New Jersey Law Requires E-Bike Drivers To Have License, Insurance (cbsnews.com)
- Reference: 0180640456
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/22/221222/new-jersey-law-requires-e-bike-drivers-to-have-license-insurance
- Source link: https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/new-jersey-e-bike-law-insurance-license/
> As one of his final acts in office, former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law new requirements for e-bikes in his state. The new legislation signed Monday [1]requires that owners and operators of e-bikes have licenses, registration and insurance . Owners and operators of e-bikes must be at least 17 years old and have a valid driver's license or be at least 15 years old with a motorized bicycle license under the law, which covers all types of electric bikes.
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> "We are in a new era of e-bike use that requires updated safety standards to help prevent accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Requiring registration and licensing will improve their safe use and having them insured will protect those injured in accidents," said Senate President Nick Scutari, who co-sponsored the bill. The legislation follows an increase in crashes involving e-bikes, including multiple incidents that killed or injured young people in New Jersey in 2025. [...] Registration and licensing fees for e-bikes will be waived for one year, and riders will have six months to get the registration, insurance and license that they need under the law.
[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/new-jersey-e-bike-law-insurance-license/
We must do SOMETHING (Score:3)
This is something... therefore we must do it.
This is not a good solution. It does not solve the problem of people riding irresponsibly. It just adds cost and paperwork for people riding responsibly.
Just enforce the existing laws against riding irresponsibly.
Re: We must do SOMETHING (Score:2)
Because it's just so damn easy to commit that much law enforcement time to irresponsible electric bicycle riders.
I don't have a problem with this. Where I live, there are engine displacement and horsepower rules for older moped-type gas powered bicycles, laws that need to be updated for the e-bike phenomenon. Honestly I would class anything with the equivalent or more power of a typical 100cc moped as a motorcycle and start mandating registration.
Did you ever consider that perhaps police wanted much more
Re: (Score:2)
> This is something... therefore we must do it.
> This is not a good solution. It does not solve the problem of people riding irresponsibly. It just adds cost and paperwork for people riding responsibly.
> Just enforce the existing laws against riding irresponsibly.
Agreed. This seems incredibly dumb to me.
The reason cars require a license is because they have a high risk of killing someone else. If this were in response to e-bike riders killing other people, these laws would make sense.
But those accidents they talked about both involved kids on e-bikes being hit by cars. Unless they darted out into traffic at a rate that would have been impossible on a normal bike (very unlikely), those kids would have been killed just as dead on a normal bike.
So all this law does
Re: (Score:2)
This just means all e-bikes imported to the US will meet the most strict state requirements. So in effect it's going to limit all commercial e-bikes to 18mph. It's just like when Commiefornia passes some regulation or rule. Companies don't make a specific product for sale only in CA and sell the better product in all the other 49 states. Everyone gets a product that meets CA regulations or rules.
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The problem is not people riding irresponsibly. The problem is motorists breaking the law when overtaking law abiding cyclists.
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> Just enforce the existing laws against riding irresponsibly.
Without training, how would one know what is irresponsible or required by law?
Is it a motorcycle or not? (Score:2)
> "New Jersey Law Requires E-Bike Drivers To Have License, Insurance"
Is there such a thing as "E Bike Insurance"? Haven't heard of that before. Or are they just trying to classify it as a motorcycle, but not really. And if it is being treated like a motorcycle, shouldn't that also require a MOTORCYCLE license, not just a [car] driver's license?
And oh, estimates are that at least 1 in 7 licensed drivers (and some think it is higher) are driving motor vehicles around without any valid insurance. Making
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I thin most gas assisted bicycles or scooters are exempt from this stuff as long as the engine is less than 50cc's. Why pick on e-bikes, some of whom are 200W or less?
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Most areas and the class regulations set out for ebikes limit them to 750w motors. A 750w electric motor is approximately equivalent to a 1hp gas engine. In Florida Class 1 2 and 3 ebikes are all legal. They can't exceed 20mph or have larger than a 750w motor, except for class 3 which can go upto 28mph pedal assist. Anything that exceeds these limits is considered a moped and has to be licensed, registered and insured as such.
AFAIKT, the legislation doesn't affect e-scooters. (Score:3)
If I'm [1]understanding correctly that the square brackets mean a deletion from the existing law [legiscan.com], then this includes low speed e-bikes, but not low speed e-scooters.
I imagine that you'll see a proliferation of those amongst children under 15.
That this will bring a safety benefit isn't obvious.
[1] https://legiscan.com/NJ/text/S4834/id/3314415
Rebecca Watson did a decent video about this (Score:1)
The law here is too broad. The problem with the e-bikes is that you can buy kits that more or less turn them into motorcycles. Motorcycles that don't have the proper brakes. When you look at the injuries it's those modified bikes that are causing them not a kid doing 15 miles an hour on his little e-bike.
All this will do is take some kids that used to have access to transportation and take it away from them. It's also a problem for the power assisted bikes which this appears to cover. Oh and it'll let c
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Or heaven forbid it forces the kids pedal and earn the distance traveled. Yeah, yeah some can’t do it. Insure the bike then.
People with Disabilities Left Out (Score:2)
Under SSD, a client can only have one registered vehicle.
Re: (Score:2)
They may make an exception here, it really depends on the definition of "registered" and "vehicle". an e-bike or scooter of some sort might not count, especially if low powered.
Looking, they aren't actually restricted from owning more than one vehicle, it's just that the additional vehicle counts towards the $2k/$3k asset limit, while the primary vehicle doesn't count, even if it's $100k.
Which seems silly and should probably be increased by an order of magnitude.
[1]https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/... [ssa.gov]
[1] https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0501130200
Do you (Score:1)
Do you have a license to sell hair tonic to bald eagles in Omaha Nebraska?
Finally common sense (Score:5, Interesting)
These things have motors, therefore they're a motor vehicle. We already have tons of rules on those. After all, if you replaced the electric motor with an ICE you bet your sweet bippy the cops would require you follow those rules.
Re: Finally common sense (Score:2)
I can (at least could) faster than many of them on my racing bike. If they switch of the electric assistance at 25-30km/h they are just like bicycles. Otherwise, I agree with you.
Re: (Score:2)
> If they switch of the electric assistance at 25-30km/h they are just like bicycles.
Except for their addition mass, which translates in greater energy in an impact, which translates into more damage or injury, which brings us to the reasonableness of licensing and insurance.
Re: Finally common sense (Score:4, Informative)
>> If they switch of the electric assistance at 25-30km/h they are just like bicycles.
> Except for their addition mass, which translates in greater energy in an impact, which translates into more damage or injury, which brings us to the reasonableness of licensing and insurance.
E-bikes weigh from about 45 pounds to 80 pounds. My standard mountain bike weighs 50 pounds. The weight difference is within the margin of error, as the weight of the rider can vary by a much larger amount.
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>>> If they switch of the electric assistance at 25-30km/h they are just like bicycles.
>> Except for their addition mass, which translates in greater energy in an impact, which translates into more damage or injury, which brings us to the reasonableness of licensing and insurance.
> E-bikes weigh from about 45 pounds to 80 pounds. My standard mountain bike weighs 50 pounds.
Google: "Mountain bike weights vary significantly by type, from lightweight cross-country (XC) bikes around 22-28 lbs (10-12.7kg) to heavy downhill (DH) bikes over 35 lbs (16kg), with modern trail bikes typically falling in the 28-35 lb range, while electric mountain bikes (e-MTBs) are much heavier , often 40-60 lbs (18-28kg)"
> The weight difference is within the margin of error, as the weight of the rider can vary by a much larger amount.
That assumes the rider is not sailing past you on inertia. And the rider is squishy if there is contact. Batteries surrounded by aluminum are not so squishy, ask someone beaten with a p
Re: (Score:2)
When you're making laws around transportation, you don't target the highly capable. The fact that Mario Andretti, in his heyday, could easily handle 120mph doesn't mean that's what the speed limit should be set to.
It's the bottom tier that represents the highest risk and the largest societal cost, so that's where you have to target the rules. They suck, so everybody needs to be measured against that bar. I don't think it's unreasonable.
Re: (Score:2)
> When you're making laws around transportation, you don't target the highly capable. The fact that Mario Andretti, in his heyday, could easily handle 120mph doesn't mean that's what the speed limit should be set to.
> It's the bottom tier that represents the highest risk and the largest societal cost, so that's where you have to target the rules. They suck, so everybody needs to be measured against that bar. I don't think it's unreasonable.
I for one love living in a society designed to drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator.
Re:Finally common sense (Score:4, Informative)
There are different classes of motor vehicles. Here in Florida, a moped (which is usually a traditional ICE-powered two-wheeled vehicle) does have to be registered and you have to have some sort of driver's license (IIRC, even a learner's permit is acceptable), but it does not have to be insured. The legally recognized differences that make it not a motorcycle are having an engine with a less than 50cc displacement, and a top speed limited to no more than 30MPH.
There are already various classifications for e-bikes regarding motor output and maximum speed. The most common bikes aren't able to go much faster than you can go by pedaling - they just save you some of the effort.
It seems like the real intent behind this is to disincentivize e-bike use.
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Sure, but the two teen girls who were killed on their e-bikes in new jersey were killed by a car. This new law does not improve safety at all. Instead, it puts more cars on the road, reducing safety.
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> Sure, but the two teen girls who were killed on their e-bikes in new jersey were killed by a car. This new law does not improve safety at all.
Really, in the states where I've had training being aware of the traffic around you, defensive driving, has been a topic. Multiply that by a factor of hundred if the training is for a motorcycle rather than a car.
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> "Really, in the states where I've had training being aware of the traffic around you, defensive driving, has been a topic. Multiply that by a factor of hundred if the training is for a motorcycle rather than a car."
^^This. I have been a motorcyclist for decades. *THE* most important thing to know is that, literally, everything is out to kill you. Other vehicles, nature, the road, the weather, yourself, everything. You must drive (and dress) that way, always. It requires a lot of attention and defen
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Here in Toronto, we have thousands of people riding around on ebikes and scooters. We are supposed to have a law that they need to have working pedals, but that is completely ignored unless the cops do a blitz. Anyone on a gas-powered moped needs a license, registration, proper helmet and insurance. These e-bikes are just as fast and just as hazardous, but the rules don't apply.
We have a LOT of drunks wobbling around on these: They don't need a license. Users of these things often go along with their feet d