Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by rsynnott 1066 days ago
> The bulk of ebike injuries to children are coming from throttle-having class 2 bikes and in my view these should simply be outlawed

Huh, I always thought that virtually everywhere treated these the same as motorbikes (ie you need a license, insurance etc).

1 comments

I've never heard of any place that required a license for any of the 3 formal electric bike classifications. If you need a motorcycle license that is because the thing you intend to ride is, in fact, a motorcycle.

The bike featured in the article, a BESV PSA1, is considered a "class 1" machine under the most common framework. It has a low-power motor, pedal assist, and no throttle. I am not aware of any place that requires licenses or insurance for such a bike.

Oh, yep, I was talking about bikes with throttles. The bike in the article should be fine basically everywhere.