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These are literally consecutive sentences: "Ebikes in China... got so out of control that many large cities have banned ebikes (known as ‘silent killers’) from

These are literally consecutive sentences: "Ebikes in China... got so out of control that many large cities have banned ebikes (known as ‘silent killers’) from the major roads to cut down on the massive number of traffic fatalities that happen from people riding ebikes. Ebikes have the potential to solve most of the traffic problems in many of the major cities (not to mention global warming), but instead of embracing them in the US lawmakers shun them entirely."

Zigurd 10y ago
Is an e-bike ban true? Or is this more "ghost cities" hype? Why would fatalities be materially different from ordinary bikes? The way drivers behave toward bikes in China is horrifying. They'll drive inches from a bike, and the only thing standing athwart mass slaughter is that traffic is as slow as molasses.
- gambiting 10y ago
  I assume that it's because you can easily maintain 30mph on an E-bike, while doing so on a normal bike is possible,but requires a good bike and a certain level of physical fitness. So I would guess that average E-bike accident will happen at a higher speed than your average bicycle accident.
Kadin 10y ago
It was at about that point that I started to wonder if maybe I'd finally fallen for a good, old, Adequacy.org-style troll article. But it's just hard to tell.
Mathnerd314 10y ago
http://www.sixthtone.com/news/china-says-no-%E2%80%98silent-killer%E2%80%99-e-bikes http://www.sixthtone.com/news/china-says-no-%E2%80%98silent-... http://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/05/18/as-china-chokes-on-smog-the-biggest-adoption-of-green-transportation-in-history-is-being-banned/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/05/18/as-china-... http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1952218/traffics-toll-road-accidents-kill-700-people-day-china http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1952218/traff... His facts all seem in order. In China, ebikes are unregulated but popular and there's a clear need to regulate e-bikes to ensure that they obey traffic laws. In the US, e-bikes are over-regulated and rare, but the laws aren't strictly enforced either. I think his point is that there's room for improvement in both cases, some form of happier middle ground, wherein (a) laws are sane and enforced (b) bikes are cheap and plentiful. Also just the general complaint that Chinese tech is cheaper & better quality than American tech.

Zigurd 10y ago

Is an e-bike ban true? Or is this more "ghost cities" hype? Why would fatalities be materially different from ordinary bikes? The way drivers behave toward bikes in China is horrifying. They'll drive inches from a bike, and the only thing standing athwart mass slaughter is that traffic is as slow as molasses.

gambiting 10y ago
I assume that it's because you can easily maintain 30mph on an E-bike, while doing so on a normal bike is possible,but requires a good bike and a certain level of physical fitness. So I would guess that average E-bike accident will happen at a higher speed than your average bicycle accident.

Kadin 10y ago

It was at about that point that I started to wonder if maybe I'd finally fallen for a good, old, Adequacy.org-style troll article. But it's just hard to tell.

Mathnerd314 10y ago

http://www.sixthtone.com/news/china-says-no-%E2%80%98silent-killer%E2%80%99-e-bikes http://www.sixthtone.com/news/china-says-no-%E2%80%98silent-... http://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/05/18/as-china-chokes-on-smog-the-biggest-adoption-of-green-transportation-in-history-is-being-banned/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/05/18/as-china-... http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1952218/traffics-toll-road-accidents-kill-700-people-day-china http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1952218/traff... His facts all seem in order. In China, ebikes are unregulated but popular and there's a clear need to regulate e-bikes to ensure that they obey traffic laws. In the US, e-bikes are over-regulated and rare, but the laws aren't strictly enforced either. I think his point is that there's room for improvement in both cases, some form of happier middle ground, wherein (a) laws are sane and enforced (b) bikes are cheap and plentiful. Also just the general complaint that Chinese tech is cheaper & better quality than American tech.