The Knesset's Finance Committee has agreed to raise the minimum age for riding electric bicycles to 16. The new rule will come into effect in a little over a month.
The initiative came from the Transport Ministry. The department's Minister, Yisrael Katz (Likud), has also called for increasing the authority of local inspectors, though he says that Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) is only now coming around to his point of view.
Until now, people between the ages of 14 and 16 were only allowed to ride on designated bike lanes. However, the lack of such paths and the difficulty of enforcing the law led to many young teens riding on sidewalks and hitting pedestrians.
The Finance Committee also modified the regulations on electric toy scooters. They will now be limited to weighing no more than 30kg and having a motor that provides up to 250 watts -- enough for them to move at 25 kilometers per hours.