电动自行车成为马路杀手

　　Riders like Yu Dejiang were caught in the legal crossfire. Mr Yu, a 30-year-old air-conditioner repairman in Wenzhou, splurged this summer and spent half a month's salary on a new electric scooter to replace a secondhand one that got stolen. Two weeks later, police dusted off old regulations on the books, confiscated his bike and fined him 700 yuan-about $100.

　　像余德江(音)这样骑电动自行车的人就因为法规变动而遭了殃。现年30岁的他是温州一名空调修理工，他去年夏天花半个月的工资买了一辆新电动自行车，以取代那辆被偷的二手电动自行车。两周后，警方又开始重新禁止电动自行车上路，他的电动车被没收，还被罚款人民币700元。

　　'The e-bike is a necessity for my work. The fastest and cheapest traffic vehicle I can afford. It's the same for most riders here. I can finish my work on the bike. There are no buses in many places and I can't afford to buy a car. What do you expect me to do?' said Mr. Yu. A few weeks later, he was back on the streets with another electric bike, looking over his shoulder in case city authorities crack down again.

　　余德江说，他的工作离不开电动自行车，这是他能负担的最快捷也最廉价的交通工具，对温州大多数骑车者来说同样如此。他说，自己能靠电动自行车完成工作，许多地方都不通公共汽车，而自己又买不起汽车，还能怎么办？几周后，余德江又骑着另一辆电动自行车上路了。现在他骑车时不时要回头张望一下，以防相关部门再次没收他的车。

　　But there's another problem. E-bikes may not be so clean after all. Because 95% of China's e-bikes use lead batteries, they emit more lead into the atmosphere than other forms of transportation, according to some studies. They also rely on electricity that's mostly made by coal-burning power plants.

　　但也存在另外一个问题。电动自行车可能并非那么清洁。由于中国95%的电动自行车使用铅电池，一些研究结果显示，电动自行车向大气中排放的铅要高于其他类型的交通工具。电动自行车顾名思义要用电，而中国的电大多数来自燃煤发电厂。

　　Then suddenly, in December, the central government dropped a bombshell: tough new nationwide restrictions. There was heated debate. Sales at Luyuan Group, one of China's biggest e-bike makers, dropped 50% in December from November.

　　中央政府去年12月突然丢下一枚重磅炸弹：对电动自行车采取了新的全国性严厉限制措施。此举在社会上引发了激烈争论。中国最大电动自行车生产商之一绿源集团(Luyuan Group)去年12月份的电动自行车销量比前月下降了50%。

　　'Officials are getting the statistics wrong, they're not looking at them scientifically,' said Ni Jie, Luyuan's founder. A former economics professor and electrical engineer, Mr. Ni has given his wife the company reins so he can focus more on industry lobbying. He argues electric bicycles are safer than bicycles or motorcycles and will soon start using cleaner, lithium batteries.

　　绿源集团创办人倪捷说，官员们误解了统计数据，他们没有科学地看待这些数据。曾担任经济学教授和电子工程师的倪捷已经将公司的管理权交给了妻子，以便自己能将更多精力放在行业游说上。他声称，电动自行车比普通自行车或摩托车都要安全，而且不久就将开始使用更清洁的锂电池。

　　After intense public outcry in the media, the government backed down just weeks later. 'In essence, a lack of respect for public opinion and for the reasonable and scientific decision-making process was to blame,' for the government's behavior, said an opinion piece in China Daily, the state-backed English language newspaper.

　　在媒体密集报导公众对政府这一决定的不同意见后，政府放弃了出台仅几周的这项决定。官方英文报纸《中国日报》(China Daily)的一则评论说，事实上，缺乏对公众意见以及合理、科学决策程序的尊重是政府出台这一政策的问题所在。

　　Now, the industry associations are trying to figure out new guidelines before the central government steps back in. In the meantime, people are back in the shops.

　　现在，电动自行车的行业组织正赶在政府再度插手之前努力制定出新的行业指导原则。与此同时，人们也开始重新购买电动自行车。

　　He Chenyan, a 23-year-old telecommunications engineer, offered this advice as he tested out different electric bikes in Hangzhou. 'These limits don't matter,' he said. 'The traffic police won't bother with us. They'll focus on real motor vehicles like cars and motorcycles.'

　　23岁的电信工程师何臣岩(音)在杭州挑选电动自行车时说，这些限制措施无关紧要，交通警才不会注意我们呢，他们关注的是汽车和摩托车等真正的机动车。他身旁的一位女销售人员则提供了另一个解决办法：在给新买的电动自行车上牌后，只需调一下电动机，就能将车子的最大时速恢复到20公里。她说，要是低于这一时速，你最好还是骑自行车算了。