Until recently, U.K. customers browsing Amazon could readily find e-bike conversion kits capable of turning standard bicycles into vehicles that exceed the country's legal limits on speed and motor power.
Those illegal high-speed bikes have been tied to thefts, muggings, and fatal crashes that endanger pedestrians and other people on the road.
Here's what to know
Listings on Amazon included conversion kits priced below £500 (~$668 USD), Daily Mail reported, with some 2,000-watt motors marketed as able to reach 40 miles per hour.
The newspaper's reporter purchased a 500-watt kit, paid a South-east London bike shop £200 (~$267 USD) to fit it to a second-hand bicycle, and ended up with a machine capable of topping 25 mph.
Under U.K. law, a legal e-bike must have a motor capped at 250 watts and stop providing assistance at 15.5 mph. Anything more powerful is legally treated like a moped or motorbike, meaning it must be registered, taxed, and insured.
Police forces across the country have been dealing with a rise in illegal e-bikes, with seizures up 83%, from 3,858 to 7,049, over the 12 months to May 19.
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Julie Minns, a Labour MP behind a Private Member's Bill to ban the sale of illegal e-bikes and conversion kits, described the findings as "deeply alarming," the Daily Mail reported.
More background
Some MPs have called these modified bikes the "perfect accessory to phone theft, mugging, and drug dealing," saying riders can use their speed and maneuverability to strike and then get away quickly, per the Daily Mail.
The Metropolitan Police said an operation targeting e-bike muggers led to 187 arrests and the seizure of 157 e-bikes, mopeds, and other vehicles.
The danger was underscored by the death of 86-year-old Gloria Stephenson, who was hit on a zebra crossing in Sunderland by a teenager riding an illegal e-bike. The bike involved, which cost about £4,000 (~$5,348 USD), was advertised with a top speed of 47 mph and a zero-to-30 mph time of 2.7 seconds.
Listings may say high-speed products are meant only for use on private land, but that restriction is often ignored.
What's being done?
Calls for a stronger response are increasingly focused on the platforms and sellers offering the equipment, not just the riders using it.
"It is completely unacceptable that major online platforms like Amazon make it so easy to buy 500W or 2,000W motors to convert an ordinary bicycle into a machine capable of car-like speeds… I am continuing to press ministers to take decisive action to ban the sale and supply of high-powered conversion kits and speed-derestricting devices by online marketplaces once and for all," Minns said.
Labour MP Fabian Hamilton, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking, said the online sale of dangerous e-bikes and kits "must not continue," the Daily Mail reported.
Margaret Winchcomb of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety said it was "unsustainable" to leave police to seize "what they can on the streets," per the publication.
Amazon said it was "removing the products" in question.
"We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations, and we monitor for product safety concerns. We go further by requiring sellers of e-mobility products to provide documented testing certification carried out by an accredited lab," an Amazon spokesman added, per the Daily Mail.
According to the publication, a government spokesman said, "E-bikes that have been modified to be faster and more powerful than the rules allow are motorbikes, and unless they have been registered, taxed and insured, they are illegal and have no place on our roads. We have given police stronger powers to seize vehicles without needing to issue a warning, and we are cracking down on unsafe products sold online."
Where can I learn more?
For more on e-bike crackdowns and debates over safety rules, see these articles.
• In Florida, lawmakers want to fine riders for dangerous e-bike modifications after mounting safety fears.
• In New York, officials debating divisive e-bike safety rules faced pushback over enforcement.
• In New Jersey, cycling groups said the new e-bike law unfairly targets riders.
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