Babboe must halt trading over safety risk

The post Babboe must halt trading over safety risk appeared first on Cycling Electric.

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has taken the drastic step to halt Babboe from trading and recall its cargo bikes on account of a ‘serious safety risk’. This applies across Europe, with the UK website’s homepage writing ‘We are currently consulting with the NVWA to prepare for a recall of certain Babboe models. We will inform Babboe owners of this as soon as possible.’

Part of the Accell Group, which is also parent to Raleigh UK among others, Babboe now has a legal obligation to act following an investigation into a series of frame fractures that could cause injury both to the rider and any occupants of the cargo bucket.

According to the product safety body, Babboe received a significant number of reports of broken frames in years gone by, but did not satisfy its obligations to follow up on the trend to see if a recall was required. No report was made to the Dutch product safety org, which investigated the trend itself, concluding its work at the end of 2023.

According to the NVWA, Babboe may only resume trading when it has been sufficiently shown that its cargo bikes are safe and not prone to the frame fractures that have become apparent in recent years. Complete technical testing and documentation must be resupplied proving the risk has been rectified.

The affected models that must now be recalled incluide:

• City / City-E / City Mountain
• Curve / Curve-E / Curve Mountain
• Big/Big-E
• Dog/ Dog-E
• Max-E
• Mini-E / Mini Mountain
• Pro Trike / Trike-E / Trike XL
• Carve-E / Carve Mountain

The recall extends to those bikes that were recalled in 2019 and modified. Babboe will be made to implement the recall itself by the NVWA.

Babboe is sold across more than 30 countries. The Dutch brand is best known for its cargo bikes for carrying children, making the recall issue all the more pressing.

The Accell Group won’t welcome a string of bad news lengthening. The group recently made a string of restructuring decisions which resulted in sharp job losses in the manufacturing sector as production moves to Hungary and Turkey. In the UK, the Raleigh business has also reshaped announcing changes that resulted in a full focus on bike and e-bike sales, with the parts and accessories business wound down.

For more information the news briefing and contact numbers for the NVWA can be seen here.

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The post Babboe must halt trading over safety risk appeared first on Cycling Electric.