It was announced in SAZbike, issue 11, (Cargo bike standards, pages 22 to 25), and now the time has come: The draft standards for cargo bikes are online and can be commented by registered users. A differentiation is made between “lightweight single-track” and “lightweight multi-track” cargo bikes. The drafts are based on the cargo bike standard DIN 79010 but were further developed in the European standardisation body. One difference is the scope of application for lightweight single-track cargo bikes. For these vehicles the European standard specifies a permissible total weight of 300 kilograms for the bicycle, the rider and the additional load. Therefore, single-track bikes undergo tougher tests than tests according to the DIN standard up to 250 kilograms.
On June 17, accident researcher Siegfried Brockmann, Head of German Insurers Accident Research (UDV) at the German Insurance Association, called for compulsory insurance for cargo bikes. Other experts, such as Dirk Zedler, are critical of the trend towards bigger cargo bikes, some of which weigh more than 300 kilograms; they also fear an end to bicycle privileges for e-bikes due to the increasing operational risk.
Tim Salatzki, Technical Director of the German bicycle association Zweirad-Industrie-Verband (ZIV), already stated in the above-mentioned cargo bike article that cargo bikes should be more strictly regulated regardless of the permissible total weight: “This makes sense, especially in the cargo bike sector, because no matter how impressive the innovative power is, there is still a certain uncontrolled growth.”
Author: Tillman Lambert
