Plenty of accidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters on NJ roads

As I was pulling out of my driveway last week, I almost hit a teenage girl and her passenger on their e-bike. I live on a busy county road and even though the speed limit is 30 mph, not many people obey it.

I have to pull the nose of my car into the shoulder to see if cars are coming to my left. As I pulled out, she had to swerve to avoid hitting me. Luckily there were no cars in the driving lane and we avoided a collision.

She was going the speed of a slow-moving car or motor scooter, but there was no sound.

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She was zipping along at least 20 mph. That is the limit for this classification of e-bikes. They don't have to be registered or insured but that may change.

A couple of bills were being prepared in the state assembly and senate earlier this year that would require these low-speed vehicles to be registered and insured. There has been some pushback as well.

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There's been no movement on these bills as of yet but there have been plenty of bad accidents making headlines more frequently in the last year or so.

We have had a few tragic accidents already this year here in Central Jersey.

The e-scooter accidents seem to be the ones where the rider is most vulnerable. I've ridden several on the streets of Dallas Texas before they got rid of the rentals back in 2021.

Just over a month ago, there was another fatal accident involving an e-scooter on Route 1 in Edison.

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Whether it's an e-bike or e-scooter, there is an ever-increasing number of them on the road and drivers aren't used to them. They don't make any sound and they move much faster than the average pedal-powered bicycle or scooter. I'm not a big proponent of more government involvement in our lives, but it looks like it's coming.

It's yet to be seen if and when the rules will change for e-bikes and e-scooters and if they will have any effect on the number of horrible injuries and fatal accidents. Here are the current rules on these things in New Jersey currently.

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for these things on our roads and keep your eyes on the road!