BEER BIKES BANNED

BE FOREWARNED: If you’re visiting Amsterdam and planning to rent one of the city’s popular beer bikes, you’re out of luck.  They are a thing of the past.  In response to strong public outcry, the beer bikes have been banned in the city center as of November 1.  The practice of cycling through the city on a bierfiets – a bar on wheels surrounded by bike seats which tourists pedal along while drinking – was invented in the Netherlands in 1997 and has long been a popular attraction.  However, in 2O16 a petition asking Amsterdam city council to outlaw them garnered thousands of signatures.  Amsterdam District Court stated that “the beer bicycle may be banned from the city center to stop it from being a nuisance,” and on October 31 a ruling was passed by judges to enforce the ban.  The ruling called the beer bikes a “public order problem”, adding: “The combination of traffic disruptions, anti-social behavior and the busy city center justifies a ban.” As usual, the actions of a few have ruined the fun for the rest.