Municipal police in Torre del Greco have seized more than thirty two-wheeled electric vehicles described as tampered e-bikes, after technical checks found machines capable of exceeding the 25 km/h limit for pedal-assisted bicycles, with one reported to have reached 100 km/h.
The checks began during nightlife patrols and continued on 12 and 13 October 2026, according to the local report. The vehicles had been bought as electric bicycles but were circulating without plates or registration, and riders were described as riding without helmets.
How the checks were carried out
The seized vehicles were examined with a test platform and computer equipment, with support from the Motorizzazione Civile di Napoli. According to the report, all of the vehicles tested exceeded the 25 km/h threshold indicated for pedal-assisted bicycles.
The report links the technical alteration of the bikes to a need for homologation, registration, a plate, a helmet and a licence. It does not publish individual test sheets, the speed recorded for each vehicle, or the specific article of the Highway Code applied in each case.
The vehicles were returned to their owners under judicial custody pending removal of the irregularities. The fines indicated in the report range from 600 to 5,000 euros in the most serious cases. The exact final number of seizures and the exact number of riders fined are not specified beyond "more than thirty" vehicles.
Not the first operation of this kind
Torre del Greco has been the focus of similar enforcement before, and those earlier cases should not be added to the October 2026 total.
In a 2021 operation, 42 people and 23 vehicles were checked. Ten electric bikes were found to be non-homologated, some with a throttle that worked independently of the pedals. That operation led to 24 penalties totalling 30,000 euros.
In 2022, a joint operation between Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata led to the seizure of 15 modified electric bikes tested on a roller bench, with 51 administrative penalties totalling 53,000 euros.
The regulatory backdrop
The broader Italian road-safety framework was amended by Law No. 177 of 25 November 2024, which entered into force on 14 December 2024, as reconstructed by the Chamber of Deputies.
The acquired documents do not establish whether the 2026 vehicles were modified by their owners, by dealers, or sold already in a non-compliant configuration, and they do not report the outcome of any subsequent proceedings.