The Association of Cycle Traders and Bicycle Association say the proposal to raise the e-bike power limit is unnecessary, risky, and the wrong approach
1000W is the low end power output of a moped engine. At that point UK law gets quite clear on the requirements for use on a UK road.
My concern is, after a few accidents make the news, the government will have a knee jerk reaction against all ebikes. A middle ground between 250W ebikes and mopeds would take the risk off of all ebikes being regulated to death. It allows for slightly more regulations on more powerful bikes e.g. speed restrictors.
It’s a “this is why we can’t have nice things” issue. People tearing down sidewalks on bikes are already a huge issue. People need to understand that the accessibility of these devices, combined with poorly implemented infrastructure, is the entire problem. Yes, all bikes on crowded sidewalks are dangerous, but the relative accessibility of ebikes means instead of a few assholes weaving in and out of pedestrians, you suddenly have dozens of them. It’s not about speed, it’s about the number of idiots doing something idiotic.
If you actually make an effort to separate pedestrians from cyclists, it’s less of a problem, and growth of ebikes is a great development. But ebikes displacing and menacing pedestrians is not ok.
1000W is the low end power output of a moped engine. At that point UK law gets quite clear on the requirements for use on a UK road.
My concern is, after a few accidents make the news, the government will have a knee jerk reaction against all ebikes. A middle ground between 250W ebikes and mopeds would take the risk off of all ebikes being regulated to death. It allows for slightly more regulations on more powerful bikes e.g. speed restrictors.
It’s a “this is why we can’t have nice things” issue. People tearing down sidewalks on bikes are already a huge issue. People need to understand that the accessibility of these devices, combined with poorly implemented infrastructure, is the entire problem. Yes, all bikes on crowded sidewalks are dangerous, but the relative accessibility of ebikes means instead of a few assholes weaving in and out of pedestrians, you suddenly have dozens of them. It’s not about speed, it’s about the number of idiots doing something idiotic.
If you actually make an effort to separate pedestrians from cyclists, it’s less of a problem, and growth of ebikes is a great development. But ebikes displacing and menacing pedestrians is not ok.