Government confirms no plans for cyclists to be registered and insured.
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
The government has confirmed it has no plans for cyclists to be subject to compulsory registration.
Jesse Norman, Minister of State at the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed the government’s position in response to a question from Jim Shannon, DUP MP for Strangford.
The question had asked whether the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, had “made a recent assessment of the potential merits of requiring electric bike users to (a) have a number plate and (b) be insured.”
In his reply, Mr Norman wrote: “The Department considered issues including a mandatory registration and insurance system for cyclists as part of a cycling and walking safety review in 2018.
“The review concluded that restricting people’s ability to cycle in this way would mean that many would choose other modes of transport instead, with negative impacts for congestion, pollution and health,” he added.
Calls for cyclists to be licensed and insured are regularly made by those who perceive cyclists as a menace on the roads. They have been regularly rejected by the government.
In December 2021, the government rejected calls by motoring lawyer Nick Freeman to display identification – his suggestion was hi-vis tabards bearing a registration number – after a petition he launched on the subject and plugged for several months in newspaper articles and on TV appearances gained 10,000 signatures.
The rejection for cyclists to be registered, due to the complexity and cost of running such a scheme, is based on real-life precedent, with jurisdictions around the world that have implemented such measures quickly scrapping them afterwards.
As for insurance, most adult cyclists will be covered for third party liability while riding a bike, whether through membership of organisations such as British Cycling and its affiliated clubs, or Cycling UK, or in most cases under their household contents cover.
The latter specifically exclude liability while using mechanically propelled vehicles such as private cars, where it is of course a legal requirement to have at minimum third party cover.
Although Mr Norman’s reply related to all cyclists, Mr Shannon’s question specifically referenced “electric bike users,” an area in which there is widespread public misunderstanding of the law.
To legally qualify as an “electric bike” – or to give its legal definition, an “electrically assisted pedal cycle” (EAPC), it must meet certain requirements, as set out by the government.
Anyone aged 14 or over can ride an electric bike, without needing a licence, registration or insurance, if it complies with those requirements including that it has pedals that can be used to propel it, has a maximum power output of 250 watts, and the motor cannot power the bike at speeds above 15.5mph.
“Any electric bike that does not meet the EAPC rules is classed as a motorcycle or moped and needs to be registered and taxed.” The government says, advising users that they must have a driving licence to ride one, and wear a crash helmet.”
Those definitions are in line with regulations initially drawn up by the European Union, and despite Brexit, remain in force in the UK with no suggestion they will be amended any time soon, and it is worth noting that the European Court of Justice recently confirmed in a landmark ruling that e-bikes meeting those requirements “are bicycles, instead of motorbikes.”