A special parliamentary report has warned of a looming safety crisis as a result of the widespread sale and use of ‘fake’ e-bikes across the country.
The new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking (APPGCW) says there is a growing public safety and fire risk caused by the widespread use of the unsafe, illegally modified e-bikes purchased through online marketplaces and frequently used in the gig economy.
The cross-party report follows a detailed inquiry that took both written and oral evidence from fire services, police, industry bodies, gig economy workers, academics and regulators.
It finds that the UK’s lack of regulation and enforcement around e-bike safety is putting lives at risk, particularly among delivery riders operating in low-paid, high-pressure environments.
The report presents evidence that the current food delivery systems are comparable to the ‘sweated labour’ of England’s 1840s industrial revolution and that witnesses had “never seen people on a daily basis as badly exploited as food delivery riders”.
During the inquiry, the APPGCW was able to easily find e-bikes sold by major online retailers with 40mph speeds described as ‘for city commutes’, and a 2000W bike with a throttle pictured being used on city streets; both are illegal.
Another search on Amazon found an unsafe charger with an unfused clover leaf plug, and multiple charging cables supplied, both of which are considered a fire risk by experts.
These issues are now well-known to Australian authorities who so far have failed to act over the lack of import scrutiny and regulation that has enabled a flood of these illegal bikes and components into the country.
Among the key issues identified in the report, titled “Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes”, are:
- a surge in battery fires caused by unregulated e-bike conversion kits, low-cost batteries, and poor-quality imports
- exploitation of gig economy riders, who are incentivised to use faster, often illegal bikes to meet delivery targets
- online marketplaces selling unsafe products with little or no oversight, enforcement or legal liability
- confusion for landlords, insurers and transport operators, leading to blanket bans that affect users of legitimate e-bikes, including disabled people.
The report makes urgent recommendations, including:
- calling on online retailers to immediately withdraw unsafe e-bike items from sale
- making online marketplaces legally accountable for unsafe listings
- working to create a government-backed e-bike safety kitemark in order to enable transport authorities and insurance companies to confidently lift e-bike bans
- reinstating ‘worker’ status for gig economy riders to guarantee rights and protections
- ending the road-legal loophole that allows illegal vehicles to be sold under the guise of off-road use
- enforcing compliance from delivery platforms; requiring delivery companies to run real-time compliance checks on the bikes used by couriers
- equipping police with new, simpler powers to seize unsafe e-bikes
- introducing a scrappage scheme for dangerous bikes used by couriers, funded by delivery companies.
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