Electric bikes should have number plates and insurance because they put pedestrians in danger when ridden fast, Conservative MPs and campaigners have said.
Iain Stewart, Chairman of the Commons Transport Select Committee, has called for e-bikes – which can weigh twice as much as a conventional bicycle – to be regulated in the same way as other vehicles because of the damage they can do in collisions with pedestrians.
“There is a case for looking at insurance arrangements,” Mr Stewart told the Mail on Sunday. “I don’t think the regulations are a good fit for new technologies.
“It’s not just e-bikes, there are issues with e-scooters and driver-assist/self-driving technology increasingly embedded in cars.”
Campaigners believe there is also an issue with e-scooters
Fellow committee member, Greg Smith, added: “With more types of vehicle competing for road space, it is only fair that all users are treated equally.
“E-bikes and e-scooters can achieve considerable speeds and cause damage to other vehicles and injure people, so should have to carry the same insurance requirements and tax liabilities as users of motor cars.”
Calls for more regulations come after 15-year-old Saul Cookson died when his e-bike crashed into an ambulance in Salford, Greater Manchester on Thursday (June 8).
Tony Campbell, Chief Executive of the Motor Cycle Industry Association has called for new laws to include anti-tampering measures to ban e-bikes from being modified for faster speeds.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “We are in favour of reviewing regulation as it is clear it is outdated.”
[Photos: cktravels.com via Shutterstock]