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I rode my first ebike today, a rental and there was definitely an "awe" moment when I realize how fast I'm going. I'm in a city with lots of bike lanes mind you, I would be terrified of riding one of these on public roads & trucks and whatnot

The "need for speed" is unrelenting.

Exactly.

"What if I have to speed because my wife is in labour and we need to get to the hospital?"

My "old man yells at cloud" is that a lot of car, trucks, and motorcycles on the public roads are unregistered, uninsured, and driven by people who never had a licence or lost their licence due to bad driving.

Yup

I clocked one guy at 45km/h on a sidewalk. Just a kid with no helmet. Accident waiting to happen.

Interesting but pretty much not related at all to the op’s comment

another old man agrees

Also the same thing on *walking paths*.

Yes, but seemingly even more dangerous because of how young the riders can get. I was almost swept off a city trail the other week by three or four school children zipping past not leaving room for anyone else. Not usually one for regulation, but a motor on a bike should just be a motorbike...

These are the types of vehicles that give legitimate e-bikes a bad name. E-bikes are now banned from most trains in London because of home-made jalopies with dodgy batteries catching fire. This is really annoying for legitimate e-bike manufacturers...and also e-bike riders like me.

I saw that article! What I disliked is that the article correctly identified the vehicles, but the headline did not.

confusion may be that the proliferation of pseudo e-bikes, which are e-motos with nearly useless pedals attached so as to appear to be bicycles. These are among the devices NYC recently banned, I believe. They're more properly called e-mopeds, I suppose.

Exactly.

The problem is they do over 20mph on sidewalks. Apart from the CVC not permitting it, line of sight issues also make them invisible to people turning or entering/exiting driveways. Sidewalks are not intended for high speed but people ignore that. THAT is the problem!

Did not know the rules, but he was still sure he was right! Sounds like so many people I encounter on a daily basis.

And they don't consider this is for their own safety. If a car comes out of a driveway they can't see much of the sidewalk, so a fast moving bike is effectively invisible and may also not be able to stop in time to avoid hitting the car.

Indeed. There's a big difference between an e-bike and an e-moto, and the danger is that any regulation needed to address issues related to the latter could end up affecting the former unnecessarily. Policy-makers need to understand the differences.

Agreed 100%. The mass and speed probably exceed many mopeds my classmates in high school used back in the 80’s… but they needed licensing. And the things e-bike/scooter riders do… holy shit.

I hate them

I got passed on a major road by an electric scooter. I was going 60km/h. The whole vehicle looked like it weighed 30lbs.

Not a bicycle

Gotta just ban throttles. I have a throttle on my ebike and it's useful in moderation but I think banning them is the only way out of this

I'm a motorbike commuter. They're a fecking plague.

We regulated them in #Boise this summer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2fr...

Class 3 e-bikes should continue for safer travel on streets with cars. Many, many parts of the US will simply never have good, separate bike infrastructure and we need to reduce speed differential w/cars for this situation if serious about replacing car trips. Would like a 1-button “trail mode.”

They are actual bicycles with pedal assist but also have a throttle (which i don’t think they are supposed to), which I use to get a kick start at traffic lights (a reasonable use imo)

You’re right & some are driven on sidewalks at dangerously high speeds by kids too young to have even learner permits.

Oooooohhhh…. Where can I get one?

They are not e-bikes. This is for the US. Netherlands limits are higher for example.

That’s why Mamdani announced a crackdown in NYC around them.

They are and they need to be in the car lanes. I saw two kids probably around 12 riding e-motos on a bike path the other day. They were behaving when I saw them, but kids will be kids.

I agree 💯

They are able to hit 90km/h, so you are correct.

30mph is an insane speed to be going on a bike lane.

🙄

I wish people would just call them that. It’s a plug in moto. It’s a bike the same way a moto guzzi is a bike. In my town in the US you need a license for anything above 49cc which worked pretty well but legally I can then ride an electric superbike that does 190mph lol 0cc

And therein lies the attraction

And they need to get off the sidewalk.

Agreed. I ride a fat tire e-bike myself. It’s a class 2, and I pedal it most of the time. Keep it in the road bike lanes and follow traffic laws. But I see them too. And wonder who they’re going to hit.

That’s just being observant