ON YER BIKES

Amsterdam BANS beer bikes because they’re sick of drunk tourists

The ban comes after years of complaints by locals about rowdy tourists getting drunk and disorderly while pedalling along its famous canals

 

 

 

AMSTERDAM is banning beer-bikes this week because locals are sick of drunk tourists clogging up the streets.

The move comes after years of complaints by locals about rowdy tourists getting drunk and disorderly while pedalling along its famous canals.

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Amsterdam has banned beer bikes in the city centre

Amsterdam District Council announced the city centre ban earlier this week "to stop it from being a nuisance."
They added in a statement: "The court agrees with the city council that the combination of traffic disruptions, anti-social behaviour and the busy city centre justifies a ban."
Beer bicycles have become a popular among big groups of tourists like stag dos to travel around Amsterdam.
The vehicle is actually a small cart fitted out with a number of bicycle seats arranged around a bar table and which is then powered by customers, as they pedal along the inner city's
historic canals.

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Locals hate rowdy tourists getting drunk and disorderly while pedalling along they city's famous canals

But beer bicycles have become a huge headache, even for Amsterdammers who are known for their tolerance.
Last year, around 6,000 residents handed the council a petition to have the bikes banned, calling it a "terrible phenomenon."
One resident told the NOS newscaster at the time: "Our city's become a giant attraction park."
Amsterdam's late mayor, Eberhard van der Laan agreed and instituted a ban the bikes, but was taken to court last year by four beer bicycle operators, who accused the city of "imposing on
people's freedom".

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The city has been introducing several schemes in recent years to curb the amount of party tourists they get

At the time, judges struck down the mayor's request, saying it was not properly motivated.
But on Tuesday, the judges agreed that problems caused by the beer bike including shouting, public drunkenness and lewd behaviour like weeing in the street justified a ban.
The city has been introducing several schemes in recent years to curb the amount of party tourists they get, as the 17 million visitors they get annually are threatening to swamp the city.
Once a small fishing village, Amsterdam in the 16th and 17th centuries grew into a major trading hub, but now has become a victim of its own success.
Every year the flow of sightseers flocking to the city's 165 canals grows by around  five per cent - but for the city's 830,000 residents,the large are a major annoyance.