Flecc... you do realise the EAPC law is there primarily for SAFETY reasons?? or do you think its there for another reason?
Liability....
- Thread starter KTM Bike Industries UK
- Start date
Not sure... The responsible officer at DfT told me that 15mph throttles are legal in the UK but when I wrote and asked her to confirm this in writing (about 3 times), she didn't respond. Retired? Maternity leave? Ducking? Don't know.
Quite right Flecc, I was referring to your view that de-restricted e-bikes are legal on private land and Trading Standards thinking that it shouldn't have been sold in the first place. Should I change "view" to "approach"?
But once again, not relevant to what I've posted. That has only been about compliance with EAPC law.
I've made no comment on the obvious intrinsic safety aspects of that law, it's a different subject to compliance.
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KTM it was my error ...apologies to Flecc. Anyhow the general thrust of all is safe e-bikes for customers and a level playing field dealers.
Thanks for the explanation James, no need to change any wording, it is a good point that another law may be infringed.
My position is that it is legal for anyone to sell an e-bike of any specification for use on genuinely private land. If the the view of Trading Standards is the opposite on safety grounds, clearly they have a considerable battle on the hands, one which I doubt they'd pursue into the courts.
As they acknowledge, they would need to show that use in the public arena is in fact likely.
After all, just look at the far more widespread sale of road illegal mini-motos, powered pavement scooters etc. The serious problems they cause have been discussed in parliament and yet nothing has been done to stop the suppliers of those.
It's a matter for personal judgement whether it's realistic to think the invisible issue of the faster e-bikes will bring more action than that well known major nuisance. The difference would seem to be that a shop is involved now, something that hasn't affected the other illegal vehicles which are almost always sold through the web.
A personal experience to illustrate my belief. After a first MOT, I immediately found the tyres were at a lethal and skittish over 45 lbs, which would make the car extremely dangerous in wet conditions, as well as being very uncomfortable on poor surfaces. I went back to the MOT garage and compared my gauges with theirs, showing theirs was very faulty, but they point blank refused to acknowleged that.
With the serious safety implications for others, I went to Trading Standards and complained in person. An officer there obligingly checked my two gauges against their huge master gauge setup, confirming the accuracy of mine to within a half pound and even more obligingly issuing certificates for both gauges showing their exact performance accuracy at every lb step from 20 to 50 lbs.
But they also said they could do nothing about the garage gauge since they had no powers in that respect. When I pushed them hard on the safety aspects of doing nothing, they grudgingly said they'd call in when passing and advise the garage, but I had no faith they really meant that.
Obviously a very different attitude regarding safety, though admittedly not a physical product sale, rather a service sale involved. The Trading Standards Department was that of the London Borough of Croydon.
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D
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Did somebody say that they're investigating that there might have been an infringement on the grounds of safety? If so, it's because someone made a complaint, not because they believe it's unsafe. I'll put my money on them finding that there was no infringement when they complete their investigation, which I shouldn't think will take very long.
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