The Danish Cyclists' Federation wants to reduce congestion on bike paths by sending some two-wheeled traffic onto the roadway.
In an interview with Jyllands-Posten, the federation's chairman also proposes reducing the speed limit for cars in urban zones to 30 km/h.
Archive photo. Cyclists on H.C. Andersens Boulevard in Copenhagen. (Photo: © Thomas Traasdahl, Ritzau Scanpix) 43 minutes ago
All users of bike paths over the age of 15 should be allowed to choose whether they cycle on the bike path or on the road.
This is proposed by the Danish Cyclists' Federation in an interview with Jyllands-Posten.
The proposal is primarily aimed at faster cyclists, such as racing bikes and e-bikes, who "feel safe and keep up with the pace of car traffic." The idea is to make it safer to travel on bike paths with the many different types of road users, the federation says to the media.
"Users of bike paths have very different purposes, and they move at very different speeds. This creates major challenges because the vast majority of bike paths are not built for that. They are too small and too narrow," says the federation's chairman, Jens Peter Hansen.
At the same time, the Danish Cyclists' Federation proposes in the interview to reduce the speed limit for cars in urban zones to 30 km/h, to reduce the severity of injuries in the event of an accident.
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E-bikes are becoming more prominent in cyclist accident statistics
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Currently, the rules are such that cyclists, according to the Danish Road Traffic Act, must generally use the bike path if one exists, and they may therefore not choose to ride on the roadway instead.
Furthermore, there are no separate speed limits on the bike path, but all vehicles must comply with the speed limits in the various areas, writes Ritzau.
In an interview with Jyllands-Posten, the motorists' interest organisation FDM rejects both the idea of moving cyclists onto the roadway and lowering the speed limit in cities.
And Jakob Bøving Arendt, director of the Danish Road Safety Council, also tells the media that he does not believe it is the right solution.
In an interview with Jyllands-Posten, he acknowledges that there are major challenges with space on the country's bike paths, but instead of sending cyclists from the paths onto the roadway, he believes that tougher action should be taken against those who ride illegally on the bike paths – including e-bikes that can go far too fast.
At DR, we have previously covered that, for example, according to professionals, it does not require great skills to tune so-called fatbikes – a type of e-bike – so they can go significantly faster than 25 kilometres per hour, which is otherwise the permitted speed for the motor to assist up to.
Read also: Young people race ahead on fatbikes – cyclists' federation fears accidents and large compensation claims (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/unge-farer-frem-paa-fatbikes-cyklistforbund-frygter-uheld-og-store-erstatningskrav)
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What are the rules for e-bikes?
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* There may only be one motor on the bike.
* The motor's power must not exceed 250 watts. It must not be possible to set the motor to a higher power than 250 watts.
* The motor may assist up to 25 km/h when pedalling. After that, it must cut out.
* It must not be possible to set the motor to cut out at a speed higher than 25 km/h when pedalling.
* There is no age limit for riding an e-bike. However, the Danish Road Safety Council recommends that you be at least 15 years old before riding an e-bike.
* It is not permitted to tune an e-bike so that it can go faster than allowed. It is also very dangerous, as the bike is not designed for safety when riding and braking at very high speeds. If the police determine that an e-bike has been tuned, they can confiscate it.
Source: The Danish Road Traffic Authority and the Danish Road Safety Council
In the Danish Road Directorate's traffic accident report for 2025 (https://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/sites/default/files/2026-06/Trafikulykker_2025.pdf), it appears that there has been an increase in accidents where cyclists are injured or die compared to the years 2020-2024.
And the report states that e-bikes are becoming more prominent in the accident statistics.
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