€30,000 fine for ebike tuning in France

[J.R.]

Saw this today on EMBN at min. 4:53. Seems way over the top! They add: "and up to a year in jail". The question is raised, will this spread?

French Government lead on e-Bike tuning with threat of €30,000 fine - Cycling Industry News

The French Government has this week taken steps to legislate against e-Bike tuning beyond legal limits, or those set by the manufacturer. The ruling now enforces that individuals, retailers or manufacturers themselves may not enhance the power of an e-Bike beyond a speed of 25kmh for regular...

cyclingindustry.news

 

[Stefan Mikes]

An interesting article:

France bans illegal eMTB tuning with fines up to € 30,000

French legislation now bans the practice of eMTB tuning. If an individual or retailer are caught modifying an ebike to derestrict its maximum speed, the offence is now punishable by up to one-year imprisonment (two year for retailers) and up to a €30,000 fine. France is leading the fight against...

ebike-mtb.com

I think the legislation will be first targeted against the makers of the de-restriction devices and against the Chinese imports. A cyclist would be punished if he/she were found guilty of a severe collision with de-restricted e-bike.

 

[J.R.]

An interesting article:

France bans illegal eMTB tuning with fines up to € 30,000

French legislation now bans the practice of eMTB tuning. If an individual or retailer are caught modifying an ebike to derestrict its maximum speed, the offence is now punishable by up to one-year imprisonment (two year for retailers) and up to a €30,000 fine. France is leading the fight against...

ebike-mtb.com

I think the legislation will be first targeted against the makers of the de-restriction devices and against the Chinese imports. A cyclist would be punished if he/she were found guilty of a severe collision with de-restricted e-bike.

I guess that is a little more rational. The EU has been hard on ebike imports from China. The ones that don't adhere to the law.

 

[Ebiker01]

that is good but for some light and strong riders , the pedelec can go up to 30-31mph . or 33mph with wind.
Are you suppose to apply the brakes @45kmh ??

 

[J.R.]

that is good but for some light and strong riders , the pedelec can go up to 30-31mph . or 33mph with wind.
Are you suppose to apply the brakes @45kmh ??

Two different laws. If the ebike is legal and you're riding faster than posted speed, you get a speeding ticket. If you're riding above the posted speed on a tuned ebike, you get a speeding ticket and...? Often outlandish laws never get charged. Time will tell.

 

[Deacon Blues]

The French government is going after the ebike tuners, because they've got nothing else on their plate to worry about.

 

[TomD]

Meanwhile the fine for texting while driving is €135 in France. Clearly they have the appropriate incentives in place for public safety.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

that is good but for some light and strong riders , the pedelec can go up to 30-31mph . or 33mph with wind.
Are you suppose to apply the brakes @45kmh ??

This is not about how fast you ride but whether the e-bike was tampered with or not.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Now that the UK has left the EU I hope they change the law and up the motor cutoff limit to 32kph.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Now that the UK has left the EU I hope they change the law and up the motor cutoff limit to 32kph.

Not so sure. The UK is a nanny state. The speed limit there was 15 mph (unlike 15.5 mph in the rest of Europe), and you have to wear a motorcycle helmet with a S-Pedelec in the UK (a cycle helmet required elsewhere).

 

[WalkinTarget]

So officer, do you accept a check ??

 

[bob armani]

Officer, is this negotiable if it goes to collections, or can I just work it off in the soup kitchen for charity? AAARRRRGGGHHHH!