New jersey Senate bill S4834 and assembly bill A6235 seek to make it much more difficult and expensive to use e-bikes
Contact your state legislators and tell them to stop s4834 and a6325
Right now there is a proposed bill in the legislature requiring insurance, registration and a license to ride ANY e-bike in NJ, including low speed e-bikes that go under 20mph. This bill lumps all low speed e-bikes with higher speed devices under the term “motorized bicycles” and eliminates the current classifications for different types of e-bikes.
The bill (S4834/A6235) has been rapidly moving through the legislature, being rushed through committees, and could have a final vote any day, despite unanimous opposition from transportation advocacy organizations.
NJBWC, Bike JC and coalition partners have testified at multiple hearings in opposition to the current legislation and continue to track its progress through the state house.​​
We need your help! Please contact your legislators
This bill works against many of New Jersey’s own transportation goals
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Since 2019, the law has required high-speed (>20mph) devices to be licensed, registered and insured, but this has gone totally unenforced.
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Requiring insurance for lighter-weight, lower-speed devices (under 20mph) would create a huge, unnecessary barrier to compliance and use, and reduce the incentive to choose the safer mobility option.
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This bill likely contradicts federal law 15 USC 2085 which defines electric bicycles as consumer products, not motor vehicles.
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It preempts more restrictive laws at the state level which would seek to “upgrade” low-speed ebikes into “motor vehicles” (motorized bicycles requiring a license to operate).
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Someone riding a low-speed e-bike into NJ from NYC or Philadelphia would not have the same requirements for insurance, registration and a license.
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Requiring registration and insurance will not meaningfully address roadway fatalities. By focusing on low-speed e-bikes, this bill distracts from the number-one source of over 500 fatalities and 3,000 serious-injury crashes annually in our state: motor vehicles.
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Increased costs and complicated procedures to operate low-speed devices will disproportionately impact overburdened communities.
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This will limit mobility access for vulnerable populations, such as seniors, families transporting children without a car, undocumented residents (for whom registration may be virtually impossible), and people with disabilities that prevent them from driving.
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This will slow New Jersey’s progress towards net zero. Nearly half of New Jersey’s total carbon emissions come from transportation. We should be incentivizing all types of electric vehicles, not making them harder to get.
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This bill would reduce accessibility on shared-use trails and discourage tourism.
We urge you to write or call your legislators and tell them to hit the brakes on this bill.
​Rather than creating barriers to this equitable, low cost mobility option, the state should instead focus its resources on:
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Enforcing the law which already requires licensing, registration and insurance for faster, higher-powered electric devices;
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Requiring vendors to register and clearly label and inform customers on safety and the laws governing low speed vs high speed devices
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Educating vendors, law enforcement, and parents on the difference between these devices;
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Implementing proven strategies for reducing fatal and serious injury crashes on our streets, such as infrastructure improvements for people walking, biking and taking public transit.
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