Electric Bicycle And eBike Laws

eBike

March 22, 2019

Hey, guys. Dustin here, CEO of sixthreezero. Want to talk to you today about electric bike laws, or eBike laws. There's a lot of information out there about eBikes and it's really confusing, and everyone's wondering can I ride an eBike in my city, can I ride an eBike in my state. Well, I'm not going to tell you the answer to that for every state out there today, but what I am going to tell do is talk to you a little bit about what classifies an eBike or what the CPSC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, classifies as an eBike. Then, in terms of the laws around eBikes, I'll direct you to a resource.

So let's talk about that. There is a website, I'll post a link in the description. It's called peopleforbikes.org, and that website is going to actually have the eBike laws by state. The confusing thing about eBikes right now is the laws around eBikes differ state to state. What's required in California is totally different than what's required in New York, and what's Illinois and Alabama, et cetera. In California, I can tell you that what classifies as an eBike is basically anything that has a motor less than 750 watts and does not travel in speeds in excess of 20 miles an hour in full-electric mode and does not travel in speeds in excess of 28 miles an hour in pedal-assist mode. Now, again, that's totally different. In a couple other states you actually have to register and get licensed for eBikes specifically. They do not classify them in the same class of bikes.

Now, another thing to talk about is helmets. This will all be on the peopleforbikes.org website, is the helmet laws. The helmet laws also vary state to state, in terms of what age is required for a helmet and who has to wear a helmet for an eBike, things like that. Again, it's totally different state to state. Also, is age limits on eBikes. In some states, children under the age of 16 legally can't even ride eBikes. Again, check out that link and make sure you look up your state, so you understand the laws before you go out and buy an eBike and you maybe can't even ride it.

As an example, as of today, New York doesn't even legally allow eBikes to be ridden. It's a real gray area. People are waiting for legislation to get rid of the confusion so people can understand what actually classifies an eBike.