At the end of November 2023, Monmouth’s Vin Gopal presented this Bill – Bill S4132 Sca (1R) to the NJ Senate which requires “… low-speed electric bicycles and low-speed electric scooters to be registered with MVC and to be insured.” You might have thought that this might have raised eyebrows in Tesla Town’s council chambers. But no, not a whisper. So what’s going on?
This bill, should it become law, would become the most regressive piece of eBike legislation in not just the US, but also the world, except the PRNK, which, of course, might appeal to some of the members of the Red Bank town council, but surely not those councillors who are doing their bit for a greener world and have recently taken to eBikes for their around town errands, and work commutes?
This proposal just diverts from the real issues surrounding eBikes:
- Most of these bikes are either imported illegally or are private imports from unregulated websites, and are frequently poorly engineered, particularly in the electric control area where substandard wiring and fire-starter batteries are the norm.
- NJ already has regulation which requires Class 1 and Class 2 eBikes to be registered at the DMV. However, NJDMV reports that not one eBike has been registered with them since the implementation of the rule, and has neither the procedures nor resources to carry out the task.
- NJ cities and towns are not able to enforce them. On my trips around town, the majority of eBikes I see fail to meet US and European standards of construction and safety, and many of them are ridden by children.
- Adequate regulation does exist in the US and Europe, but while the EEC strictly checks imports at the port of entry, the US does not, so it’s left to the states to regulate, which means that there are fifty+ state policies regarding eBikes.
- Perhaps Mr Gopal would care to explain how out-of-state eBike users are to be regulated since no other authority comes anywhere near NJ’s draconian measures.
The trend towards eBikes is already making substantial inroads into the fossil-fuel transport economy. Every day eBikes in the US now save more fossil fuel than all its eVs combined. Every year eBikes outsell eVs by a factor of four. The resources to build one Tesla can build ten eBikes. Meanwhile, eBikes extend users’ range, cause virtually zero road wear, introduce transit equity into the community, as well as health and environmental benefits.
In the past very few years in the US, bicycle and pedestrian KSIs, Killed and Seriously Injured, on the country’s road has increased by 80%. New Jersey is no exception. Perhaps Mr Gopal and his equally ambitious soulmates should direct their attention to something that could make a difference.
*Buy your eBike from your local bike shop which will be able to provide a safe bike from an established US or European bicycle maker. Beware of internet purchases…
