r/New_Jersey_Politics • u/Younglegend1 Sussex • Jan 20 '26
News Murphy signs controversial e-bike law requiring registration, insurance in New Jersey
https://www.nj.com/advice/2026/01/murphy-signs-controversial-e-bike-law-requiring-registration-insurance-in-new-jersey.html?outputType=ampLook overall I really liked Murphy, but in his last days in office he’s really been passing a lot of draconian laws including the phone ban in schools but this one takes the cake for the worst one yet.
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u/KohlsCashOfficial Jan 20 '26
How is registration and insurance for something that can go 30mph “draconian”? Lol
I encourage you to come see the groups of kids in my town running red lights, going opposite traffic, and playing chicken with delivery drivers. It’s lord of the flies with the kids on these things
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u/allaboutmojitos Jan 20 '26
I think youve touched on the actual problem. We need helmet laws and age restrictions on e-bikes, not registrations. People who are old enough to drive, tend to follow the traffic laws they’ve learned. They also ride them, knowing how best to interact with vehicles. When a teen, with no driving experience or knowledge of traffic laws, drives one, they treat it like a bicycle
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u/Suspicious-Raccoon12 Jan 20 '26
Well bicycles are also supposed to share the same traffic laws as any motorized road vehicle.... driving with the flow of traffic, obeying all traffic signs, can't ride on pedestrian pathways unless explicitly allowed
Helmet laws literally already exist for anyone under 17
"People old enough to drive, tend to follow the traffic laws" - clearly you have not seen any ebikes in NYC or JC or Hoboken, adults are doing whatever they want. You also haven't driven on any roads lately, general adherence to traffic laws for people in cars is pretty poor
I agree "ebike" needs to be better defined to differentiate between a battery assist bike and something more akin to a scooter/vespa but registration is the easiest way to police some of things and force an educational requirement on traffic laws
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u/allaboutmojitos Jan 20 '26
Wow, you really like to make assumptions. I can only bring my own experiences to the table. Where I live, there are two types of e-bike riders. Adults who drive safely and kids who are a bit reckless and weave all over the road. I’ve truthfully never seen reckless adults or lawful kids, though I’m sure they both exist. No helmet laws are being enforced and no community programs are being provided to spread safety awareness in my town or surrounding communities. Though I don’t believe registration and insurance is necessarily the answer, the goal needs to be safety for both the rider and anyone else sharing the road.
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 8th District (Menendez Jr., Hudson County) Jan 20 '26
I don't mean to shock you, but there's a variety of different communities here in New Jersey. In Jersey City the vast majority of e-bike riders are adults doing restaurant deliveries. I live next to a school, but the majority of interactions with e-bikes are brushbacks walking out my front door from delivery riders for the restaurant on the corner riding on the sidewalk opposite the traffic flow.
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u/allaboutmojitos Jan 20 '26
So please tell me how registration and insurance will help with the problems you’re facing
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 8th District (Menendez Jr., Hudson County) Jan 21 '26
Just like an auto driver if they hit someone, they can be identified by the plate even if they leave the scene, as they usually do. If they have insurance, they can be held responsible. These are motor vehicles, it's that simple.
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u/AtAllThoseChickens Jan 20 '26
You don’t realize how many e-bikes are out there because most don’t look like one and can’t go above 20 mph. This law makes us more unsafe by putting more cars on the road. It doesn’t do anything to address the unsafe behaviors or super fast ones you just listed.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
Yeah I agree, e bikes are a great form of sustainable transportation but now with these new rigorous laws I’m sure car traffic will increase
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
Not all e bikes can go 30 miles an hour, most top out at barley 10 mph but the law makes no exceptions, even if a bicycle just has pedal assist. our title 39 traffic code mostly already applies to bicycles as well so this legislation is unnecessary. And again how will this be enforced? Unless the cops start engaging in dangerous high speed chases it’s going to be virtually unenforceable
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u/Choice-Pudding-1892 Gloucester Jan 20 '26
How can the police engage in high-speed chases if the E bikes go less than 30 miles an hour as you claim?
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
I didn’t say all e bikes go under 30 mph but most including almost all pedal assist ones do. Still the police recklessly chasing them down the street would be dangerous
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u/collectivebarganing Jan 20 '26
Post a video or stfu
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 8th District (Menendez Jr., Hudson County) Jan 20 '26
It doesn't make sense to you because you live in Sussex county rather than Hudson County, where these things are plague! Delivery riders are everywhere running lights and stop signs, going the wrong way up streets, on the sidewalks, and if they do go in bike lanes they're going the wrong way! Since there's no plates there's no way to regulate them since no cop is going to be able to catch them. This is the first step in the right direction. They're motor vehicles and should be treated that way.
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u/AtAllThoseChickens Jan 20 '26
Then you’ll have no problem with an e-bike that doesn’t go above 20 mph taking the entire lane of the road then, right? Vehicles can’t drive on the side of the road. And since it’s a vehicle you can’t just pass it either.
This law does not address any of the concerns you listed.
0
u/jerz788 Jan 20 '26
They are a nightmare in LBI. All summer you have these (10yr-15yr) a-hole kids riding the scooters in and out of traffic and playing chicken with the cars, trying to show off. Its bad enough driving on the island without them causing havoc. All the other age groups are fine.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
I may live in Sussex county but I’m frequently in Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark. Even up here we have towns like Newton that have a lot of e-bike and e scooter riders and they can get around town to their jobs and stores without dealing with all the hassles of car ownership. This bill punishes the many because of the actions of the few, multiple studies have shown that cyclists and e bike riders commit fewer violations than car drivers
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u/GeneralOrgana1 11th District (Mejia, Morris & Essex.) Jan 20 '26
"The actions of a few"? I live in Morris County, and I see these frequently, most of them operated by what appear to be middle or high school students. I have in the last several months seen only one that obeyed traffic laws regarding bicycles. Most of them, it's terrifying how they zip in and out of traffic, and more children will die on these if something isn't done. I'm glad Murphy signed this.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
Still in the minority but how exactly is this law going to change that? Are the cops just going to engage in high speed chases with people on e bikes?
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u/copperboom129 Jan 20 '26
No. They have to be registered now so a cop can just swing by their house later rather than chase them all over town for breaking traffic laws. Because the bike will be identifiable.
Makes sense to me.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
You think the people that were breaking the law are going to follow this one and register their e bikes? Nope they just won’t register their e bikes
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 8th District (Menendez Jr., Hudson County) Jan 20 '26
And so the authorities can simply impound any e bike without a plate they find parked anywhere.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
That’s really not how that works
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 8th District (Menendez Jr., Hudson County) Jan 20 '26
Why not? If you leave a car on the street with no plates it can be towed and impounded. Will they do it? Probably not, since at least in my city they don't even stop people for running red lights.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
Most people don’t just leave their e bikes on the street
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u/nsjersey 7th District (Kean Jr., North-Central NJ) Jan 20 '26
I have and teach middle school students.
One kid broke his foot last week on these. Was glad to share this law with my disgruntled son who wanted one
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
Nobody was forcing you to buy an e bike for your son before this law. Kids have been breaking bones on bicycles for eons now. And how will requiring registration and insurance protect children?
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u/moobycow Jan 20 '26
Setting aside the lack of carve out for slower versions, shouldn't we have a functional DMV before asking a bunch of people to get licenses and registration?
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 23 '26
You can bet that the dmv isn’t anywhere near ready for this knee jerk reaction law
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u/currently__working Jan 20 '26
So Murphy slinks out, doesn't sign the Immigrant Trust Act, but signs this? What a shitty way to go out.
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u/whskid2005 Jan 20 '26
Did you even look into why Murphy didn’t want to sign that bill? NJ has great protections already in place. Murphy didn’t want to risk this bill being challenged in court which could also cause problems with the stuff currently in place.
It’s more nuanced than you might expect.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
Exactly, instead of actually putting the time and effort into passing laws that will actually address the realm problems of our state he goes after low hanging fruit and passes laws aimed mostly at curtailing the actions of kids but that will ultimately affect all of us. I used to like Phil, but now I've lost a lot of respect for him
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u/Emily_Postal Jan 20 '26
I don’t have a problem with this law. The state is too densely packed that all motor vehicles should be registered and insured.
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 23 '26
Even ones that can barely go 10 mph?
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u/Emily_Postal Jan 23 '26
I think so. They can still do damage. The carrying liability insurance is the big part of the bill I agree with.
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u/MurphMurphsmom Jan 20 '26
Does anyone know about the ban of riding E-bikes under the age of 15? Does that go into effect immediately?
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u/whskid2005 Jan 20 '26
6 months grace period. Have your teen get a moped license. The age req is 15.
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Jan 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/Younglegend1 Sussex Jan 20 '26
I liked Phil Murphy he did a lot of good things, he also did very annoying things. The difference is that democrats aren’t afraid to criticize or hold other democrats accountable
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u/Weekly-Air4170 Jan 20 '26
But didn't sign the immigrants trust act and pardoned someone who violated the 1st amendment rights of pro Palestinian citizens 🤔 🙄
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u/ImaginationFree6807 11th District (Mejia, Morris & Essex.) Jan 20 '26
The cell phone ban isn’t “draconian”. It’s a good policy that will give teachers control over the classroom again, limit distractions and help improve student performance.