Debra Kagan, Executive Director of the New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition (NJBWC), recently expressed concerns over a proposed bill requiring insurance for e-bikes. In a February 15 post to the NJBWC website, she said the legislation could discourage e-bike usage and “undermine our current efforts to reduce road crashes by pushing more people to continue driving cars.”
"While the intention here is to protect riders and pedestrians, by discouraging e-bike use the bill will undermine our current efforts to reduce road crashes by pushing more people to continue driving cars rather than switching to an e-bike," said Kagan. "Alongside protected bike lanes, data has shown more bikes on our roads is a proven safety measure which reduces the crash rate. In addition, low speed e-bikes are responsible for so few injuries that there are currently no insurance products in NJ to cover them."
The bill in question, S2292, would necessitate low-speed e-bikes and electric scooters to be insured and registered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC). The legislation would apply to class 1 and class 2 low-speed e-bikes that do not exceed speeds of 20 mph. Senate President Nicholas Scutari introduced the bill in the state’s Senate Transportation Committee.
According to Kagan's post, she does not believe that this bill would enhance safety conditions. In New Jersey, there were 589 crashes resulting in fatalities in 2023. Over 200 of those deaths involved pedestrians, while none involved e-bikes.
Other advocacy groups have also expressed their concerns about the potential financial burden this bill could impose on e-bike drivers. Many of these drivers hail from low-income communities or communities of color. Miller Nuttle, a spokesperson for Citi Bike, stated that the legislation could significantly increase the cost of New Jersey’s bikeshare program.
According to Velotric, e-bikes provide significant benefits for delivery workers employed by companies such as DoorDash and Grubhub. E-bikes are less expensive than cars due to lower maintenance costs, no expenditure on gas, and no parking fees.
Before becoming Executive Director of NJBWC, Kagan served as its Programs Director. Her previous roles include Director of Policy and Programs for BlueWaveNJ and Trail Manager for the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. She also has over twenty years' experience working in education.