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28 Aug 2024

The Bira Conference - hosted by ACT's parent company - will take place on Wednesday 16th October at One Great George Street, London.

28 Aug 2024

A Norwich cycle shop is offering commuters the chance to turn their regular pedal bikes into high tech e-bikes.

28 Aug 2024

The transport secretary Louise Haigh has been urged to turn her recent statement that she wants ‘unprecedented levels’ of investment in cycling into firm spending commitments in the...

12 Aug 2024

The shortlisted nominees for the BikeBiz Awards 2024, in association with Push have been announced.

12 Aug 2024

Austrian kid's bike brand, Woom has entered the UK market. Having had success in 30 other countries and sales of over 1 million units, Woom bikes will be distributed by UK trade partners online...

12 Aug 2024

Leading magazine Cycling Weekly has put dozens of helmets to the test and has rounded up what it thinks are the best of the bunch right.

30 Jul 2024

More than £17.5m for the first phase of a major new sustainable transport scheme has been announced by Liverpool City Region's mayor Steve Rotheram.

30 Jul 2024

The widespread popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters means "it is a bit of a wild west out there" in terms of safety, an electric bike shop owner has told the BBC.

30 Jul 2024

A bill announced in the King’s Speech that would address the potential fire risks associated with e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries, has been welcomed.

30 Jul 2024

The new government are being urged to end the previous culture war-based approach to active travel and start investing properly in safe bike routes.
 

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UK consumer safe charity calls on government to better regulate e-bikes, e-scooters and batteries.

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

Consumer safety charity Electrical Safety First has called again for e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries to be better regulated in the UK after New York City recently introduced rules that require them to be certified as safe by a third-party organisation.

a safe e-bike

 The rules, which came into force on September 16, made the city the first in the USA to have introduced new regulations in a bid to tackle e-bike and e-scooter fires.

Electrical Safety First says the UK Government should adopt a similar approach that would see the devices regulated in the same way as fireworks. At present, manufacturers can self-declare their devices are safe.

New York City Council said there were 154 lithium battery fires in the city as of August this year, killing 14 people and injuring 93.

It recently approved a trade-in programme that will provide people with new lithium-ion batteries - as well as e-bikes and e-scooters - at reduced or no cost in exchange for used ones that do not meet fire safety standards or are otherwise illegal.

Lesley Rudd, chief executive of Electrical Safety First, quoted by Road.cc, said: “Time is of the essence. The UK Government needs to take urgent action to improve e-bike and e-scooter safety as more deaths are occurring right across the country.

“The UK should give serious consideration to following the example of New York City where decisive action has been taken to save lives. There is no silver bullet to tackle e-bike fires, however it is clear more lives will be lost if nothing is done.

“The e-bike sector could also face bans in the future if the dangers are not addressed. Implementing the recommendations in our report would protect good manufacturers, weed out the bad ones and most importantly save lives.”

Electrical Safety First's report, Battery Breakdown, lays out a series of recommendations to the Government, including a ban on ‘universal’ e-bike chargers, the development of a product standard specific to conversion kits, and legislation to make online marketplaces take reasonable steps to prevent or delist unbranded and potentially non-compliant conversion kits.

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