I dont think so....As if it can be adjusted it does not conform with the EN regs, so no longer an e bike exempt from the law.

 

If that was the case, I could have a switch on my wisper offering two modes? sport off road and street legal mode, but this has been made abundantly clear is illegal so any sort of means off adjustment, must surely be as well?

 

anyway if you are observed by a witness travelling at speed or involved in an accident, it wont take the police techs long to find out that the bike is illegal I would think

All Ebikes can be adjusted for speed some are more tricky than others: You can change battery voltage, solder shunts, reprogram the controller, re-wire it, remove sensors. Does that therefore render all ebikes illegal?

 

If a witness sees you going fast, he has no way of knowing how hard you're pedalling, so that wouldn't help the police in court.

Do members not think it worth having public liability insurance to cover a claim against you....... especially from someone who is put out of work for a while as this could be a considerable lump of money.

 

So is there anyone who offers public liability insurance for cyclists/e cyclists?

 

Edit: it seems I have public liability cover up to 5 million, through our household insurer UIA. Probably worth checking!

 

Thats a very good question. My household insurance is up for renewal. I'm insured for 'up to £2million, liability to the public' under the buildings section. I'm not sure that having an accident with a bicycle would be covered. I'd certainly like to know, but i cannot find anything in any of literature i currently have.

Has anyone else checked their insurance or can tell me for sure?

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by wurly

I haven't an answer to that Wurly, but if in doubt CTC membership gives £10 million third party cover, plus benefits like bike shop discounts, magazines etc:

 

Join CTC membership

 

Wiggle are doing a discounted membership at £3 off currently.

I haven't an answer to that Wurly, but if in doubt CTC membership gives £10 million third party cover, plus benefits like bike shop discounts, magazines etc:

 

Join CTC membership

 

Wiggle are doing a discounted membership at £3 off currently.

 

Does that apply to e-bikes?

 

Mike

CTC Insurance

I checked earlier. It does.

You are covered by third party insurance unless cycles are mechanically propelled other than electical assistance

CTC are officially quite pro e-bikes these days, the old anti feelings of earlier years long gone thank goodness.

 

They even have an advice page on electric bikes, and e-bike discussion in their forum is very kind about this pedelecs site.

I have a friend a motorhomer like myself with a E Bike again like my self we were at a rally the other weekend and were out on are e bikes. We were cycling along the cycle lane on the footpath when a person walked out of a gate and straight into the path of my friend on his bike. The ambulance was called and the police it turned out the person has a broken leg my friend was OK but the front wheel on his bike is a right off.

 

It turns out now that the police is going to prosecute him as the bike has a 250 watts motor and should have tax and insurance. As my e bike has the same motor could someone please tell me the law regarding E Bikes please.

 

As flecc pointed out it seems unlikely the police/CPS would bring charges for unlicensed/uninsured vehicle as the bike is presumeabely road legal at 250W. Your friend needs to find out exactly what he has been charged with. But if he's riding on a footpath and caused an accident that caused someone personal injuries, that in itself could well be a criminal offense I think in many towns. Some town councils take the view you can't ride on footpaths in built-up areas unless there is a sign specifically saying you can, cyclists are expected to dismount on ordinary pavements which are only for pedestrians.

 

The other side of this is the accident... because the person suffered a serious injury because the bicycle was on the path (and presumably going quite fast to cause such damage to the bike itself), the police could go for reckless use of the bike or riding without due care and attention for pedestrians. I think that would happen with an ordinary bike in the same situation but the fact its electric and can go faster just complicates matters and has probably got the police more interested in trying to prosecute to discourage others.

 

Let this be a wake-up call to us all eh. It's tempting to zoom along paths but you never know when someone is going to step out from around a corner or behind a hedge. It's better to dismount or go very slowly in built up areas. Make use of your bell etc.

Edited February 6, 201214 yr by morphix

Let this be a wake-up call to us all eh. It's tempting to zoom along paths but you never know when someone is going to step out from around a corner or behind a hedge. It's better to dismount or go very slowly in built up areas. Make use of your bell etc.

 

I think that's the best message - ignoring all this legal/not legal/above 15mph/below 15mph/above 250w/below 250w/throttle/no throttle rubbish at the end of the day no matter what bike you're on you need to act and ride responsibily and have consideration for others that share the cylce routes*

 

*in this instance though I don't see how the cyclist could have avoided this incident - the pedestrian seems soley at fault, assuming they stepped onto a cycle path and not a pedestrian only path.

ignoring all this legal/not legal/above 15mph/below 15mph/above 250w/below 250w/throttle/no throttle rubbish

 

*in this instance though I don't see how the cyclist could have avoided this incident - the pedestrian seems soley at fault, assuming they stepped onto a cycle path and not a pedestrian only path.

 

While I agree about sensible use, that's not an alternative to legality which is far from being rubbish. There will be more posted on this subject shortly once it's cleared to do so.

 

This is not just an issue of blame for the accident, so comments on the accident and e-bike legality are probably best avoided until the fuller circumstances surrounding this issue are made public.