Squeeze on e-bikes, speed bikes and fines of up to 15 thousand euros in various municipalities

After electric scooters, rules also come for those traveling by e-bike. Several Italian municipalities are equipping themselves with tools to verify the regularity of pedal-assisted bicycles, with fines that can reach up to 15 thousand euros. This is the case, for example, of bike-velox, instruments capable of recording the power of the vehicles and the speed of use through a platform equipped with rollers. For violators, fines range from 5 thousand to 15 thousand euros, in addition to the seizure of the vehicle.

"We believe it is positive to increase controls, but we cannot fail to highlight a paradox: vigilance against e-bikes is tightened but the total wild west of scooters is allowed", declared the president of Assoutenti, Gabriele Melluso.

The boom of electric bikes in Italy

According to data from Assoutenti and the Italian Environment and Bicycle Federation, 1.8 million e-bikes are currently circulating in Italy, with a growth of 50% in the last 5 years. Adding to the boom in new vehicles is the rapid spread of illegal bicycles, which have undergone post-sale electronic and mechanical modifications in violation of the Highway Code. Checks carried out over the last year by the police have revealed that, in some Italian cities, 8 out of 10 e-bikes are irregular.

According to the Highway Code, in fact, pedal-assisted bicycles must be "equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous nominal power of 0.25 KW, or 0.5 KW if used for the transport of goods, whose power supply is progressively reduced and finally interrupted when the vehicle reaches 25 km/h or earlier if the cyclist stops pedaling". Bikes that do not comply with these characteristics "are considered mopeds", specify Assoutenti and Fiab, and are therefore subject to mandatory registration, license plate, helmet and insurance coverage like other two-wheeled motor vehicles.

“The recent license plate, insurance and helmet obligations are systematically violated in all cities,” Melluso further underlined.