Paddy Boyers of JMW has recently received instructions from an electric bike distributor and successfully assisted in corresponding with the DVSA to discontinue criminal proceedings against the company.

This industry of electric bikes is seeing an increase in prosecutions brought against the distributor and/or manufacturer of these products. Little guidance is provided for what is considered to be a compliant and lawful electric bike, making dealing with the regulator, and managing prosecutions difficult for companies and consumers alike. Public opinion is somewhat divided over the products, many considering the bikes to be convenient and environmentally friendly ways to travel around city centres and rural areas, whilst others dislike the idea of seeing them on public roads.

The DVSA are the enforcement authority in the UK and are currently placing manufacturers and distributors of such products under significant scrutiny to ensure that the relevant regulations are being complied with. This includes making sure that manufacturers and/or distributors of e-bikes are correctly adhering to the rules surrounding advertising, registration, type approval, and insurance, for e-bikes of certain power.

Different rules apply to different levels of power, for example, an e-bike can have a power output less than 250w and (provided that they meet specific legislative requirements), they do not consequently require type approval. Equally, there are questions surrounding whether or not 750w bikes need type approval acquired by the distributor and/or manufacturer if they are in fact only advertised for private road purposes.

The key issue surrounding this case was whether the DVSA had adhered to the correct testing method in order to determine the power levels of the bikes for which they were bringing a prosecution. The DVSA relied upon a published designated standard in order to test the e-bikes and decide whether the power levels of those bikes meant that certain legislative requirements were not being met by the distributor. It was asserted, in one point of response, that where there is a designated standard, and the legislation does not specifically require a product to adhere to that standard, there was no such legal requirement for a product to meet the standards prescribed.

In addition to the above point, the client’s case furthered to the DVSA was that the identified designated standard was not the correct standard as specified in the legislation. Consequently, it was the incorrect way to determine “power rating” as required in order to bring a successful prosecution.

Ultimately, the matter was discontinued by the DVSA before a decision could be made in Court as to which testing method was correct in law and – consequently – how the DVSA should test e-bikes in order to bring prosecutions moving forward, if prosecution is the avenue that the DVSA wish to pursue.

The DVSA are likely to find that with a co-operative regulatory approach and more dialogue, public opinion will come to recognise the benefits of e-bikes, and those manufacturers and distributors will better understand how to ensure that compliant products are placed on the market. This would be a more welcome approach to immediate prosecution, which incurs expense for all parties, and which can often cause a significant amount of distress.