I'm posting this article for Alan Parker.
Road regulations encourage car use and ban the best electric bicycles needed by many elderly cyclists
By Alan A. Parker. Former Vice President of the Bicycle Federation of Australia.
E-bikes can be used to save fuel, save money, greatly assist riding up hills and against strong winds, Action is needed to persuade the feds and states to adopt European Union electric bike regulations in 2011.
The regulatory framework in Australia is complex. Due to having a Federation of States and Territories, each of which had its own road traffic rules until the year 2000 when national uniform traffic laws were adopted by the Australian Federal Government, known as “The Model Australian Road Rulesâ€. They were initially approved by the states Transport Ministers, but by 2010 had failed to create uniform road rules for electric bicycles (E-bikes) and electric scooters (E-scooters) in their home states.
As a result of this, consumers were constrained from buying the best and safest E-bikes on the world market, they are not free to buy them. This is so because Australia does not manufacture electric bicycles and bans the import of 250 watt E-bikes fitted to nearly all potential imports. The States’ bicycle importers, assemblers, wholesalers, retailers, and some transport researchers have been advocating an upgrade of the road rules. The most important new rule is increasing the current 200 watt power limit to 250 watts in line with what is available from overseas and in 2011 complying with EU safety standards for Ion lithium batteries and E-bike parts.
In 2010, the European Twowheeler Retailers’ Association (ETRA) was given an opportunity to explain in detail to the European Parliament why the European Unions (EU) new 2011 regulations for the review of the type-approval for two- and three-wheel motor vehicles is not well adapted to E-bikes and E-scooters and creates even more confusion than the previous legislation,In the individual EU countries. In the individual EU countries. Therefore a Member of European Parliament Wim van de Camp invited the ETRA to make a submission to the EU. ETRA submitted a proposal based on two main principles applying E-bikes and E-scooters.
1. Exclusion of all cycles with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h in order to allow the EU to amend EN 15194, the current standard. This would exempt these vehicles from the type-approval procedure and they would be classified as bicycles. As a result they could be used In the EU without helmets, drivers’ licence or insurance.
2. As for the E-scooters with pedals, up to 45 km/h, cycles that can be propelled by the motor itself and they would still be subject to type-approval but the procedure would be adapted to suit so that unnecessary requirements would not apply.
A planning opportunity exists for the Australian Commonwealth Government to give consumers and importers what they want by adopting EU E-bikes regulations. However there are some planning and political constraints to be overcome. Like the USA the Australian government is holding office by the slimmest of margins. Furthermore, Australia has a new Federal Government with a new Prime Minister, a reshuffle of government departments, new advisory groups and the need to implement new election promises. Added to this, like the rest of the world, Australia has been struggling to deal with the global financial crisis and the need to adapt to climate change and future oil shortages. E-bikes are a case where the devil is in the detail.
Australia has a new Commonwealth super department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (CDITLG) that is currently ignoring all EU electric car legislation and in particular draft EU regulations for E-bikes and pedelecs. At the time of writing the CDITLG has a one eyed view of electric bicycles as a road safety problem and ignoring their potential for reducing air pollution, oil use and as a mobility aid, particularly for the for the elderly. This is why it appears likely that the "National Road Safety Strategy 2011 - 2016" , to be released later this year,will increase the safety of E-Bikes and pedelecs.
CDITLG is the host of the ’Australian Bicycle Council (ABC)’. The ABC produced the ‘National Cycling Strategy 2011- 2016’ which ignored the important role of E-bikes in satisfying the transport needs of the elderly and of those who have serious health problems At its next meeting, it may support proposals to pressure the CDITLG to actively support the need for 250 watt E-bikes to be sold in Australia, as proposed by this writer and others. It has been alleged that the Chair of the Australian Bicycle Council (ABC), a senior executive of Vic Roads, has instructions to persist in ensuring that the ABC ignores the needs of the community , including the elderly to ride electric bicycles.
The CDITLG also has a Vehicle Safety Standards unit (VSSU) which fields questions on the existing e-bike legislation (200 watt) and states that they are "products" not bicycles. This means they are vehicles, thus removing any any chance of them being imported as they are considered as being unsafe, especially with 250 watts. The VSSU has also ignored the merits of one 250 watt E-bike the state of the art “pedelec,†approved by the EU in April 2010. Indeed, a CDITLG insider has stated that the department has no funds to research the issue properly.
The VSSU decision to treat E-bikes and pedelecs as "products" originates with Australian state road agencies on the VSSU safety committee and the dumping of model road rules which define an E-bike a s bicycle with an "auxiliary" motor which creates a legal constraint. The VSSU was persuaded by draft VicRoads revision of the Victorian Road Rules’ not yet approved by the Victorian Parliament, omits any reference to ‘auxiliary’ motor.
This legal constraint was challenged by a legal precedent set when a Melbourne magistrate In December 2010 ruled that the Victorian and Federal Model Road Rules’ definition of E-bike as a "bicycle with auxiliary motor" was correct and that the Oxford dictionary definition of the "auxiliary" was acceptable. The magistrate dismissed the case brought against the rider of a 200 watt E-bike who was charged by the Victorian police with riding a “vehicle on a bike laneâ€. The police use of the draft rule was an unfortunate mistake for them. Cycling organisations need to ensure that it is still legal to ride E-bikes.
Hopefully, 2011 will see the creation of new road rule in all states which encourage the use of E-bikes and Pedelecs, otherwise there will be chaos in the domestic market for E-bikes. New rules for E- scooters may come later. A planning opportunity exists for Australian state governments to make this happen.
Alan Parker
alanpar@labyrinth.net.au