Police seizures of illegally modified electric bikes (e-bikes) soared in the past year amid concerns their speed and weight present a lethal threat to pedestrians, an investigation has found.
Forces across the UK confiscated 937 e-bikes in the year to August 11, according to Freedom of Information (FoI) figures obtained by the PA news agency.
That is compared with 511 during the previous 12 months.
Under UK law, e-bike motors must cut out when a speed of 15.5mph is reached.
But police are increasingly finding many have been modified to reach much faster speeds.
It is also common for officers to find e-bikes that can be powered without the pedals being turned, effectively making them electric mopeds or motorbikes which must be registered and taxed.
Conversion kits are available online for as little as £300.
City of London Police recently seized an e-bike capable of reaching 70mph, which featured an electronic display indicating it had covered more than 6,000 miles.
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32 Comments
Wtf.. Caught the criminal not the bike.
So, there's gonn be a huge dip in UBER£JUST EAT/DELIVEROO ETC sale's, dam that's gonna hurt, but also more so If they increase their already ridiculous [ Service charges ] not to mention the Delivery fee and expect punters to guve a tip sometimes BEFORE THE DELIVERY WTF,😳🤯😱
So its about TAX not safety ????
are they for sale for export?
Going to wait longer on your curry delivery now. The bike riders drew attention to themselves by riding on pavements, hitting people, hitting cars as they squeezed through traffic, and turning their bikes into ‘motorbikes’. Just get a moped license.
So they want people to go back to driving diesels instead
testing ebike for 15.5 mph threshold is completely unfair if the test is carried out like you see here. the bike carrying no load, just suspended and running the motor is a false test. the roads themselves, the state of them, is the most dangerous thing on the road.
But they let all the imagrants on them delivering uber eats in my town centre there all on them , countrys a joke
Contrary to the caption an ebike can be powered by a hand throttle alone, as long as they are speed limited and certified by the DVSA Electroheads made a video 6 months ago
Racist
Oxygen tax is coming soon
You'll own nothing and you'll be happy
But not in glasgow ….
Clowns
About time too. These things are ridden by hooligans who don't give a toss. Hoods up, no lights, dressed in black, doing 20 mph (at least) on the pavements. F – off !
Tut tut, fast car drivers get points, just like Tesco having club points and higher prices for the others
The police have really no control, registration road tax insurance and license, is the answer not controlled in wealthy areas, the roads are unsafe with the un regulated, and irresponsible drivers of these vehicles on public roads and pavements
At last. If the government were serious about reducing obesity then they'd ban delivery apps.
Not fair who the f wants to walk or cycle with bad knee over walking and cycling has gave me a really bad knee my electric scooter really helps me
What r the immigrants going to do without these bikes
I’ve seen Uber eats and just eat drivers on these easily doing 40mph plus on the roads
I reach faster then 15mph on ma standard push bike give them higher speeds
So now they can get a proper motorcycle license can't they
Communism style dictatorship??? 😂😂😂 what a free democracy 👏 👌🏾
Holding the back wheel up to test the speed is not accurate.. U will get higher mph, u need some sitting on it and friction of road. Every bike even low power will go over 15mph lifting up back wheel. Void testing.
Good, I'm glad they are doing this. Bikes and scooters shouldn't be faster than a car and shouldn't allow for illegal bs on the streets. Fking get a licence
Imagine tsking somones bike who is trying to make there worklife easier by having a battery powered bike its pathetic
Maybe 1 in a 1000 of these bikes are used in phone theft. Government don’t want you to have free transportation.
1 was on the main road in Preston lancs in front of my car, and I was doing 29 mph. He came from a side Rd, straight in front of me and was away, right behind the car in front of him.
Absolutely disgusting, across Europe scooters and ebikes are everywhere and legal. Yes a speed limit but I can cycle faster than 35 ks
Nothing to do with safety everything to do with money and control
The vast majority that I have seen are working for food delivery companies. Generally they appear to be very heavy, fast and poorly maintained.