Police recommend: If you want to ride an electric bike - only with a license

June 8, 2015   

אגף התנועה של המשטרה הודיע הבוקר (שני) ימליץ למשרד התחבורה על שינוי הנהלים והתקנות בכל הנוגע לשימוש בכלי הרכב. ההמלצה המרכזית היא להגביל את השימוש בהן כך שיהיו רק ברישיון - וגם הרוכב יהיה חייב ברישיון רכיבה. The recommendations are being published following a series of accidents involving electric bicycles. The most notable of these is the accident in which Antonio Raya, an 85-year-old resident of Givatayim, was killed in February when he was run over by a cyclist in Tel Aviv. The perpetrator has not been caught to this day. The Traffic Division notes that "since the enactment of the new regulations regarding electric bicycles, the police have encountered real difficulty in implementing them, mainly due to the young age of the cyclists, the danger of taking them out on the road and the fear of being hit by vehicles, as well as the lack of supervision of the vehicles themselves.". This fact led the professionals in the Traffic Division, examiners, prosecutors and researchers, to examine the issue in depth. At the end of the examination, the head of the Traffic Division, Superintendent Yaron Be'eri, decided to recommend to the Ministry of Transportation that the existing regulations be changed, so that they include a licensing requirement for both the vehicle and the rider. The police note that "only in this way will it be possible to effectively deal with the dangerous nature of the vehicle and prevent physical and mental harm.".