ANNAPOLIS, Md. (BRAIN) — A Maryland state senator introduced a bill in January that would have required e-bikes to be registered and titled but later amended it to eliminate those requirements.
Senate Bill 0014 was introduced by Johnny Ray Salling, a Republican representing District 6 in Baltimore County, and read for the first time on Jan. 8. The bill, which was amended Jan. 21, still calls for e-bikes to be licensed and insured and it was assigned to the Judicial Proceedings Committee.
Requiring all e-bikes to have a title would have cost owners $20 and a yearly registration of $30 with the Motor Vehicle Administration. The bill drew criticism from the bike industry. In a letter to the Judicial Proceedings Committee dated Jan. 17 that was shared with BRAIN, PeopleForBikes "expressed strong opposition" and urged the committee not to advance the bill, citing several reasons including it being poor transportation policy.
"The Capital Bikeshare Program, which operates throughout Montgomery and Prince George's counties, and Baltimore's Dockless Vehicle Program also provide critical access to transportation opportunities for Maryland residents," wrote Dr. Ash Lovell PFB vice president of government relations. "Micromobility and active transportation would be significantly and negatively impacted with passage of this bill. SB0014 will increase the cost of Maryland's bike-share systems and jeopardize electric bicycle ridership overall."
The League of American Bicyclists also opposed the bill.
"E-bikes, particularly Class 1 e-bikes, operate in much the same way as human-powered bicycles," said Policy Director Ken McLeod in an email to BRAIN. "They do not pose risks to their riders or others that justify title, registration, and electric bicycle insurance is not readily available in the way that it is for a moped or motorcycle. Maryland has already adopted the three-class system to regulate e-bikes, and this bill ignores the reasons that legislators previously chose to distinguish between classes of e-bikes by treating them all the same way."
Lovell, in PFB's letter to the committee, said no vehicle insurance is available for e-bikes.
"In New Jersey, the only other state that has proposed registration and insurance requirements for electric bicycles, the insurance industry actively opposed the bill simply because there were no policies available for owners of electric bicycles. Additionally, the insurance industry did not know how to price such policies other than to equate them with very expensive motorcycle insurance — which could annually cost consumers as much as the initial purchase price of many electric bicycles. Because of opposition from the insurance industry and numerous bicycle advocacy organizations, this bill did not advance. SB0014 should meet the same fate."
Lovell also noted in her letter that SB 0014 would "disqualify" e-bike riders from economic loss benefits. "When a crash occurs between a motor vehicle and the operator of a bicycle or e-bike, the operator of the smaller vehicle loses regardless of who was at fault. E-bike users in Maryland should continue to have access to economic loss benefits under these circumstances, just like pedestrians and cyclists. SB 0014 would unfairly strip these basic protections away."
