Belgian e-bike firm Cowboy has reportedly temporarily suspended its ‘Race’ game after it was called “absurd” and “irresponsible” by Amsterdam officials.
The e-bike brand introduced the in-app game earlier this month, allowing its riders to compete against each other in a “safe cycling environment”.
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema, however, said the game was “completely absurd”, while traffic alderwoman Melanie van der Horst said, “inciting people to race against each other in a busy city is very irresponsible. In the increasingly busy city of Amsterdam, it is very important that everybody pays attention. Games, racing, those types of distractions cause more unsafe situations."
According to Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf, city council member Elise Moerkops said, “Amsterdam is not a race track and safety is not a game”, adding: “Cowboy turns e-bikes into death bikes”, referencing e-bike casualties. She also said the Public Prosecution Service should be informed.
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A Cowboy spokesperson told Cities Today: “We will fully cooperate with the City of Amsterdam to discuss safety and are temporarily pausing the Race game while we review. Our mission is to make cycling the most popular mode of transport, and we take safety seriously.
“We have demonstrated this over the years by developing innovative technology such as crash detection and predictive safety alerts. Our new in-app games, developed with hundreds of beta testers, are not live races, and we prompt riders to select safe environments before games begin.”
A spokesperson from the City of Amsterdam said, “we will discuss [the app feature] soon with Cowboy.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that Amsterdam would trial a system to remotely reduce the speed of e-bikes. It was tested by Van der Horst, whose pedal assistance stopped when she entered a “vulnerable area”, such as a school, a busy intersection, or roadworks.
In 2022, more than half of traffic victims in Amsterdam were on a bike, and at least one in ten of them was on an e-bike. “The number of accidents involving cyclists is alarmingly high,” said Van der Horst. “Children no longer dare to cycle; the elderly get off when a souped-up fat bike comes along.
“More than half of all electric cyclists ride faster than the permitted 25 kilometres per hour. Nowadays, electric bicycles are much more than a bicycle that rides a little faster. They are sometimes heavy beasts that cause serious injuries in the event of an accident.”
