Forum Topic

E bike farce

No Lime in Hounslow. No Voi in Ealing. These stupid council bureaucrats need to get a grip. And Khan needs to introduce a London-wide policy.

Peter Millman ● 20h11 Comments

He needs to do more than that and for London-wide I understand there needs to be new legislation.Amongst the huge list of things he needs to do is to get all the illegal e-bikes off the road, get some Highway Code into everyone's heads and get Bikeability or its equivalent into all boroughs and schools too. I see that after funding cuts Hammersmith has reintroduced Bikeability (and I hope with that reintroduction it doesn't mean they have cut swimming) or something else important from the curriculum.

Philippa Bond ● 20h

They're not illegal e-bikes, they are:illegal motorbikesIllegal mopedsIllegal powered two wheelersIllegal motor vehicles
As soon as s bike can motor along itself it is a motor bike.Language is important.

Paul James ● 17h

They are sold as bikes, and bikes they are. Regardless of language.And they are ridden as recklessly as normal bikes are.

Simon Hayes ● 16h

Yes they are illegal e-bikes. 100%

Steve Taylor ● 5h

>Yes they are illegal e-bikes. 100%Not according to the law.Riders in the UK have been prosecuted for driving without insurance after modifying e-bikes with throttles or higher-powered motors that run without pedalling. Under UK law, modifying an e-bike beyond Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle (EAPC) limits—such as exceeding 250W or enabling self-propulsion past 3.7 mph—reclassifies it as a motor vehicle, making third-party insurance legally mandatory on public roads

Paul James ● 5h

This is descending into a discussion about semantics, which doesn't really help! While modifying an e-bike can make the modified e-bike technically a fully regulated road vehicle, if the resultant vehicle is illegal to use, I'd still consider that it can simultaneously be an illegal e-bike, as well as a fully regulated motor vehicle.https://www.cyclinguk.org/cyclists-library/regulations/eapc-regulations presents information in a less emotive way.Interestingly, the article states that riding an e-bike can open you up to a number of road traffic offences which do not apply to traditional cycling."For example, speed limits apply to e-bikes, as do offences relating to failing to stop at the scene of an accident (‘hit-and-run’), and offences relating to mobile phone use while ‘driving’, drink/drug ‘driving’. E-cycle riders can also be convicted of offences for ‘careless’ and dangerous’ driving, along with their ‘causing death by…’ and ‘causing serious injury by…’ variants."

Andrew Jones ● 4h

>Interestingly, the article states that riding an e-bike can open you up to a number of road traffic offences which do not apply to traditional cycling.I'm not buying this. Everthing I've read says e-bikes/EAPCS are bicycles, not a category of motor vehicle, so national laws realting to speed limits, mobile phone use (Which applies to motor vehicles) do not apply.There ARE laws relating to cycling (like wanton and furious cycling), but they are not the same laws that apply to motorised vehicles.

Paul James ● 4h

Maybe cyclinguk.org have it wrong then.I was surprised to read that a manually pedalled e-bike ( where the motor provides no assistance in acheiving a speed of greater than 15.5mph) would be subject to speed limits that apply to motor vehicles.

Andrew Jones ● 4h

When you say Khan needs to introduce a London-wide policy, you presumably mean Lord Khan and seem unaware that is exactly what he is doing. Both Hounslow and Ealing seem to have undermined their active travel credentials by focusing totally on the revenue maximisation potential of these contracts rather than the benefits to riders and costs to the community. The new cross-London licensing scheme will put an end to that.

Mark Evans ● 4h

So if you go into the parameters of theonboard computer (legal e-bike) and change it from 15.5mph to 20mph pedal assisted,what is that classified as. Just asking.

Julian Pavey ● 1h

>So if you go into the parameters of theonboard computer (legal e-bike) and change it from 15.5mph to 20mph pedal assisted,what is that classifiedas.My e-bike won't let me do this, but I guess some do, and also you can buy kits or adjust other stuff to fool the speed reader.My insurer for my bike specially says if I alter the power/speed in any way that measn it's not an e-bike any more my insurance is invalid.And AI says:Under UK law, if you alter your e-bike so the motor assists you past 15.5 mph (25 km/h), the cycle ceases to be an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle (EAPC).  Instead, it is legally reclassified as a light motor vehicle (moped or motorcycle). Riding it on public roads or cycle paths without meeting motor vehicle regulations means you commit multiple motoring offences:

Paul James ● 1h