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After reading all the different post on here about e-bikes, I did wonder if they were used on the road and they were able to do speeds above the speed limit, could you be prosecuted?
Yes, speeding is speeding no matter what your form of transport.
All road users have to abide by the limits in place on that section of road.
By law they only assist you up to 15mph.
All road users have to abide by the limits in place on that section of road.
Not quite. All motorised vehicles must abide by the speed limit. So ebikes must, especially if it were derestricted as it would most likely be classed as a moped.
A human powered bicycle could exceed the speed limit quite legally if the rider had the legs for it.
I thought that on a regular bike you could get done for 'cycling like a t**t' if you exceed the speed limit, on the grounds that its a tad risky. Which I would tend to agree with...
E-bike below the limits (power and speed) is classed in law as an EPAC, and treated in law as any other pedal cycle, anything over that limit becomes a motor vehicle, and requires tax, insurance, mot and helmet - so subject to same laws as motorbikes.
How could a cop tell if the bike was producing too much power?
Put that big German bloke on one and I'm sure he could go as fast on a restricted one as a chav on a chipped one.
Its already possible to break the speed limit just by rolling downhill on just about any bike above 30mph or even 40mph, don't need an Ebike to do that
How could a cop tell if the bike was producing too much power?
I've had this discussion with the police and department for transport - basically they go by the sticker on the side of the motor giving continuous power. It's not unknown for companies, when importing 250W bikes from Europe, to just change the sticker 😉