BETHESDA, MD (BRAIN)—The Consumer Product Safety Commission pushed back the deadline for third party testing of kids bikes this week, granting the industry a stay of enforcement for the third time since the new law passed almost two years ago.
Manufacturers now have until Aug. 14 to certify their products meet the federal bicycle regulations, known as 16 CFR 1512. The requirement had been set to go into effect on May 17, after already having been delayed twice since the original February 2009 deadline.
The Bicycle Product Suppliers Association filed the latest petition for a stay of enforcement on April 1 asking for more time for labs to gain accreditation required by the Commission.
All bikes marketed to kids 12 and under and manufactured after Aug. 14 must be tested by an accredited lab. Adult bikes don’t have to be tested by an independent lab, but must be shipped with a certificate of compliance to the regulations.
The Commission also granted a stay until Nov. 14 for manufacturers to test reflectors since currently none of the three accredited labs are certified to test for the reflectivity standards in the regulation.
If no labs are certified to test for reflectivity by Nov. 14, the Commission will address the issue again.
The Commission also said it is aware that many of the 1512 regulations do not address the technology and designs used in today’s bicycles. One significant issue concerns threadless stems, which, by design, cannot comply with the minimum insertion mark requirement in the regulations. The Commission has excluded stems from the requirement for the time being.
The Commission has begun the process of reviewing the regulation for revisions. If manufacturers believe they cannot certify current designs to the existing bike regulations, they should provide specifics on which regulations are problematic, which models are affected and an explanation to CPSC staff by June 4.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com
