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9 Jul 2025

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Sixteen illegally upgraded e-bikes capable of speeds up to 40mph have been seized and disposed of in a joint enforcement operation in Birmingham city centre.

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25 Jun 2025

The E-Bike Positive campaign has seen major success in the first half of 2025, with its message reaching nearly 8 million people across the UK through high-profile media coverage and growing...

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on...

20 Jun 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has reopened its Cytech training facility in Darlington, offering a full range of courses from Home Mechanic up to Cytech Technical Three.
 

BBC News e-bike segment provokes negative reaction due to “factual inaccuracies”

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

A recent BBC Breakfast segment has sparked backlash from the cycling community over its portrayal of e-bikes, with critics accusing the broadcaster of conflating legal e-bikes with illegal, unregistered ‘e-motorbikes’.

BBC Segment

The segment, aired last week (1st July) featured celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, who described a recent incident in which his mother-in-law was injured by a rider on an electric hire bike that ran a red light, calling for Government action and suggesting London is “saturated” with bikes.

While no one has disputed the seriousness of the incident, cyclists online took issue with what followed—broad criticism of e-bikes as a whole, supported by footage of police seizing illegal e-motorbikes, with little clarity provided on the legal distinction between the two according to a number of viewers.

Zilli claimed the pavement outside his restaurant is “mayhem” due to reckless e-bike use and asked, “What needs to happen before anything is done?” adding that incidents are “happening every day now, people are losing lives, people are losing limbs.”

He said: “It’s chaos out there at the moment—people are weaving in and out of pedestrians on pavements, riding through red lights, with no accountability; something needs to change.”

ACT Director Jonathan Harrison
ACT Director Jonathan Harrison

Jonathan Harrison, Director of the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT), commented on the segment, saying: “While any injury caused by incidents involving e-bikes should be taken seriously, reporting on these issues—particularly by the BBC and other mainstream media—must clearly distinguish between illegal e-motorbikes and legal, compliant, and safe e-bikes.

 “These types of TV segments unfairly damage the image of reputable e-bike retailers and manufacturers and undermine the positive role e-bikes play in sustainable transport—exactly what the E-Bike Positive campaign is working to highlight.”

Chris Boardman, National Active Travel Commissioner, has previously noted that over 30,000 people are killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads every year, yet “less than three [of those cases] involve a cyclist.”

Cargo Bike Ben, a user on social media platform Bluesky, was among several online voices criticising the segment, saying: “Of course, being a BBC ‘both sides’ talking head, it was full of factual inaccuracies like conflating e-bikes with illegal electric motorcycles, spouting spurious claims of hundreds of people being killed or maimed by bikes, and no difference being made between commuters and delivery riders.”

Others questioned the absence of positive stories about e-bikes on mainstream TV, with one user commenting: “Let every cyclist drive a car on Monday morning... Let's show the BBC what anti-cycling really does.”

The controversy follows a previous Panorama episode hosted by Adrian Chiles that also faced widespread complaints for being “misleading and damaging” in its depiction of e-bikes.

For more information on the E-Bike Positive campaign, visit: www.ebikepositive.co.uk.

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