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| E-bike repair que at a Chicago shop |
The measure was precipitated by the recent loss of life of a 13 year old this past September who was hit by a vehicle while the youth was riding an electric motorized bicycle.
The law, which New Jersey e-bike owners will have six months to comply with, will also regulate age of the operator at 17 years and the operator of any electrified bicycle will have to have a valid drivers license.
The details of the story can be read online at "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" HERE.
Comments: First of all, thanks to Ari Andonopuolos for today's image. He sent this to me to show what he was seeing most often for repairs in a shop in Chicago. Those sure do not look like mainstream, pedal assist electric bicycles, do they?
Comments on the stories I have seen on this development are mostly pointing fingers at these sorts of "bicycles" and how "online sales are pushing illegal e-bikes into the marketplace". The commenters are saying this is why we cannot have nice things when it comes to electrified bicycles. But really, if this is the reason for this law being passed, or one of the reasons, are the sellers to blame?
Certainly, this may be seen as an unintended circumstance in the economy of the e-bike. However; when there was a void in the marketplace in terms of low pricing and availability, it is no wonder some companies stepped in to fill the demand.
The demand..... Yes, it was the consumer who was the conduit for these "more-motorcycle-like" e-bikes to be coming into the system. Bicycle shops could not serve this demand, and so who fills that vacuum? The consumer has some responsibility here.
In the end, this e-bike thing is evolving along the lines which I always figured it would go. Eventually we get to a place where it is easier for government to legislate rules and enforce laws regulating these vehicles. It sure looks like it is happening now.
I would place as much blame on the shops that repair that type of e-bike. If people that buy that type of bike had to send back to point of purchase maybe that type of bike might not be sold. Also large bike manufacturers did to produce reasonable priced e-bike.
ReplyDeleteI find it sad that lawmakers can't distinguish legitimate pedal-assist bicycles from electric motorcycles. Very disappointing, but it's a typical knee-jerk response to an issue they don't really understand. Welcome to our government.
ReplyDeleteThe picture is of a motorcycle since there is no way to pedal it. I think the only reason it took awhile to regulate them is because they don't use petroleum for propulsion, vs scooters, mopeds, motorcyles, cars, etc. They don't belong on sidewalks, or under 10 yr olds with no training or knowledge of traffic laws.
ReplyDelete@Derek - You wrote, "The picture is of a motorcycle since there is no way to pedal it. "
DeleteCorrect. Now, what does this tell you? Look beyond the obvious.
People don't care if the bike is pedal assist or fully throttle operated. Whether or not it has pedals is immaterial to their interest in owning one of these. People are buying these not because they are "bicycles". This should be the main takeaway here.
The "belief" mainstream bicycle companies had going into the electrified bicycle market was that people cared about the bicycle part. Clearly this is not the case. Their marketing and price points also showed the message that bicycling was the "main thing", but again, this message was more often than not ignored or never received.
The rest of this - the bad quality products, whether or not people have the skills to operate these machines - this is all just fall-out from where this all began here in the States.
I dont see it as just being about the “cheap” online brands. At our shop many of the ebikes we see have been derestricted. The “chips” are easily available. We have the DJI motor producing 1000w now. It has become a power race to produce the most powerful drive unit. It was supposed to be about helping limited riders to ride with their fitter friends, now we have power that is like a promsprinter and keeps going. Its the wild west out there with those things.
ReplyDelete@Kranky Wombat - You are correct. Again, it is a consumer driven thing, and with no regulations, (wild, wild west), you see a race to the bottom (pricing) and to have the most "appealing product" (most powerful).
DeleteNone of that should be surprising. Again, the bicycle industry's utopian vision for electrified bicycles was not adopted by the masses. With little regulation and no perceptible enforcement of whatever regulations there are out there, I think what is happening now with New Jersey's new law is painfully predictable and likely will be seen across more states until regulations and real enforcement on the front end happens.
In my opinion, I do not see the latter happening.
First time comment, long time fan. With that said, this post was timely from a personal perspective. Living in central OR, we have recently witnessed the legalization of ebikes on the trail networks of this region. While the usage of these types of bikes has been increasing over the last 3 years, there has been little as far as enforcement and furthermore little on education for proper mountain bike etiquette. Fast forward to the posting above, change is inevitable, acceptance lags painfully behind- as bike style demand changes so does manufacturing/price and at some point consumer behavior shifts towards lower price and the need for rapid capability, the outcome can be tragic. Any life injured or lost is one too many. Perhaps education and responsibility (individual, manufacturer and community) is where it should start; in the meantime advocate for cycling, help people and officials better understand the benefits that it delivers (to the person, economy, environment and so on) so that any laws passed are thorough and safely beneficial not restrictive. Ps. Buy a Fargo, it’ll do ya good!
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