The Feds Want Your E-Bike
carey...@comcast.net
Not really but who trusts those people? People for Bikes, the industry group, is supporting the legislation. If you’re familiar with the three-class e-bike model that legislation came from PfB. The confusion over e-bikes and electric motorbikes/motorcycles is causing the problem (I think). They were working on a bill in California.
Jenn Dice, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes, said the bill would direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to gather and analyze data about incidents involving the many e-mobility products under its jurisdiction, and adopt clear classification and labeling requirements for these devices, including consideration of the three recognized classes of low-speed electric bicycles.
"This legislation marks important progress towards understanding and mitigating the hazards posed by e-motos, the higher-speed electric motorized vehicles that are sold as off-road electric dirt bikes, but often end up being inappropriately used on public roads by young riders," Dice said.
The state legislature wants cities and counties to take your e-bike. This lousy bill passed the House 72-21-1 and the Senate 30-0. One Davidson County Senator apologized for voting for it. Rep. Aftyn Behn also wrote me a very insightful analysis of the bill. Kudos to her. The Governor hasn’t signed it yet but that’s a formality. It goes into effect July 1. The bill came from Williamson County so it will be interesting to see if anyone pushes it down there.
