Police registered slightly more traffic accidents in Amsterdam last year compared to 2022, with the number of people who died or were seriously hurt also rising marginally, figures from the city’s annual traffic monitor have shown.

In 2023, police attended 1167 accidents in which a person was seriously injured, 15 more than in 2022. There were 16 fatalities compared to 15 the year before, but that figure is still lower than in previous years.

Traffic in Amsterdam is getting busier and less safe, the council said, with doctored fatbikes in particular creating dangerous situations on cycle paths. So far, some 73 traffic blackspots have been tackled.

There are as yet no city-specific figures of injuries caused by fatbikes that have been tampered with but recently hospitals across the country agreed to register them for a week, including in Amsterdam.

The introduction of a 30 kph speed limit in 80% of the capital’s streets this year has been welcomed by 60% of Amsterdammers, the city’s roads chief Melanie van der Horst said in a briefing to the council.

She said those who oppose the move think 30 kph is too slow and that fatbikes and scooters frequently overtake them. Others want better policing of the new rule, she said.

Based on figures from June 2023, some 20 to 30% of all bikes in the capital are now electric.