Hundreds of bicycle frames have broken in recent years, but Babboe did not properly investigate the causes and took no measures, research by the NVWA shows. According to the inspection service, Babboe should have reported the defects itself, but the company did not do so. “They broke the law by doing so,” said a spokesperson.
The Babboe cargo bikes may only be sold once the company has demonstrated that the bicycles are safe. “The bad thing is that they have run great risks with the safety, not only of adults, but also of children. That could have led to serious accidents, especially in the big cities. As far as we know, that didn’t happen, but they took big risks.”
The NVWA also advises to no longer use bicycles. Babboe also has to recall most models. According to the NVWA, these are “cargo bikes with serious risks”. In concrete terms, this concerns the following models: Babboe City, City-E, City Mountain, Babboe Curve, Curve-E, Curve Mountain, Babboe Big, Big-E, Babboe Dog, Dog-E, Babboe Max-E, Babboe Mini- E, Mini Mountain, Babboe Pro Trike, Trike-E, Trike XL, Babboe Carve-E and Carve Mountain.
The bicycle brand says in a statement that it is consulting with the NVWA “to ensure that the requested information is provided as quickly as possible, so that sales can be resumed.”
Alternative
Babboe was founded almost twenty years ago by parents who were looking for an affordable alternative to send children to school more often. Since 2018, it has been part of the Accell group, which also has brands such as Batavus, Koga and Sparta.
Bicycles are also popular in our country, but according to the FPS Economy, no complaints have been reported in our country. In principle, it is up to Babboe itself to ensure that its product is no longer sold and, if necessary, recalled. The Belgian authorities have not yet received this notification.
The NVWA has already announced that it will inform other EU member states about the issue. There is indeed a communication channel between the different EU Member States to quickly warn each other if a product is withdrawn from the market. But so far Belgium has not received any notification from the Dutch authorities.
“We will contact the NVWA about this file,” the government economics department said. “We are looking at this file with the necessary priority.”
