I see people riding little motorcycles and hoverboards and all manner of strange personal transportation around here so it seems like it’s just generally accepted. Just had a Peapod (food delivery) guy driving next to me while I was cruising home smiling and asking me questions about the board as we cruised up to an intersection, police were across the intersection as I ran across they didn’t say a word to me (usually if they do it’s something friendly, only one “negative” encounter so far and was an unmarked police car and the officer was just shaking people down… saw him when I got into town shaking some other guy down too, no ticket for me though or anything just told me to keep it on the streets).
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I think we need to look at the green part of eboards and pushing that,carbon footprint,any eu country seen to be pushing Reducing Carbon Footprint will look good,every city in the euro zone had to put in bike lanes to be seen to be making an effort to reduce there carbon footprint,2 to3 times a week if its dry i do a 14mile round trip to work and back on my eboard it stops me starting my diesel van even going to the shop i take the eboard befor i was driving my van,
Ive only half a heart so i cant walk to far so driving and eboarding and bus are the only ways i can get around…
The issue with eboard is “not really allowed” is all about safety. The rules were created actually to supress people building their own electric vehicle (not ebike / eboard) but more into overpowered electric car and electric motor bikes. Because they are easy to make and since it’s custom made, there is no company that can regulate the safety rating of the vehicle.
Just imagine if you can build an eboard, same tech applies into building an ecar. When people start building ecar, the government worried not into the safety of the person who build it him / her self, but other people around them who shares the same road.
Same goes if you build an eboard that goes 100km/h, you might be wearing full armor. But if you collide with kids on a small bike passing without full awareness of traffic, thats where the issue about unregulated evehicle is problematic.
Basically more and more LEV is coming on its way. The government still trying to learn more about the impact of electric cars and electric bikes at this moment. Research is on its way, sooner or later things will change. New rules will be implemented and trust me, there will be the day where eboard will share the road legally.
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Hey guys, Boosted Board Rider from Utrecht here. Been enjoying my board for a week now until I got pulled over by the police yesterday evening while riding on the bike lane. I didn’t get a fine but they said next time they see me riding they will confiscate and destroy my board. Had to walk home, wan’t even allwowed to kick push! Needless to say I’m gutted… Did send a letter to Lot van Hooijdonk, aldermen at the city councel responsible for traffic, mobility and sustainability.
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Is so unfortunate the police reaction in Netherlands. Goverments should be more open to this new commuting opportunities and environment friendly vehicles. Until now I hadn’t problems with the police, they saw me riding by them and didn’t react.
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I’m so sorry you are being hassled for riding a skateboard.
I hope that your interactions with law enforcement get better, and not worse.
Lately I also didn’t use my board that much anymore unless I really have to travel the distance. Speeding is also not my thing as the road is actually very dangerous for eboarders especially without proper equipment. I have to recommend that you guys in NL have to resists the joy of travelling with an eboard unless on private areas and parks. Be aan obedient citizen is the best way to have your board and not getting them confiscated or destroyed.
I am just about ready writing my plans for a DIY board. My daily commute is about 20 KM, of which about 13 KM is a single straight bike-lane with no normal lanes nearby. I think this would’ve been an excellent opportunity to ride a board like this, but I’m not sure whether I should go through with this. It’s a lot of time and money to invest and it would be really shitty to have it confiscated.
I’m from the Eindhoven-region and will be contacting Jannie Visscher (alderman for the infrastructure) soon to see what her thoughts on the matter are. Should be interesting.
Dont wanna sound like a idiot but fuck em. If your in a big city you can go into little streets and lanes police cars can’t go in. Just like in the old days when we ran from the cops because our scooters had 70cc and not 50 haha.
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Well I think in rural areas / suburb its quite ok to ride an eBoard, the city street it totally different scenario.
Riding on busy city bycycle lanes/streets is asking for trouble, especially if you are going faster than 25km/h (binnenstad). Outside the crowded areas should be fine. As long as you can clearly see all the other traffic and change your speed accordingly to the situation. Be safe but most of all make sure all the other people around you are safe.
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In that case I guess the best behaviour to avoid getting “caught” or hurt yourself + others is to limit your riding to bike-lanes, with a maximum speed of 25 km/h when in the city. If you’re in a smaller town with less busy streets and law-enforcement, you could probably up your speed a bit. This is pure speculation though as I have yet to ride an electric skateboard.
What speeds do you guys consider to feel “fast” when riding in both city centers and suburbs / smaller towns?
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Rode my board in Arnhem today. Saw the police a couple of times, they did not even look my way. And if you ride in a big city you can’t ride hard because the streets are busy. And if you want to ride another day than you should adjust your speed to where you ride. Simple.
Well then you got damn lucky. I study in groningen as well and I got almost my board stolen from the police since i was riding it at 5kmpu through the crowds.
You will loose it in court, you just got lucky with those policement.
It is not ‘‘voila’’ I got lucky now I can do what I want.
EBoard is not allowed to be ridden on the path walk no matter how slow you go. You’re only allowed to ride it with top speed of 6km/h and you’re a crippled. For safety, just try not to eskate the pathwalk, ethically is not right either.
Why are you riding through crowds…
It was a walking crowd all going the same way. It was not packed with people but just quite a lot. Otherwise I had to take my skateboard and walk with it so I ride on it slowly.