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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Is a driver's license required for motorcycles in Shandong?
I have heard several rumors about this topic including:
1. No license is required for battery powered e scooters
2. No license is required for gas powered motorcycles under 250cc
And several variations of these two.
can anyone actually tell me the facts?
Point 2) is wrong. A motorbike licence is legally required for all petrol powered motorbikes......that's not to say all riders here are legal!
Point 2) is wrong. A motorbike licence is legally required for all petrol powered motorbikes......that's not to say all riders here are legal!
I am pretty sure the ebike rule is that if it has pedals you don't need a license. I think that is China wide. Tier 1 cities have rules on the size of ebikes.
I would give petrol bikes a miss. As hot water says, you need a licence. No licence for ebikes, just different rules about the size.
Ebikes are fine. I have a small pushbike style one I can take in the elevator to my apartment. Because security is another aspect to take into account. If you have to park your bike outside, it will be nicked. Or something from it will.
For me, the ebike is fine. They are cheap, fast enough to get you places, but not so fast that you will have your final life flash as some idiot does an idiot thing straight in front of you. Then again, I have had too many moments on my small ebike I would rather forget.
Nothing is different about Shandong than the rest of China.
Any motorized vehicle over 200W needs a license. In practice this is actually a pretty grey area and many ebikes are permitted to be sold over 200W.
Any motorbike or gas powered scooter needs a registration, insurance and the rider needs an appropriate license. Again in practice especially in rural areas you'll see many small capacity without registration plates, it is likely that the riders don't have a license and definitely don't have insurance. This is because the sheer number of people in China makes this expensive to enforce, the fines are cheap for motorcycles because usually Chinese people want cars to gain face and a small motorcycle is just a utilitarian vehicle for the less wealthy.
However, if you are interested in motorcycles or have money and would like to be legal on the roads it is certainly a good idea. Not having registration plates or insurance can see you having your bike impounded and fined 2000 yuan. The 3rd party insurance is compulsory but very cheap. Many foreigners have been badly stung. If you hit a pedestrian, bicycle or ebike on a motorcycle they will make you pay. 10,000 yuan is just the start, they'll probably take you for far more than that and claim all sorts of injuries turning you into a human ATM. If you have insurance the insurance company is an intermediary that will prevent excessive claiming, as someone always pays and the concept of fault is not relevant unless the crash is between two motorized vehicles. Also riding without a license can see you fined up to 2000 yuan and doing a 15 day stretch in the local detention center.
I know you'll see many bikes without plates and other dodgy practices, but remember the locals know when the next purge is coming, where the road block will be, and have connections with the local Gong An and you probably don't.
For more information go here.
Hotwater:
That's a great site you've linked to. Read it before and very informative