My e-bike ruled legal in Hawaii

[shiningraven]

Aloha! I've lurked here a lot gathering info for my second e-bike, now something's happened I can return the favour on. Everything I've been able to find on the internet says, basically, "electric bikes are illegal in Hawaii" or "in Hawaii electric bikes are considered mopeds." Not to be deterred, I built an e-bike on Maui anyway (front nine continent 2806 hub from ebikes.ca & 48V 35Ah SLAs on a cheap 21-speed tandem frame) and registered it as a bicycle. One month later, I get pulled over! The cop quotes the same Hawaii law most everyone does, and wrote me a $122 ticket for operating a moped with no driver's licence or safety inspection sticker.

After five weeks of hitchhiking, I got my chance to challenge the ticket in court. I provided the text of HR 727, documentation showing my motor puts out a nominal 716 watts, a picture of the bike, and simply stating the controller governs it to 20 MPH. After some lengthy pondering and out loud ruminating about the way the Hawaii law has no lower limit to motor power, the judge said, "The court finds that your bicycle is not a moped. Case dismissed with prejudice."

I hope this helps others in Hawaii desiring to build electric bikes or having similar issues!

 

[Sunder]

Congrats! Can you try to set a precedent here in Sydney too please?

 

[MadRhino]

Congrats! Can you try to set a precedent here in Sydney too please?

In Aus, you must build a robot to pedal behind you on the tandem. Then, you'd have a case that you could win. 8)

...If it has a helmet.

 

[Samd]

Did he say with prejudice, or without. Important.

 

[Lock]

Case dismissed with prejudice

That's excellent. Congratulations!

1oCk

 

[wineboyrider]

Great start! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

[stingray17]

After five weeks of hitchhiking, I got my chance to challenge the ticket in court. I provided the text of HR 727, documentation showing my motor puts out a nominal 716 watts, a picture of the bike, and simply stating the controller governs it to 20 MPH. After some lengthy pondering and out loud ruminating about the way the Hawaii law has no lower limit to motor power, the judge said, "The court finds that your bicycle is not a moped. Case dismissed with prejudice."

Great job shiningraven, You're an ebike hero!

 

[AussieJester]

Did he say with prejudice, or without. Important.

Soz bit dense i iz haha...what would the difference be from a legal stand point?

cheers in advance


KiM

 

[Philistine]

In the US I think with prejudice means the case is dismissed and can't be brought again, without prejudice would have meant the matter could be reheard.

In Australia it is usually used the other way around, in that a without prejudice offer is an offer that can't be brought before the court in evidence, other than for purposes of costs assesments. I never understood why we use it the other way around.

 

[AussieJester]

Thanks Phil, i wouldnt have a clue about such matters, i try not to get caught so
i don't end up in court to begin with....unfortunately this approach hasn't worked
well in the past :: fingers crossed:: it works better on the e-bike...

KiM

 

[dogman dan]

VERY NICE! We have similar law here in NM, but with a crucial difference. It's very lax about moped. No registration and such for mopeds. So for us, it's actually an advantage because you get 30 mph top speed limit. Yes you are supposed to have a licence, but since there is nothing much to check on mopeds, people ride without the licences with no problems with cops that ignore us.

Good for you though, you now have a precendent to show when others have thier ticket in court. One brick at a time.

 

[Ykick]

..."The court finds that your bicycle is not a moped. Case dismissed with prejudice."

I hope this helps others in Hawaii desiring to build electric bikes or having similar issues!

'possibly helps more than just Hawaii. Particularly if Judge arrives at said opinion based on Federal statute this ruling/precedent could potentially be presented in other state jurisdictions.

Congratulations for well fought victory! Hey, maybe you should bring lawsuit against the state for the weeks you were kept off the road? Not much in actual damages but perhaps punitive damages for civil rights violation?

I should shut up, 'not a lawyer but I've watched Judge Judy a few times and know what "with/without prejudice" means.

Thanks for sharing...

 

[dogman dan]

One reason it may have worked is the lack of an "ebike law" in Hawaii state statutes. A judge that has a state statute would likely use that.

I still find it unbelievable that Hawaii has such restrictive moped law. Must have copied Florida. Such a good place for solar recharged ebikes. Just a part of the anti bum attitude of any paradise? How much big oil lobby can Hawaii have?

 

[RoadWrinkle]

I am a "reformed lawyer" here on Maui.

Sorry to rain on your parade (and it is a nice parade), but under the Hawaii Revised Statutes, e-bikes are STILL considered "illegal motor vehicles". The judge in your traffic court case had the discretion to make "fact findings", but not change the law himself. Therefore he found, as a matter of fact and not law, that your e-bike was not a moped, and that is all he did. In other words, this has no broad implications for ALL Hawaii e-bikers. A a traffic court judge cannot set case precedence or interpret the validity of a particular statute or law (like an appellant court can), they must follow the law, where the facts make the law applicable.

BTW, I also live on Maui and I am just getting into the e-bike phenom...see ya on the "No ka oi" roads!