Childrens ebikes and the law

[Bigbee]

The current law states that the bikes can not be ridden on roads by under 14 year olds.What if the power was off when on the road?Also what if the child had a proven form of disability,could they get around the law this way?There maybe a missing market here for kids who cant ride conventional bikes and dont want to be seen on uncool disability scooters.

 

[flecc]

It's still illegal either way. The Uk and EU e-bike laws do not make any mention of on and off or power reduction. If the bike is equipped as an electric assist it doesn't conform, unless of course it's been disabled in such a way that the rider could not re-establish power assist.

The disability claim won't work either. The law for their powered mobility vehicles only allows for 4 mph on pavements and 8 mph on roads, not the 15 mph of e-bikes.

I do think the lower age limit is ridiculous though, only in Britain (14 years) and that other nanny state, Sweden (15 years). Everyone else manages fine without.
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[Bigbee]

It's still illegal either way. The Uk and EU e-bike laws do not make any mention of on and off or power reduction. If the bike is equipped as an electric assist it doesn't conform, unless of course it's been disabled in such a way that the rider could not re-establish power assist.

The disability claim won't work either. The law for their powered mobility vehicles only allows for 4 mph on pavements and 8 mph on roads, not the 15 mph of e-bikes.
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So they could be restricted to 8 mph on roads?

 

[frank9755]

I agree with you that the right electric bike can be a very useful mobility aid for some but not all disabled people.

I believe that no-one has so far applied to have an electric bike approved as one, therefore, until such an approval is requested and granted, everyone will have to wait until they are 14! It's an interesting question though, and one that normally comes up in connection with disabled adults being able to get the VAT back on an electric bike. They can't currently do this for the same reason.

Frank

PS this is a reply to original post - crossed with the last two

 

[flecc]

So they could be restricted to 8 mph on roads?

There's actually no need to restrict, many mobility vehicles can exceed their 8 mph limit. As Frank says, it's a matter of getting approval, and that's where the speed capabilities of e-bikes would be a stumbling block. I'd think it highly unlikely they'd get approval on the basis of them being individually restricted, the DfT generally unwilling to extend the number of classes. It's not just obstructiveness though, their problem is that these issues are EU law ones, not national.
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