ministers must urgently act to stop the sale of illegal and potentially lethal electronic bikes with a particular focus on their use by the gig economy delivering riders a committee of MPs and peers have said the rapid spread of highly powered bikes and conversion kits cause hazards on the roads and could lead to fires because of cheaplymade batteries the report by the all parl party parliamentary group for cycling and walking said calling it a crisis hiding in plain sight this was even having a detrimental impact on active transport the report says with some travel networks and workplaces banning all ebikes from their premises and people with legal ebikes being refused insurance under UK law ebikes are only allowed to use electric assist to power the machine of up to 15.5 mph where the rider is pedaling with a maximum power output of 250 W but the report says it’s easy to find ebikes sold by major online retailers with power speeds of 40 mph 2000W motors and throttle control all of which are illegal
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