Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kuo-tsai (王國材) said amendments to laws related to e-bikes, including the requirement for the vehicle to be equipped with a license plate, the requirement for the vehicle to carry compulsory vehicle liability insurance, and the requirement for the rider to be aged 14 and up, will be passed by the legislature very soon.
Department of Railways and Highways official Lee Chao-hsien (李昭賢) said that it’s very possible that the amendment bill will be passed during the current legislative session, and if that’s the case, it’s very likely e-bikes will be regulated from the second half of this year, per CNA.
I give it half/half. I’ve been nearly run over by a lot more electric bikes on sidewalks than scooters lately. It’d be nice if it’s easily to identify the moron when the day comes when I am actually run over by one.
I’m all for more accountability for the owners and the insurance is a good idea. I have to pay my insurance, some of them can do just as much damage to someone as a scooter. They are supposed to be limited to 25kph, but I’m regularly overtaken when I’m toddling around at 40kph on my scooter.
I get nearly run over by one of those. I don’t know why people drive those worse than they do scooters, and the worst part is you can’t hear them coming.
The article says “electric bicycles”, but most of them are not bicycles because their pedals are just platforms to place the feet. The motor even works without pedalling.
They are in fact electric scooters and should not be allowed near people or on the sidewalk. I think anything electrified, hoover board, scoot should be insured, they are dangerous as people using it don’t care about safety of others.
Ditto. Even bicycles are legally supposed to follow road laws . This only makes fast electric vehicles responsible for their actions. I am all for it. I am not for age limits though on speed capped machines.
At the same time i see it being a taipei only thing. Taichung police will probably also use it to harass SE asians. Otherwise this will just be the usual make more and more laws without piss all enforcement to help make anyone a target should the time arise. But it aint for safety…
I agree…don’t foresee small town cops stopping anyone on a electric bike no matter what the situation is…including those 3 young kids riding on one bike without helmets down the wrong side of the road and running a red light.
Just another way to get money into some government’s coffers.
An American typically might have to deal with 100+ different licenses/taxes in his/her lifetime.
Download the hello Taipei app. Use it when you’re in a bad mood. I’m sure Ive been blacklisted for all the “this car stopped on the crosswalk while I was trying to cross” complaints they’ve gotten from me, but I hope that a few people got ticketed
I’m not a fan of creating a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. There are a lot worse traffic offences they don’t care about with already regulated licensed vehicles instead of to go chase after potentially low income people as well as low powered scooters.
I’m not against having a free license plate mandatory to identify offenders but people on an ebike shouldn’t need to pay for fees and insurance. The government should be promoting going green not being heavy handed with it.
It’s pretty hard to argue against such logic. At least pay cost of plates etc which taiwan is normally pretty good at.
On insurance though . I think both sides have valid points. If the vehicle kills someone, who pays? The poor person that just killed the person still goes to jail and the victims/family are SOL. The only consolidation is knowing that the normal person with no driving skill is also destroyed because they were morons…thats just a bit fucking stupid. I am still undecided on this one personally. It can go back and forth with logical arguments on all sides.
Probably just comes down to what we all talk about daily. Enforcement AND prevention. By prevention i mean actual education AND skill training. Dont hand out licenses like its amphetamine for truckers. Prevention ,however, is Taiwans kryptonite. Without a doubt!
Personally, and I am very biased, I am a huge fan of e-bikes becoming more regulated. So tired of almost being ran over by them on a walking path, or have them come out of nowhere as I am biking on a bike path, taking up way too much of the lane. Such a lazy way to move around, just stay in the road and wear a helmet.
2015 article, are they still actually banned from sidewalks and bike lanes? I never, ever see it being enforced if they are…