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In July of last year, a 14-year-old boy riding an e-bike was struck and killed by a driver in Somers Point, New Jersey. A few months later, a 22-year-old man died when his e-bike was hit by a van in Orange. Two days after that, a 13-year-old was killed in Scotch Plains, after his e-bike was hit by a landscaping truck.
Alarmed by these tragedies, state Sen. Nick Scutari introduced a measure to overhaul regulations for owning and operating an e-bike in the Garden State. The measure was quickly passed by the Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Phil Murphy at the beginning of this year.
New classifications, new restrictions
The new e-bike law treats all electric bicycles, even low-speed ones, as regulated vehicles that require a license and registration. Previously, lower speed bikes were exempt. A low-speed e-bike, known as a pedal-assisted bicycle, has a motor that operates only while the rider is pedaling. The motor cuts off when the bike reaches 20 miles per hour. E-bikes with a throttle and a larger motor that can travel up to 28 miles per hour are now referred to as motorized bicycles…