E-bikes, ANCMA: models with walk assist not comparable to mopeds

Una judgment of fifth civil section of the Court of Palermo closes an issue that has affected some owners of pedal-assisted bicycles, Confindustria ANCMA (National Association of Motorcycle Cycle Accessories), as well as manufacturers and shopkeepers, against a series of fines and seizures across the national territory and in particular in Palermo. A debate linked to the walk assist, a device that stimulates an electric motor without the use of pedals, to push a bicycle up to a maximum speed of 6 km/h. In essence, a push assistance, useful for example on uphill sections when you are in difficulty. “Justice has been done: e-bikes with walk assist are not comparable to mopeds”, we read at the beginning of the press release sent.

The question

“We have been following this story alongside our subsidiaries for almost three years,” is added in the note, “with close discussions at all institutional levels, today we can finally say that we have achieved justice in a rapidly expanding area of ​​two-wheeled mobility which, with unchanged trust in the work of the police forces, still requires attention to the phenomena of illegalities linked to tampering with electric motors to increase power and speed".
The use of this system on various e-bikes, as reported, during some checks has led to assimilating these vehicles to mopeds. “This episodic and incorrect interpretation – it is indicated again in the note released by the association – resulted in fines amounting to several hundred euros and seizures (driving without a helmet and lack of insurance), mainly affecting unsuspecting road users and indirectly also the manufacturing companies who put their bicycles on the market in compliance with current European and national standards".

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