The great e-bike crackdown has begun

January 25, 2026 Andrew J. Hawkins

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This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the e-bike movement, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.

How it started

Last week, I did something I don't typically do, which is call up one of my elected officials and yell at them about a new bill.

New Jersey's car-brained lawmakers had just passed legislation that would impose heavy restrictions on e-bike ownership in the state, and I was livid. Obviously there's been a lot of concern about the growing number of teenagers being injured and killed w …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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