E-bikes will be fitted with license plates to tackle dangerous cyclists.
A third of the 1,500-bike Forest bike fleet in Richmond, west Londonwill be equipped with five-digit ID codes to make it easier to identify riders.
The decision comes after the police registered almost 39,000 incidents involving e-bikes in the past three years.
These include dozens of pedestrians being struck – in many cases resulting in fatalities and life-changing injuries – as well as drug trafficking, robberies, assaults and sex crimes.
Earlier this year, a woman claimed she was thrown face-first into a brick wall by a Forest cyclist, leaving her with serious facial and dental injuries.
“The engine went full throttle and I was hit with such brutal force and speed that there were no defensive injuries,” Sandy Peters told the Daily Mail.
“I didn’t have time to put my hands or arms out, so my face hit straight into the wall.”
As it stands, Forest bikes are equipped with a five-digit number printed below the QR code that cyclists use to activate their ride.
However, under the new proposals the same code will be added to a license plate.
A third of the 1,500-bike Forest bike fleet in Richmond, west London, will be fitted with five-digit ID codes to make it easier to identify riders (file photo)
Sandy Peters was face-slammed into a brick wall by an e-bike illegally ridden on the sidewalk by a teenage boy last year
Ms Peters’ face was smashed into a wall and she suffered very serious and complex injuries
A Forest spokesperson said: ‘The way it works is that if there is an incident and the number is shared with us, just like with the bike number, we can immediately identify the bike and who was riding it at the time, and take the necessary action more quickly.’
Around 500 number plates have already been installed on Forest bikes in Richmond upon Thames, The Telegraph has reported.
It is understood that riders who repeatedly flout the rules will be banned from renting a Forest bike again.
Recent years have seen a series of high-profile accidents involving e-bikes, including the daughter of BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell.
Opening up about the collision involving his daughter, Lilla, 26, Mr Campbell said it happened in Peckham, south London, while she was with her three sisters, and that it had been ‘a long and emotional night’ after she was left ‘severely injured’.
In another case that shocked the nation, teenager Billy Stokoe was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for killing 86-year-old grandmother Gloria Stephenson at a zebra crossing in Sunderland last year.
Stokoe had consumed cannabis and was using a mobile phone when he bumped into her.
Devon & Cornwall and Dorset Police recorded some of the highest numbers of incidents, totaling more than 9,600 over three years.
Gloria Stephenson (pictured) was killed at a zebra crossing by e-bike rider Billy Stokoe
This was the moment teenage e-bike rider Billy Stokoe mowed down and killed grandmother Gloria Stephenson in a crosswalk in an incident that shocked the nation
E-bikes were involved in almost a thousand road traffic accidents (RTCs). More than 700 of these were related to incidents involving ‘violence against the person’, 60 to drug offences, 40 to crimes against ‘weapon possession’ and 84 to sexual offences.
In more than a third (3,396) of the cases, the force was unable to identify a suspect.
West Yorkshire Police recorded a percentage increase in the number of incidents, from 1,798 in 2023 to 4,001 last year.
This was an increase of 122 percent. In total, the force recorded 8,647 incidents during the three-year period.
There were almost 500 RTCs and more than 5,700 anti-social behavior and crime-related incidents, including 250 robberies, 156 arson and criminal damage incidents and 19 drug offences. In 1,655 cases the force was unable to identify a suspect.
The Daily Mail has contacted Forest for further comment.
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