BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
In the weeks leading up to the UK cycling industry launching its biggest-ever e-bike battery safety campaign, it became clear that bike shops up and down the country were being visited by Trading Standards – the Office for Product Safety and Standards – specifically addressing “risks and responsibilities” associated with e-bikes and e-scooters.
These visits centred around guidance notes for retailers stocking, selling, and working on e-bikes with an advice note given, titled: “Prevention of fires caused by dangerous e-bikes and e-scooters”.
As Paul Vousden of Mapdec Cycle Works points out in the below video, the vast majority of non-compliant, not Type Approved, bikes and kits are being sold by unscrupulous retailers outside of the cycling industry, as well as via online marketplaces – neither of which are currently, in a significant way, being brought to account for their actions – despite clear compliance regulation for e-mobility products.
BikeBiz asked The BA for its thoughts on the visits and received this reply:
The Bicycle Association (BA) has engaged closely with the Office for Product Safety and Standards, the UK product safety regulator which sets policy for Trading Standards, on issues around e-bike safety, and we’ve previously noted to our member companies that this campaign is underway.
We believe the industry should welcome the recent intense scrutiny from Trading Standards on the e-bike sector, especially around the repair and conversion of potentially higher-risk e-bikes.
This work will help protect the reputation of the very safe products provided by responsible suppliers and retailers.
The guidance highlighted in the video about being sure of the safety of e-bike systems you may work on is excellent and common sense advice.
We’d also suggest that anyone in the e-bike business check out the other resources we’ve compiled on this issue on this subject, including both further official Government advice and industry guidance from ourselves and others.
