Federation: More Legislation Needed For Policing E-Bikes

Policing e-bikes and other electric vehicles is becoming increasingly challenging, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said, calling on politicians and local leaders to re-examine the legislation.

Steve Kent was speaking after PFEW Roads Policing Lead Brian Booth went on BBC Radio 5 Live to say that the expansion in the use of eclectic vehicles was a complex policing issue.

Steve agreed, saying: “Often people are using e-bikes for either criminal acts or for inappropriate behaviour on the roads. People need to understand that these e-bikes can go at a high speed. I’ve seen some going at over 40mph.

“Off-road motorcycles and inappropriate use of e-bikes is one of the things I hear most about from the public. People actually want the police to act on this. But when the police do act on this, there’s an outcry from the media.

“Our officers may find themselves in a position where they don’t want to expose themselves to that risk, so they’re going to step back from being as proactive as the public would expect.”

There needed to be a public debate and reconsideration of the legislation to protect police officers, Steve said.

He continued: “As we’ve seen in London – though we only see it every so often up here – these electric vehicles can be used for serious criminality and robberies. Absolute credit to the Met Police, they have bravely taken the stance of dealing with that proactively.

“We need to have some guidelines and some support to back us here, because I know the public supports the police. Our officers tell me all the time that they see these people riding these at speed and sticking their fingers up at officers, who are powerless to stop it. The public wants us to, so it’s about time that politicians and local leaders got their heads together and decided what they wanted to do.

“It shouldn’t be the police carrying the can for the irresponsibility of people either buying those e-bikes or people using them in an irresponsible manner.”