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electric bicycles

So the DfT has woken up to electric bicycles:

A consultation on the use of small electric personal vehicles was today launched by Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis.
The consultation seeks views on the principle of changing the law to permit the use of small electric personal vehicles (EPVs) on public roads and cycle tracks. It does not include consideration of their use on pedestrian footways or footpaths.

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/clientmicrosite/Content/Detail.aspx?ClientId=202&N...

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Average Joe Cyclist | 11 years ago
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Sadly, the UK is way behind the rest of the world when it comes to electric bike legislation. I sincerely hope your legislators are going to waken up to the realities that make electric bikes the obvious way of the future: tidal waves of obesity and cardiac disease; rising petrol prices; the world's gas resources running out; global warming threatening us all; insane road congestion and accompanying stress for drivers ... I really believe electric bikes will be one of the key success stories of the 21st century. Already they are making cheap, environmentally and healthy transport available to literally millions of new users every year. I just published a whole book about how to choose the right one from the wide range of choices available: "Average Joe Cyclist: How to Buy the RIGHT Electric Bike," available on Kindle.

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OldRidgeback | 14 years ago
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Good idea to draw the line on the Segway then and ban the thing as it's expensive and pretty useless from what I've seen.

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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The electric bikes one seems pretty straightforward - bring the UK into line with the rest of Europe by upper the motor limit to 250W and re-emphasising the need to pedal. still seeing a lot of throttle based bikes in the UK though, even though they're technically illegal.

EPVs is much more tricky. the consultation reads like Segway are the ones pushing for this but it's hard to know where you'd draw the line: electric mopeds? electric scooters? kid's 12v quad bikes?  1

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