An elderly gentleman was seriously injured when he was hit by a moped in Fleur-de-Lys Road, Birkirkara, earlier this month, giving rise to an online petition to regulate motorised bicycles. However, it is not clear what the petition is really after and there seems to be a certain level of confusion over what is and what isn’t a moped.

Is the petition aimed at electric bikes, a pedelec?

If so, it is odd because the actual vehicle involved was a petrol engine moped.

While I cannot condone the rider’s behaviour (and neither can the Bicycle Advocacy Group) in causing the accident, it was perhaps better to let justice take its natural course rather than cause a media panic. Having said, it is hoped that the victim makes a full recovery.

Biased against teenagers astride noisy bicycles powered by petrol engines, the petition led Transport Malta to put in the same basket illegal noisy machines acquired as kits bought cheaply over the internet, commuters riding 45kph legal and genuine mopeds as well as environmentally-friendly pedelecs.

A pedelec, which was not the sort of vehicle involved in the Birkirkara accident, only reach 25kph and has a motor that is no more powerful than most domestic hair dryers. These simply assist the cyclist to climb hills or briskly reach cruising speed before switching off.

Pedelecs offer a sustainable way of helping the public get past the sweat factor and overcome hills that put many off cycling.

Pedelecs offer a sustainable way of helping the public get past the sweat factor

Basically, a pedelec is not a moped, something BAG has been telling Transport Malta for quite some time.

If the aim of the petition is to impose more legal provisions on pedelecs, which are treated as bicycles elsewhere in the EU (2002/24/EC, probably because they become bicycles once they hit 26kph), it has been a great success.

Not only have we done very little to promote cycling over the last five years and sit at the bottom of the EU list in terms of bicycle friendliness, we’ve now actually taken a step backwards.

If, on the other hand, the petition was meant to make up for any shortfall in enforcement to protect the quiet villages of Malta and Gozo from the exhaust emitted by the two-stroke engine, then it has failed spectacularly.

For in hobbling the whisper silent pedelec and making it no easier to register and insure than a moped, it is highly likely that potential purchasers will opt for the latter, which costs half as much.

A few mopeds will find their way onto the second-hand market as owners try to offload them, to be snapped up by the young. It is unlikely that illegal petrol engine bicycles could be stopped from roaring their way around a sleepy village. Indeed, the opposite may well be the case.

So do we now give grants to people to encourage them to buy pedelecs? Do we man up and give grants to public bike-share projects that use pedelecs?

The silent, pedelec, which is really a bicycle, was aimed for public bike-share schemes. While those who cycle won’t have a problem using a normal bike, clearly pedelecs are ideal for those many members of the public that don’t cycle.

Unfortunately, bike-share schemes that, among other provisions, demand the use of helmets, rarely succeed and often make a huge loss. Would you be willing to wear someone else’s helmet?

Can we afford to financially sustain a loss-making bike-share project or offset the cost of dispensing helmets on a grand scale?

And here’s the rub. As I hit 26kph on a pedelec and the motor cuts out, can I take my helmet off? For, basically, it is just a normal bicycle.

Jim Wightman is PRO of the Bicycle Advocacy Group Malta.