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Bill 52 Aims To Keep Pace With Emerging Micro-mobility
11/14/2024
The path to a happier and healthier community
If you’ve ever biked up a hill, you’ll understand the appeal of an electric bicycle! Say goodbye to burning quads and glutes and instead cruise to the top almost sweat-free.
With pedal-assist features powered by a small motor, e-bikes are changing the biking experience and making it more accessible for the elderly, people with long commutes, and the community at large.
Better Regulation is needed
However, alongside progress are growing pains. These little machines are powerful, and mostly unregulated in the state of Hawaii.
If you’ve had your eye on the news recently, chances are you’ve seen or heard about something related to e-bikes.
In August, the Hawaii Department of Transportation encouraged safe micro-mobility with e-bikes and mopeds through a rebate program. Or maybe you saw that just last month HPD started cracking down on e-bike violations.
This program’s goal was to promote the use of small low-speed vehicles as an alternative to automobiles for those who lacked transportation. For short trips these devices promote a healthier community and reduce traffic congestion.
The Rise of alternative transportation
With the rise of alternative transportation options there comes a lot of confusion about what’s legal and what isn’t.
You may have seen that just last month HPD started cracking down on e-bike violations. With the current definition of e-bikes, there’s some gray area between what is an e-bike and what’s an electric moped or motorcycle.
Obviously, mopeds and motorcycles would be subject to different rules on the road than e-bikes.
Bill 52 aims to better regulate e-bikes, define vehicle classes, and provide better guidance on safe practices for riders and the community at large. Thankfully, the City and County of Honolulu is moving to create a better framework for the use of e-bikes to help protect riders and the public around them. The new Bill includes a better definition for e-bikes that matches current industry standards and makes it clear what behavior is acceptable.
PeopleForBikes has helped draft a proposed definition which has been similarly adopted nationally in over 40 states. Now it’s looking like Hawaii is next.
Bill 52's Proposed Definition
The new definition specifically defines what the motor does and what speeds the e-bike can reach:
CLASS 1
A bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20mph.
CLASS 2
A bicycle equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the bicycle and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20mph.
CLASS 3
A bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 28 mph.
What's Next?
This bill, if passed, will also regulate license and registration requirements for e-bikes and more clearly define appropriate usage. No more wheelies in the middle of an intersection!
Plus, Class 3 e-bikes would be subject to additional regulations and requirements such as age and equiptment restricitions. (Higher speeds mean higher responsibility.)
The hope is that these clearer definitions will make e-bikes safer for everyone to use and enjoy.
Playing Our Part
Of course, no matter what the law states, it’s our kuleana to make sure we’re riding responsibly and in a way that keeps ourselves and those around us safe.
As e-bikes become more commonplace and safer to use, we can take better care of the ʻāina and get people moving more!
With these new definitions some vehicles don’t fit as e-bikes or mopeds. These unclassified vehicles are capable of reaching higher speeds than e-bikes but without gear shifting or the wattage power associated with mopeds. It is unclear where these e-bikes such as Super73s and Sur-Rons you often see riding in traffic will fit within this new law.
We need to continue to evaluate if our laws are keeping pace with technology– while we’ve still got work to do, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
Interested in reading more? Check out the current version of Bill 52 here..
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