February 20, 2026 - On January 19, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the most restrictive e-bike law in the USA the day before he left office as governor and People for Bikes is fighting back hoping to amend the legislation.
The controversial new law removes the current three-tier classification system (Class 1, 2, 3) of electric bicycles that New Jersey has been using, along with 46 other states, and “instead puts forward confusing new categories, placing unnecessary and burdensome restrictions on low-speed e-bikes while leaving higher-risk vehicles like electric mopeds and motorcycles without additional regulations,” reads the People for Bikes report.
The new law restricts the definition of “low-speed electric bicycle” to only Class 1 devices, and treats Class 2 and 3 ebikes as “motorized bicycles.” All e-bikes now require both registration and a driver’s license to ride anywhere in NJ, with Class 2 and 3 e-bikes also requiring an insurance policy.
The bill was heavily opposed by transportation groups and bike advocates yet was rushed through committees and full floor votes in both houses. According to People for Bikes, multiple media outlets have reported on the negative implications of this law on riders, retailers, and the industry as a whole.
A series of fatal crashes, including one that left a 13-year-old boy in Scotch Plains dead last year, led to Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Union) sponsoring the new bill. Yet the vehicles involved in many of the crashes are “e-motos”, either electric motorcycles or off-road motorcycles, but have been reported as “e-bikes” – dubbed the E-Moto Problem by People for Bikes.
“Far too many young people across the country are being seriously injured or killed while operating what they and their parents may believe are ‘e-bikes.’ Most often, these vehicles are not low-speed electric bicycles — they are actually much faster electric motorcycles or electric dirt bikes that are not safe or legal for kids to use on public streets. PeopleForBikes recently highlighted this growing issue in a three-part blog series discussing what we call the E-Moto Problem.”
According to PeopleForBikes the new law, “Fails to address the real safety issues that contributed to more than 500 fatalities and 3,000 series injuries on New Jersey’s roadways in 2025: motor vehicles including unregulated, high-speed e-motos. We are currently cooperating on draft language for a new bill to address the issues created by this legislation and redirect the focus of regulatory and safety efforts on e-motos, the high-speed electric mopeds, motorcycles, and dirt bikes being marketed to kids in New Jersey and across the country and the same devices involved in recent fatal crashes that led to this bill.”
Streetsblog USA published and op-ed “Is N.J.-Style Bikelash Coming For Your State Next?” by Bob Mittelstaedt, a longtime resident of Marin County and (mostly) retired trial attorney in San Francisco.
Mittelstaedt writes about the predictable backlash that occurs when policymakers misdiagnose the e-moto problem as an e-bike problem. “The recently enacted — and extraordinarily restrictive — New Jersey law is a textbook example of bikelash unleashed. It is also a case study in legislative malpractice.”
As well, New Jersey’s Bike & Walk Summit recently announced a session on March 7 about e-bikes: “NJ’s E-Bike Policy: What’s Working, What’s Stuck in Gear, and What’s Ahead” where they’ll breakdown what the law actually says, the gray areas, the repercussions for low‑speed e‑bike riders, the future of micromobility, and everyone who was left out of the conversation – read more here.
Read more about New Jersey’s new law here.
Read more on People for Bikes efforts to amend it here.
Read the Streetsblog USA Op-Ed here.
