Guy on Facebook said Police took a ride on his bike ?
- Thread starter Deus
- Start date
I believe that the "search on the street" laws in the UK have been liberally updated for many reasons over the years, knives, drugs and weapons come to mind.Probably. Nevertheless, the authorities aren't authorised to test criminality, by suspicion alone, in a bid to find evidence.
Vehicles have been described as weapons many times when driven in a dangerous manner....
Furthermore, the safety of ALL everyday citizens is always paramount.
I am also sure that the Police will simply state that the law allows a max of 15.5 MPH, and they need to be able to check that out, easily and quickly!
Making a fuss will not help and will possibly give the police even stronger reasons to test a bike immediately, before the controller program can be altered in any way....
It's really incorrect to have a bike that is too fast.....
Breaking the speed limit in ANY vehicle carries penalties with it if caught out! Also driving speed restricted vehicles above their legal speed, is also illegal, and always has been!
It is a personal choice whether or not to respect the laws where you live, and also taking full responsibility when caught!
Regards
Andy
PS. Maybe the Policeman was just thinking of buying an e-bike? I know that after one short ride 8 or 9 years ago, I was 100% convinced!
But could possibly lead to the bike showing itself to be modified, leading to it being immediately confiscated, proper accurate testing and a possibly expensive conviction!
No thanks. It's far simpler to either stay completely off road, or ride legally when on it.
Andy
But not bicycle batteries.
Will the next terror attack be on an ebike?
Of course. However, so is their liberty and freedom to go about their lives without harassment from the state or other entities.
But not by riding it on the public highway. Cars have been allowed to do no more than 70 mph, in the UK, since 1965. Yet they are all made to do many more miles per hour. Why not take those for a spin? The offence isn't an offence until it's been committed and proved to have been committed. An ebike doing more mph than 15.5 mph is not an offence. Intention is not proved by the police taking a bike for a spin down the road.
You don't need to make a fuss to say "No." If they insisted on doing so the owner could have asked for a written seizure note. Or one that accepts full responsibility, in writing, for any damage done by the police while they ride a suspected overpowered ebike down the public highway. Which, in itself proves nothing.
All bikes are capable of breaking an urban speed limit.
This particular guy was not 'caught out' in that way.
An ebike has no speed limiters. Other than the cutoff, ebikes are not speed restricted. They can be rode perfectly legally at speeds well in excess of 15.5 mph.
The guy in question had not broke any laws.
He wasn't caught.
Testing peoples' rides on the public highway, and then giving an unqualified opinion, is not proof of wrongdoing. Convictions require an appropriate chain of evidence. Legality must be observed. Even when it's murder.. Allegedly.
There's always Halfords and the regular channels for trying out a bike.
D
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It's illegal to ride an ebike that's capable of providing assistance at over 15.5mph, whatever speed you happen to be cycling at.
It isn't illegal to drive a car that's capable of doing 140mph provided you are not exceeding the speed limit.
There are big holes in many of your other points but I can't be arsed....
These facts we all know. Yet that in itself does not constitute proof of having sped. The biggest hole is that, until you have been caught speeding, there must be a presumption of innocence. Which wasn't observed in this incident.
There's a big hole in that too.
Actually the facts are not known, it was a guess early in the thread that it was about speed. The officer was perhaps more likely to think it could be over powered since it looked like a kit setup, so there were visible signs for suspicion.
Presumption of innocence is only for the courts, it doesn't apply to the police, if they always presumed innocence they would never arrest anyone. All they need to detain someone for questioning is "reasonable suspicion", which can take many forms. For example for a weapons search it might only be appearance combined with location, nothing more. "Copper's nose" in other words, traffic police often work a similar way on suspicion.
This seems to me to be a storm in a teacup, personally if stopped by an officer on suspicion my e-bike was illegal, I'd be delighted for him to try it to clear it as OK on the spot.
After all, the official method is he confiscates it, calls for a van, it gets taken to the police pound for technical examination in due course and you are left to walk or take public transport home. Days later, maybe weeks later, you get a notification that the bike was ok and you can collect it, all of which is completely legal and compensation not claimable.
Is that what any of you want to happen? Isn't it better the officer has a quick try, asks the odd question and then says , all ok, sorry to have bothered you sir?
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No. What if the guy had his bike set to go fast.. Fortunately he didn't have it set up that way. Or he set it to a slower max speed moments before the police took it for a ride. Although, that point didn't seemed to have the police fooled and they appeared to be well aware of it's variable speed settings. Yet, they still let him bust case and be on his way!
Interesting to say the least.
Great post of yours and I guess most members here are less anti road laws and the police in General!
To copy you:-
There are big holes in many of his "points" but I can't be "arsed" either!!....As it would be a complete waste of time and inconvenience too many electrons!
Andy
I'm not surprised he wasn't fooled, many of our forces arevery familiar with e-bikes, having had them on trial or in some cases bought numbers of them. It was probably his knowledge that prompted him to try the bike. So what if it was set for higher speed, he'd easily detect well over 15 mph assist without a speedo to read.No. What if the guy had his bike set to go fast.. Fortunately he didn't have it set up that way. Or he set it to a slower max speed moments before the police took it for a ride. Although, that point didn't seemed to have the police fooled and they appeared to be well aware of it's variable speed settings. Yet, they still let him bust case and be on his way!
Interesting to say the least.
I don't understand your attitude to this, it's not a crime, it's a minor regulatory matter that isn't going to harm anyone. There's nothing an e-bike can do to anyone that an unpowered bike can't also do, so why the harsh attitude? Wanting confiscation and all the rigmarole that follows, including unnecessary private and public costs, instead of informally clearing it. After all, it he did find anything, it would still be confiscated and the law complied with.
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Actually you have missed another point, the law states that e-bikes may not be capable of exceeding 15.5 MPH with motor assistance.These facts we all know. Yet that in itself does not constitute proof of having sped. The biggest hole is that, until you have been caught speeding, there must be a presumption of innocence. Which wasn't observed in this incident.
There's a big hole in that too.
Many of them can be pedaled faster than that, but the motor assistance must have stopped/cut out.
The ONLY quick way to prove whether the bike can exceed the maximum allowed speed, is to get on and ride it.....
Naturally, if it exceeds that speed, then it will probably be confiscated and tested accurately....
Remember, if you are only exceeding this legal speed by a small amount, there will not be a problem, but even to the dumbest "Plod", 20 MPH or more will be blindingly obvious, and there are people here who have bikes that they claim exceed 30 MPH!!
I don't have a harsh attitude Flecc. I'm simply discussing what occurred and the assumptions of prejudice surrounding that incident.
It happened exactly as you have said. However, normalising those actions with a 'nothing to hide' attitude is tantamount to infringing on us all being stopped on our ebikes for a speed check. I don't see them checking racing bikes that do 40 plus mph. I'd rather lose my ebike for a while than lose my liberty.
Why would I be paranoid? All my bikes are perfectly legal. But I won't be letting the police ride it just to confirm that.
That's really OTT, you would not be losing your liberty, even with confiscation, being free to go wherever and whenever you wanted, even on another e-bike. You're maintaining that it's better to lose your bike for several days or even weeks, rather than for two or minutes. That is just weird.It happened exactly as you have said. However, normalising those actions with a 'nothing to hide' attitude is tantamount to infringing on us all being stopped on our ebikes for a speed check. I don't see them checking racing bikes that do 40 plus mph. I'd rather lose my ebike for a while than lose my liberty.
As said, many of the police are well aware of e-bikes and well aware that many are made illegal. This officer saw an obvious sign of a kit bike and gave it a quick check, hardly an inconvenience.
They don't check racing bikes since they have no fixed speed limits, they are naturally safety limited by the rider's fitness to perform, as I've discussed a few times before.
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