Licensing of e-bike riders

[AlBaker]

E-bike crashes have become an almost every day occurrence here. Now a bill is being introduced to license e-bike riders.

https://electrek.co/2025/10/24/new-...e-for-e-bikes-updates-drivers-licensing-test/

 

[Drago]

Over here legal ones are classed as bicycles. Illegal ones are mopeds or motorcycles and require a licenced and unnured rider anyway. From what I understand if the law passes then the legal situation in florida will be broadly similar to over here.

 

[Gwylan]

That all gets observed and respected too.

 

[markemark]

E-bike crashes have become an almost every day occurrence here. Now a bill is being introduced to license e-bike riders.

https://electrek.co/2025/10/24/new-...e-for-e-bikes-updates-drivers-licensing-test/

Over here it's pretty much exclusively death by cars, vans and lorries. Sadly the licensing and restrictions on those still results in large numbers of deaths.

If stricter controls and regulations were to be brought in, I'd increase the time of police, courts and laws to tackle the 5 deaths a day by motor vehicles and not the 5 deaths a decade by cyclists.

 

[AlBaker]

Over here legal ones are classed as bicycles. Illegal ones are mopeds or motorcycles and require a licenced and I sured rider anyway.

Things have gotten pretty bad, here, with so many crashes, almost every day, and sometimes two or three times a day. My wife saw four e-bike riders racing across a mall parking lot, yesterday.

 

[Drago]

That all gets observed and respected too.

Thats a fair point. The sheetbags who ignore the current law are unlikely to suddenly go straight and start obeying new ones.

The death rate among motorists on Floridas roads is nearly double that of the entire UK, which has three times of population of Florida, and you'd like to think their legislators would be keen to start on reducing that butchers bill first.

 

[AlBaker]

Over here it's pretty much exclusively death by cars, vans and lorries. Sadly the licensing and restrictions on those still results in large numbers of deaths.

If stricter controls and regulations were to be brought in, I'd increase the time of police, courts and laws to tackle the 5 deaths a day by motor vehicles and not the 5 deaths a decade by cyclists.

The deaths may be because of collisions with motor vehicles, but the crashes here are mostly due to the riders having no experience, just jumping on one and going hell-for-leather. Riding any kind of bike on our highways is extremely dangerous. That's why Florida allows bikes on the sidewalks.

 

[markemark]

Things have gotten pretty bad, here, with so many crashes, almost every day, and sometimes two or three times a day. My wife saw four e-bike riders racing across a mall parking lot, yesterday.

Just read there's around 40,000 deaths a year in the US by cars. How many are from these ebike riders to warrant the panic?

 

[AlBaker]

Just read there's around 40,000 deaths a year in the US by cars. How many are from these ebike riders to warrant the panic?

America is a big country, so 40,000 may seem a lot but spread across each state, it's probably about the same as the UK. There are enough e-bike crashes, and riders riding dangerously in public places, to warrant action.

 

[markemark]

America is a big country, so 40,000 may seem a lot but spread across each state, it's probably about the same as the UK. There are enough e-bike crashes, and riders riding dangerously in public places, to warrant action.

"Enough" being roughly.....

So that's around 100 deaths a day by cars. I am going to hazard a guess of 100 a decade from cyclists if it matches the UK experience. One a month.

So, if you were an officer, how much of your month would you think you should spend preventing another 1death form a cyclist or 3,000 from cars?

 

[Drago]

America is a big country, so 40,000 may seem a lot but spread across each state, it's probably about the same as the UK. There are enough e-bike crashes, and riders riding dangerously in public places, to warrant action.

Except there isnt a single state remotely approaching the population of the UK...

 

[AlBaker]

"Enough" being roughly.....

The everyday crashes and other people being injured by dangerous riders.

 

[Drago]

So still nowhere near the number of motor vehicle deaths?

Call me old fashioned, but when my house is burning down I dont muck about ensuring there are fresh flowers in the vases.

 

[AlBaker]

Except there isnt a single state remotely approaching the population of the UK...

348 million is a lot of people. Probably more major highways and high speeds than the UK. I've driven a local highway at 80 mph and been passed by faster drivers. Mix e-bikes with them and it amounts to a problem. Even our local roads in town are fast. Nobody obeys speed laws, here, and the cops don't bother with speeders for the most part.

 

[AlBaker]

So still nowhere near the number of motor vehicle deaths?

How many have to die before some kind of action is taken?