A motorist convicted of drug driving offences wound up back in court last week – after he was spotted by police officers riding an illegally modified bike while disqualified.
51-year-old Wayne Collison, who was handed a 12-month disqualification in February for driving while under the influence of drugs the previous August, was stopped by PC Bufton on Orchard Walk in Newtown, Powys, on 22 July.
The officer found that Collison’s Carrera mountain bike featured an aftermarket electric motor and ‘twist and go’ throttle, which he claims to have bought online just three days prior, allowing him to ride it without pedalling.
When tested by PC Bufton, the throttle alone enabled the bike to reach 93kph (almost 58mph), according to Collison’s bike computer. The electric motor was also later discovered to boast a power output of 2,000 watts.
In the UK, legal electric bikes, classified as electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs), must have pedals that can propel the bicycle, have an electric motor with a maximum continuous rated power not exceeding 250 watts, and cut off electrical assistance when it reaches 15.5mph.
Riders of these compliant e-bikes, which are treated legally as conventional pedal cycles, do not need to register or insure their bicycle, nor are they legally required to wear a helmet while riding it.
However, the use of modified bikes, such as the one ridden by Collison, which do not cut off assistance at 15.5mph and can reach high speeds without pedalling, are instead legally classified as motorbikes and mopeds.
They require a licence, registration, Vehicle Excise Duty, and the rider to wear an approved motorcycle helmet to be used on a public highway. It is also therefore also illegal for someone like Collison, who is banned from driving until February 2027, to ride them on public roads.
Last Thursday, Collison pleaded guilty to four offences in Welshpool Magistrates’ Court, including driving while disqualified, riding a motorcycle without protective headgear, and riding without a test certificate or insurance.
“PC Bufton was on Orchard Walk when he saw the defendant riding an electric, adapted bike on the crossing and pavement. He was not wearing a helmet,” prosecutor Helen Tench told the court, the Powys County Times reports.
“The officer knew he was banned. The bike had a twist throttle, it could be used without the pedals being moved.
“He noticed the speedometer went up to 93kph when he lifted the wheel off the ground and revved the accelerator. It had 2,000 watts of power.”
According to Tench, when PC Bufton called Collison at a later date to arrange an interview, the 51-year-old told him to “f*** off”.
Representing the convicted drug driver, Owain Jones told the court: “He bought the components to an old bike three days before his arrest off Amazon.
“It was to help him get by as he suffers with sciatica. He was unaware when he bought them of the rules that would render the bike to be illegal.
“He was unaware, but as he spoke to the officer he concedes it was and he admits his guilt today. He did cooperate with PC Bufton, he stopped and he handed the vehicle over.”
Probation officer Julian Davies noted that Collison has 20 previous convictions for 29 offences but argued, in light of the current order, that any probation intervention is unnecessary.
The 51-year-old was handed a 12-month community order, including 54 hours of unpaid work. He was also issued six points on his driving licence, which will remain in effect when his ban is lifted in February, and was ordered pay a £114 surcharge and £85 in costs.
12 thoughts on “Banned drug driver convicted again… for riding illegally modified 58mph bike (and not wearing a helmet)”
It’s almost as if those who have no respect for the law in one area of their lives have no respect for the law in others.
Hmm. These images appear to have been ‘liberated’ from an ancient APPGCW report, so I’m not sure you should be claiming credit for the first one.
Also, they’re just used as generic illustrative filler of modified ebikes in that report. While there might be a reasonably good chance that any given modified bike is non-EAPC-compliant, I’m not sure there’s any evidence that any of these specific ones are.
So lifting the rear wheel and hitting 58mph is still considered a meaningful test? I guarantee it never went that fast with his 51 year old arse sitting on it.
But never mind that – he should have his nads removed.
@Terry Hutt
You beat me to it.
@Ryan Mallon
No comment on this false test given the recent reports by Yourselves elsewhere of the same test being done on a legal bike?
(Not condoning Collison.)
In this case, it got to that speed by use of the throttle alone, when power should have cut out well before that, so it’s not quite such a terrible test as the one where they turned the pedals and said “there – see – it’s doing 45!”. That said, reaching more than walking pace with just the throttle should be a fail*, so the actual speed it reached is neither here nor there.
[*unless it’s ancient]
Not quite sure how he determined the 2kW thats pretty close to the heat output of a 3 bar electric fire, if it wasn’t moving to generate sufficient airflow it wouldn’t take long to be glowing red! Certainly the motor couldnt demand and output that kind of power without the resistance of the road against the weight of rider and bike and some frighteningly aggressive acceleration.
I.e. that wasn’t determined as a result of the ‘pick it up and rev it’ test. It may just mean they got back to the station and looked it up on the internet, or even that it advertised the output on the motor itself.
@Robert Hardy indeed, just because its rated for 2 kW doesn’t mean it’s putting that out under no load. They probably looked up the model number.
@mdavidford I think we’re conflating two different things here.
1. That the throttle did not cut off at 25kph. We can assume it will never cut out.
2. That the bike is capable of 58mph. Not a valid test with no load.
I still hold firm on the nads, though.
You’re conflating the throttle and the pedal assist. The throttle should only get it up to walking speed; about 6kph. Once it takes it past that, whether or not it’s capable of 15mph or 58mph is entirely irrelevant.
Without wishing to condone what is clearly the illegal use of a modified e-bike, it’s disappointing to see Road.cc describing it as a “58 mph bike” based off an unloaded test.
Not a single pun with respect to his name. So disappointed.