In January BBC’s Panorama broadcast an appallingly one-sided and poorly researched programme which made e-bikes out to be public enemy number 1. We wanted to set the record straight.
Just like cars, motorbikes, scooters and normal bikes, e-bikes are used by a small minority in a way that is at best antisocial and at worst, life-threatening.
The vast majority of ebike riders use them sensibly and socially. We agree that there is a need to manage e-bikes to minimise the potential for them to be a nuisance or dangerous (more on that later) but it is important to keep in mind the numerous benefits they bring.
UK cities are all choked with cars, vans and motorcycles which create traffic jams and parking problems. E-bikes are more viable replacements for motor vehicles than normal bikes because they make it easier to travel further and require less effort to get around for work, school and pleasure. Replacing cars with e-bikes reduces the cost of living, carbon emissions, air pollution, noise, congestion, wear and tear on our roads and creates more space for the motor vehicles that cannot easily be replaced by e-bikes.
Yes, e-bikes can be dangerous to pedestrians and other cyclists but to keep this in perspective, the motor vehicles they replace are far more dangerous, causing many more injuries and deaths, not to mention respiratory illnesses.
Users of e-bikes benefit by getting to work more quickly, more quietly, and become healthier in the process. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to keep fit riding an e-bike – and people whose workplaces don’t have showers can arrive at work without getting sweaty.
So what to do about the e-bikes that are terrorising pedestrians in city centres with fast and reckless riding? It is really up to national and local government to adapt to the new technology and reap the benefits for society in four ways:
- The first solution is to address the quality problems of the UK’s network of bike lanes, many of which are not fit for purpose, so that bikes and pedestrians are kept apart wherever possible.
- Trading standards need to be enforced to stop the sale of illegal e-bikes equipped with throttles.
- Police need to be able to seize and destroy illegal e-bikes whose speed is not restricted to 15.5 mph (as well as fining the riders).
- Public education is required to ensure the consequences of riding e-bikes illegally are understood.
In any case, a far more serious risk than road traffic accidents presented by e-bikes and e-scooters (which went unnoticed by Panorama) is that of battery fires. The proliferation of cheap, low quality batteries available online should be terrifying for anyone living in a city high rise block. For this reason alone, the urgent strict application of trading standards is imperative to prevent another Grenfell tragedy.
As for the vast majority that ride e-bikes considerately and legally, we say chapeau.
