Britain’s illegal e-bike boom: desperation, delivery drivers – and unthinkable danger

E-bikes can legally travel at 15.5mph. But the fastest the police have seized was capable of 70mph. What will stop the rise of these souped-up and potentially fatal vehicles?A busy Wednesday morning on Bishopsgate in London and Sgt Stuart Ford of the City of London police is pointing out possible offenders. “He’s not pedalling,” he says, indicating a man on a bike on the other side of the road. “Still not pedalling, but he is going downhill, he might be all right. I’d still pull him over and have a look.”Not today, though, because the non-pedalling possible offender is heading north, while Ford’s team – two members of the cycle response unit he set up two years ago and leads – are facing south on the opposite side of the road. A lot of the unit’s work centres on illegal e-bikes; they have seized 212 so far this year. Continue reading…Technology | The GuardianRead More