The E-Bike menace needs regulating
Typical E-Bike Rider readying for rain riding.
Many Western electric vehicle fans have taken the Chinese love for Electric Bikes as proof that the world can move away from its love affair with the automobile, these bikes can zip up to 60kph and will run anywhere from 30 to 50km on a full tank of juice, what’s more is they start at around 2000rmb which is roughly $312SUD. Electric bike sales reached 22.2 million units in 2009, an increase of 1.5% over a year previously, now there are some 120 million electric bikes on Chinese roads according to some estimates, that’s a lot of bikes.
Of course E-Bikes are well received owing to their low cost, even lower operating costs and ease of use. When you ride a bike to work you are going to end up inevitably covered in sweat, if you take a cab to work you’re going to have to sit in a traffic jam whilst the meter rolls along, if you drive your own car you’re going to be sitting in the same traffic jam and then struggle to find parking which you will have to pay out of the nose for. So for many, the E-Bike is the ultimate solution for short distance inner city traffic, in down town Chinese cities the whirr of an electric motor is now more common a sound than the creaking of bicycle chains that seldom saw oil in their lifetimes.
Motorbikes have long been hounded out of most city centers, most people don’t even bother trying to apply for a motorbike license anymore as they know you will get better results when attempting to turn lead into gold. In other major world cities the motorbike is still seen a major traffic tool, but in cities such as Tehran where motorbikes rule the road, almost 80% of the cities pollution comes from motorbikes. In the developing world, motorbike emissions are not held to the same high regard as automobiles, so in a bid to clean up China’s biggest cities most municipal governments threw down blanket bans on all gasoline powered motorbikes.
Now back to E-Bikes, on buying one of these bikes consumers are given a brief demonstration in how to use the brake, accelerator and alarm system, they hand over their $312USD and they are free to take to the roads – at speeds of upto 60kph. No instruction is given, no driving license test is handed out, that’s it, go learn, trial by error. E-bike riders rarely stick to the rules that encourage them to use the bike lanes or even attempt to signal before attempting life risking manoeuvers, putting E-Bikes alongside traditional slower moving peddle bikes is a recipe for disaster. Crash safety is the biggest concern; in a runoff with an automobile the E-Bike rider is likely to be worse position than the car driver. Worse still, on rainy nights when it is difficult to see what is around you when driving, E-Bike riders will often wear black or dark blue capes and take to the roads regardless, furthermore they rarely turn on their E-Bike lights to indicate they are in your immediate vicinity which increases the danger factor ten fold.
E-Bikes are certainly a great idea put it’s a poorly regulated industry which is only going to result in a higher death count on Chinese roads. Allowing people to directly upgrade from a 10km per hour bicycle to something that is potentially 8 times more powerful is going to result in a few tears and road rash. E-Bike riders should have to undergo road awareness training before taking to the roads, traffic police should be more aggressive in their policing of E-Bike riders, especially those that take to elevated highways at peak times where the potential for E-Bike and automobile collisions are at a high point. The government should also step in to introduce regulation to control E-Bike speed, other countries have done so, especially in crowded cities, New York for example allows bikes with up to 1000 watts to take to the roads, other cities have set the barrier at 750 watts. An average speed of 25-30kph is more than enough for short distances.
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I think you’re missing the point of E-bikes being intentionally left without regulation: POPULATION CONTROL.
We need peasants to work in factories, and secure the rich – it’s the middle level worker with a rising salary who can afford the fastest e-bikes and China needs to get rid of a good chunk of these people to keep the pinhead happy on the top of the economic pyramid that is China
The US State of New York still has no legislation permitting ebikes. China does but the laws limiting speed and power just haven’t been enforced much. How much training do folks in China have when they buy a pedal bike? Hopefully most readers will see this article for what it really is…
Tks
Lock – you cant just wake up one day and start riding a peddle bike, it takes a few days to learn at least, and then on your average 50lb Phoenix bike you are rarely going to hit anything higher than 15kph, the point here is that people are upgrading directly from their peddle bikes and hitting serious speeds, mixing with a much faster traffic group and generally putting themselves in greater danger.
Their biggest concern is that most e-bike rider don’t wear an helmet in China. At best, they wear some kind of plastic hard hat which doesn’t provide much protection.
Also I’ve seen many riders talking on the phone and/or holding an umbrella while driving!
At least, if you’re feeling sad while in China. Just take a look at the e-bike. You might see a grown-up guy with a pink e-bike covered with Hello Kitty stickers! Instant fun!
Most cyclists in Holland and Denmark etc don’t wear helmets either…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_o3chL8phA
The official definition limits ebikes in China to 20kmh and 40kg.
I don’t see 20kmh as any more dangerous than a pedal bike.
Tks
Well, the way they drive, they should definitely wear a helmet!
Time to correct some misnomers here – there is NO national standard at this time regarding maximum speed and power for a e-bike in China. This is a result of so many provinces having their own standards (and seemingly different in every province) and the bike manufactures complaining bitterly to Beijing. The manufacturers told Beijing that it’s very difficult to make bikes with so many different standards, and Beijing agreed. As a result, Beijing has told all provinces to NOT enforce the e-bike laws until a national standard is established (which hasn’t been done yet).
Now…..most of the things we’re talking about here SHOULD be enacted REGARDLESS of the power and speed of a e-bike (things like helmet requirements and following existing traffic laws). For us in Guangxi, we have even a worse problem now……the “49cc” gas bikes. Existing laws state that any gas engine over 50cc is classified as a motorcycle (which then requires a diver’s license and a plate for the bike), so manufactures are selling these “49cc” gas bikes to beat the laws. The problem is that these bikes have engines that are CLEARLY over 49cc in size, but the specs and bill of sale state that the bike is 49cc. Unless the police actually physically look at the engine (time consuming since it’s covered up), what can they do? These pocket rockets can top out at 90-100kph, and I see kids ride them all the time with no helmets and no respect for the traffic around them. These things are FAST, and IMO the government/police need to outlaw these monsters before they start targeting the much “tamer” e-bikes!!
Let’s get something straight here – e-bikes are not dangerous……it’s the people that ride them stupidly that make them dangerous. They are a great pollution-free way to travel within the city, and if the government can simply regulate them properly (required registration and proof of basic training) a lot of problems would be solved. I own and use a e-bike, and trust me – being on the streets in the middle of all the insanity is a LOT worse than just talking about it here at CCT!
The additional regulation is not needed- the usage and drop in gasoline vehicles will take care of it without the regulations. I can only hope that we have wide spread similar problems in the US.
Ban cars from the city center. Allow only E-bikes.
Problem solved! Instantly there will be no more shortage of parking and less pollution.
This has been tried in many Western countries, it lead to the downfall of the local high street. Banning cars is not the answer. Orderly systems are the answer, and that includes putting E-Bikes in the lane they deserve to be in and not mixing them up with traffic. Stronger regulation is needed, proactive policing is need, a three strike system and your bike is confiscated for a period system needs to be introduced, bike training needs to be implemented.
I agree. Everyone wants to ride their e-bike to hit LV and pick up a new 20k RMB bag.
I believe I’ve cast my fury (as a driver) at e-bikes on several occasions here, so I was glad to see this article.
Just curious, was there some recent incident that prompted you to write this article?
Incidentally, at the end of last year there was talk about having more strict regulation for e-bikes including classifying them as motor vehicles (and therefore having to adhere to traffic laws) and also requiring riders to purchase insurance). But apparently there was a huge backlash from e-bike manufacturers and it looks like the idea got shelved.
Nothing in particular – just tired of seeing families of three or more mixing it up with cars doing 80kph whilst they trundle along oblivious to the fact that a mere prod from a car bumper will wipe out their entire family.
CCT, in China, ordinary people’s life are nothing especially those coming from villages. You are looking from the point of view of Western Norms. The Chinese way is completely different, you have to get used to it when living in China…….
Hence my initial comment: POPULATION CONTROL.
It would help if they didn’t just go straight through red lights all the time leaving pedestrians to scatter and motorists to brake.
True. E-bikes? GOOD! E-bikes that pretend traffic rules don’t apply to them? BAD.
Plus it leads to developments of habits that when they eventually can afford to own a car become quite dangerous to others on the road.
There may be an analog in New York to the problem of E-bikes in China: the moped – motorized pedal bicycle – from the 1970s. These biwheeled vehicles were the transportation of choice in the City for adolescent males between the ages of 12 and 18. The could be bought, owned, and operated without prior training or licensure. They were driven anywhere the operator chose; sidewalks among pedestrians, vehicular traffics of all kinds, public park grounds, etc. It was only after a widespread public demand that the vehicles were constrained and, eventually, lost their appeal among the young and restless. The moped is now regulated by constraining laws. See http://moped2.org/laws/New-York.htm