SEN. Joseph Victor Ejercito yesterday said that e-bikes should be prohibited not only on the main thoroughfares of Metro Manila but on national highways in the provinces as well.
Ejercito issued the statement after the Metro Manila Council passed a resolution prohibiting e-bikes on metro roads being administered by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority because they pose great risk and danger to the lives of their drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
Ejercito, a motorcycle rider himself, said e-bikes are dangerous on national highways due to the presence of other vehicles running at high speed.
“They (e-bikes) should not be really running on national highways. Shall we wait for more deaths before we prohibit them? Another problem is that drivers of cars, trucks, or buses cannot immediately see them. I am more on the safety side because we cannot replace one lost life,” Ejercito said at the Kapihan sa Senado media forum.
He added that e-bikes on national highways are very dangerous because they are made of light materials that can easily be swayed when vehicles pass or overtake them, and their drivers have no solid protection when they figure in a collision.
“It is really dangerous for them on national highways. There are times that I have the chance to run along with them, and I am really scared of what will happen to them since many of them are used to transport mothers, the elderly, and sometimes are used to bring children to school. These China-made e-bikes are lightweight and offer no protection to its passengers when they figure in a collision,” he said.
Worse, he said, most e-bike drivers do not have driver’s licenses issued by the Land Transportation Office and do not know the basic traffic rules, regulations, and etiquette.
“That’s why all the more that they should not be allowed on national highways in the provinces, but they can be allowed on barangay and municipal roads. That’s okay,” Ejercito said.
