NSW Ebike police claim needs rego and license. Tested with wheel in the air.

[Sengiy00]

Good evening,
I was stopped by police on an ebike. They claim it needs to be registered and I need a license to ride it. The bike has pedals, is pedal assist, but also has a throttle with a button to lock and unlock the throttle. When I was stopped I was on a footpath going 5-10kph. The officer tested the bike with the rear wheel off the ground. When he did this it showed 60kph (but that’s with the wheel off the ground with no load). It’s certainly not capable of that with the wheel on the ground! I’ve now been given a court attendance notice for driving while disqualified (I lost my car license which is why I’m on the bike). I’m also fined for operating an unregistered vehicle on the road. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am going to defend these allegations.

 

[Roche1n]

You can ask the officer which part of the NSW road rules they’re relying on, because a compliant 250w pedelec with a capped throttle generally doesn’t need rego or a licence unless it can propel you past the legal assist limits. I keep my own ebike paperwork handy and even added public liability cover through sundaysinsurance.co.uk since it keeps things smoother if anything gets messy with a police check.