Kislak mentioned the laws “safely encourages the use of a healthy, zero-carbon form of transportation that many more Rhode Islanders will be adopting as time goes on. As we work toward our goals of reducing carbon emissions, e-bikes will help expand opportunities for some people to replace some car trips with bikes.”
But House Minority Whip Michael W. Chippendale, a Foster Republican, voted towards the bill, questioning why electric bikes don’t have the identical registration, insurance coverage, and security inspection necessities as bikes.
“A bike that weighs approximately 70 pounds – some more, some less – traveling at up to 28 mph can induce 500 pounds of force upon impact, and that is more than enough to explode a human skull,” he mentioned. “So if a little old lady crossing the street gets broadsided by someone on an e-bike and killed, nobody is going to be able to tell them what the license plate was” or “compel them to cover the damages.”
Kislak argued that electric bikes are extra comparable to conventional pedal-powered bicycles than to bikes.
In a current tweet, she mentioned she was driving her conventional bike on the East Bay Bike Path and noticed at the least 4 electric bikes that have been “entirely indistinguishable” from her bike — aside from “the quiet hum of their motors” and the truth that two older males “weren’t at all out of breath after climbing the hill.”
I’m out on the bike path and noticed at the least 4 e-bikes totally indistinguishable from mine aside from the intense pink soar bike, the quiet hum of their motors and the 2 older males who weren’t in any respect out of breath after climbing the hill. (Me, on the opposite hand… it was a giant hill!) pic.twitter.com/uoDSyYUv5T
— Rebecca Kislak (@RebeccaKislak) May 30, 2022
Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. wrote to the House Corporations Committee, elevating considerations about Kislak’s bill.
“Having electric bicycles sharing the same ‘rules of the road’ as bicycles and pedestrians is unsafe for all and could be nearly impossible to design an accommodation for pedestrians, bicycles, and e-bicycles together,” Alviti wrote. “Also, allowing electric bicycles to enjoy the same roadways etc., and in the same manner as bicycles would mean that electric bicycles would be allowed on our many bike paths.”
The state now prohibits e-bicycles from its bike paths as a result of “they create a danger to the walking and bicycle riding public,” Alviti mentioned.
When the bill got here earlier than the House Corporations Committee in March, Kislak famous that electric bikes aren’t allowed on state bike paths proper now, however she mentioned that prohibition will not be enforced and “we should have laws that reflect reality.”
“E-bikes are really important. They are here to stay,” Kislak advised the committee. “They help us to have access to different modes of transportation, which will help us as we move forward and commute in ways other than cars.”
She spoke about how a buddy of hers has a number of sclerosis, however they have been ready to go for a bike trip collectively as a result of her buddy rented an electric bike. She mentioned that highlights how electric bikes might help folks with totally different skills and bodily challenges.
For instance, electric bikes might help individuals who couldn’t in any other case pedal up College Hill in Providence, Kislak mentioned. “We have a very hilly city, and e-bikes provide the assistance we need to make it really easy to commute in our state, with all our beautiful hills.”
The IndividualsForBikes Coalition, a nationwide advocacy group, urged the House Corporations Committee to move Kislak’s bill.
“Electric bikes are enjoyed by people from all walks of life, and they are being widely adopted by Americans from all age groups,” wrote the coalition’s coverage counsel, Alex Logemann.
Until not too long ago, the regulation of electric bicycles had been accomplished in a “piecemeal and uncoordinated manner,” Logemann mentioned. But six years in the past, US bicycle producers developed the three-class system for electric bikes, and that’s mirrored in Kislak’s bill, he mentioned. He mentioned 36 different states, together with Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, have adopted this three-class system:
- Class 1: Pedal-assist electric bicycle — The rider should be pedaling for the motor to have interaction, has a prime velocity of 20 miles per hour.
- Class 2: Throttle-assist electric bicycle — The motor can present energy independently of whether or not the rider is pedaling, has prime velocity of 20 miles per hour.
- Class 3: Pedal-assist electric bicycle with a prime velocity of 28 miles per hour.
The laws additionally would require that new e-bikes bear a everlasting label from the producer indicating their class, prime speeds, and different motor data. Faster Class 3 e-bicycles can be required to be geared up with speedometers.
The bill would require helmets on any rider 15 or youthful on any sort of electric bike, and for all riders of Class 3 electric bikes. It would prohibit these underneath 16 from driving a Class 3 electric bike, besides as a passenger.
To preserve uniformity all through the state, the bill prohibits cities and cities from imposing extra limits on electric bikes, besides by regulating velocity limits.
Kislak mentioned there isn’t a companion bill within the Senate however that broader laws launched by Senator Dawn Euer, a Newport Democrat, comprises electric bike provision.
Edward Fitzpatrick may be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @FitzProv.