EBIKE DEBATE! Should the US Government Regulate Electric Bikes? The Great E Bike Question

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I've nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today we're going to answer the question, should the US government regulate electric bikes? Stick around.

All right, so today we're going to answer the question, should the US government regulate e-bikes? But before I get into it, hit the subscribe button below. Stay in touch with us here at Sixthreezero, be the first to know about all the new content we put out and giveaways we do, and of course, new product releases. All right. So, electric bikes are blowing up in popularity across the US and the world, to be honest with you. And right now in the US, there's very little regulation and even less enforcement. There are some stated policies about class one, class two, and class three. But from what I see, in my experience, there's very little enforcement around where you're riding certain bikes. Now, I do think in national parks there's a little more enforcement and respect for that in terms of people riding the right classifications, but right now it's the honesty system, to make sure you're riding the correct type of bike in the correct place, operating it according to the right guidelines.

And quite honestly, the classifications are geared toward motor sizes. And how could a police officer even know or check a motor size if he pulls over someone on an e-bike? So there's some level of guideline right now published on the government website dictating the classes, but there's very little enforcement. So it begs the question, should the US government get more involved in electric bikes and regulate e-bikes to a higher extent?

Now, I have some opinions on the topic. I am a manufacturer in the e-bike space, Sixthreezero, and we love e-bikes. And I think they're a game changer in so many facets of life, from getting our seniors moving to keep them moving, to allowing younger aged people to commute easier and get around town easier, to clean energy. There are so many benefits. I mean, goes hand in hand with bicycles, there are so many benefits to bicycles. And there are also even more benefits to electric bikes and electric mobility in general.

And so, the question is back to should the US government regulate it. I do think there are some regulations and also some required training that I do think would benefit the individual rider and also just our society as a whole. Now, just like cars, there's some level of training involved to drive a car. Now, the difficult thing is I don't want to dampen or slow down the e-bike industry because I think there's way more benefit than harm in more people riding electric bikes. But also in America, we have the least amount of restrictions on e-bikes today than any other country. A lot of other countries limit the motors to 250 watts, and a lot of countries also don't even allow throttles on their electric bikes. They only allow pedal assist. So, already as a country, we're already allowing or more lenient on electric bikes than a lot of other countries.

Now, different cities and states are putting their restrictions in place for various reasons, and that's obviously up to city councils and local governments that are deciding for their populations what is best. Now, I would be a real big advocate for a required training program, especially for riders under the age of 16. If we could put something in place to give general rules of the road, road knowledge to young riders so they understand where you can and can't go. I also think offering a basic operational course on e-bikes would be great. Now, as a brand here at Sixthreezero, we're trying to do the best we can to give more people more information about how to operate e-bikes safely and effectively. But it'd also be great if there was some larger education platform for people to take those courses if they wanted to.

Just like a motorcycle. It's not required that you take a driver course for motorcycles. I did personally take one when I got my motorcycle license, but I could have walked in and passed a written test and gotten my permit to be a motorcycle driver. But I made the choice to get the training because I thought it'd be best for me, for my own personal safety. And so I do think it would be great if there was at least a course that was offered that was from the US government and out to the population, we could even pay for it. And I think in particular for those under the age of 16, we need to require some education level about, like I said, rules of the road and general operation principles of an electric bike. And also just some general causes and effects. You go faster, your brakes wear down more. If brakes wear down more, there's innate danger.

Things we should teach this young population about, so they know. Because a lot of times they get on an e-bike and they don't know, and they take risks that they shouldn't take. They also put other people in danger, not just themselves. So, in summary, I prefer to have e-bikes available to everyone with as little regulation as we possibly can while keeping each rider safe and others safe as well. But I would be an advocate of those under the age of 16, some level of requirement. I also would be an advocate of a training platform and just more education out there in general. Right now, we need to get more education out there, more opportunities, more funding to help train more people, and we have lots of those kinds of programs with other things. So it'd be great to see that for electric bikes as well.

So if you have any thoughts or comments or questions about the government regulating electric bikes, please put them below. Love to hear them. Or you can email us, theteam@sixthreezero.com, or call us, at (310) 982-2877. In addition to that, we offer e-bikes on our website, if you want to check them out, sixthreezero.com. We focus and pride ourselves on safety. We have right here a simple step-through, which is easy to mount on and off, which is great for people that want to be able to step through the frame and get on and off easily. We also have a lot of three-wheel e-bikes, so if you think three wheels are best for you and it's going to help you keep your balance, go ahead and check out some of the three-wheel e-bikes on our website, sixthreezero.com.

We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you don't love your e-bike in the first 30 days, send it back, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we have a one-year warranty on everything. If anything goes wrong in the first year, send it back, no questions asked. Lastly, join our Facebook Pedalers group, you can talk to existing Sixthreezero riders, talk about the topics we discuss here, and get their opinion. And if you have a Sixthreezero, post photos, and make friends, it's tons of fun. Thanks for sticking around. And don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.