concerns with ebikes laws and ways to improve them

[Ken M]

I suspect you like it because its very vague, and would therefore be difficult to enforce

It's actually not vague at all and keep in mind it's enforcement is on the product prior to sale. Not enforced by state "use" laws. Emerging ebikes were under legal purview of the NHTSA prior to HR727 passing (keep in mind one vote short of Congressional consensus and signed by the President so that states felt it was an adequate definition for a new type of bike still required to meet all the safety standards of any bike sold in the US). Review the congressional records...The NHTSA was explicit that under motor power alone the top speed could be 20mph (I'm not going to go into the ways this could be accomplished but a cut-off is just one way and that is not required by HR727 - you claim vague but that was intended to be design flexible. It's not a definition allowing crazy fast ebikes...in fact by approving Class 3 ebikes they made the performance requirements less stringent because full assist power could go all the way to 28mph (I'd bet that less than 1% have even recognized that outcome as part of the 3 class legislation).

 

[Ken M]

f you want to ride 2 wheel vehicles with unrestricted top speeds just like cars (and all the restrictions that come with that), motorcycles are available.

I have never suggested this. Never! HR727 restricts motor alone speeds for compliant ebikes at 20mph on a level surface but that assist level is allowed to continue such that only rider added power generates a higher speed. It was a very good bill and few even know it exists.

We do not want each state deciding what is a compliant ebike that can be sold in that state. The CPSC was establish primarily for interstate commerce so the same defined and regulated products could be sold in all 50 states.

 

[Ken M]

Thats also the reason that pretty much no state has taken it up. T

Really??? HR727 is what regulated interstate commerce - that is legal for sale in all 50 states. They don't just take it up...it's automatic. Research interstate commerce laws...please. You are spreading disinformation. I'm 100% trying to ensure compliant ebikes can be "used" in all 50 states as any other bike but that is lost with all the noise and disinformation. Watch the video of Malcolm Curries testimony to Congress....that was his intent!!!

 

[Ken M]

Thats also the reason that pretty much no state has taken it up. T

Really??? HR727 is what regulated interstate commerce - what is legal for sale in all 50 states. It's not about states taking it up...it's top level authority and it's automatic. Research interstate commerce laws...please. You are spreading disinformation. I'm 100% trying to ensure compliant ebikes can be "used" in all 50 states as any other bike but that is lost will all the noise. Watch the video of Malcolm Curries testimony to Congress....that was his intent!!!

Thanks for the clarification. I had trouble with the wording.

This was done intentionally because there was no way the NHTSA was going to release the legal purview of ebikes if they could go faster than 20mph motor alone. So Malcolm Currie knew they would allow that assist level to continue (ie no assist cut-off but limited to what would sustain 20mph on a level surface which is approx 300-350W).

 

[dodgeman]

I saw on the local news Illinois is kicking around an e bike law. It was on the local news and if I heard it correctly anything that is powered beyond 28 mph will need a drivers license and insurance. I’m ok with that. We recently did a trip to the Florida Keys and I saw a lot of e bikes, nobody pedaling, being used for transportation. A lot of them being ridden on sidewalks.

 

[6zfshdb]

IMO, these laws are useless and don't address the core problem. Most of the reported incidents involve juveniles, who are already breaking existing laws and will continue to ignore new ones. Without parental accountability, enforcement and confiscation, these laws aren't worth the paper their printed on.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Without parental accountability, enforcement and confiscation, these laws aren't worth the paper their printed on.

That's exactly the trend here in coastal SoCal. But new laws have been necessary to make the parental part stick and to make enforcement easier. These measures went into effect earlier this year in both Carlsbad and Encinitas. E-moto confiscations are up.

Statewide, there's a push to go after deceptive manufacturers and dealers complicit in putting illegal machines on public infrastructure. SB 1167 focuses on that, and it just passed the state senate unanimously.

Of course, all of this is long overdue. Great PR damage to legal ebikes has already been done. But local media outlets and regulators have finally figured out that young riders on illegal bikes are the main problem.

 

[Ken M]

before more people get seriously injured

I think the data showing the number of pedestrians injured by ebikers is not easy to find. A recent six-year urban study found that out of all reported e-mobility and bike-related emergency room visits, approximately 7.5% were pedestrian injuries involving e-bikes, traditional bicycles, and scooters combined. This should not keep any pedestrian up at night. My guess is the seriousness of the injuries and the quantity pales in comparison to auto related injuries to pedestrians. Data showing rider injuries increasing is not really all that engaging because we all know that getting on two wheels is more dangerous than being enclosed in 5000 lbs of metal in a vehicle. I want to add to this that most likely most bike/ebike injury accidents occurs on downhill grades where the motor in most cases has nothing to do the the speed.

 

[Biplaneguy]

I recently saw that Florida is proposing a law limiting ebike speed to 10mph when within 50ft of a pedestrian.

 

[Roamers]

I recently saw that Florida is proposing a law limiting ebike speed to 10mph when within 50ft of a pedestrian.

Sounds good as long as it means bike and pedestrian are on same road/walk/path.

 

[Gionnirocket]

I recently saw that Florida is proposing a law limiting ebike speed to 10mph when within 50ft of a pedestrian.

Definitely the stupidest thing I've heard since Trump last spoke.
Good luck enforcing such a law, but on par with Florida.

 

[Ken M]

Seitelman Law Offices highlights "pedestrian unpredictability". Because e-bikes operate silently, pedestrians frequently step off curbs, out of rideshares, or into designated bike lanes without looking, rendering them partially or fully at fault for failing to yield the right-of-way. I think what they are saying is that many pedestrians are simply not paying attention and are at fault in probably most of the ebike/pedstrians injury accidents. I'm only bring this up because it seems most people assume it's the ebikers that are always at fault.

More information to keep in mind:
Far more bikers are hit by motor vehicles than pedestrians are hit by bikers. Across national traffic safety data, collisions between vehicles and cyclists vastly outnumber collisions between cyclists and pedestrians in both injury totals and fatalities. This does not mean we want more spandexters near pedestrians but even with them included in the statistics vehicles hitting cyclists is the far greater problem.