> They require no licensing and no insurance AFAICT. That's because the amount of damage a bicycle can do, even a powered one, is astoundingly small compared t

> They require no licensing and no insurance AFAICT. That's because the amount of damage a bicycle can do, even a powered one, is astoundingly small compared to the damage even a subcompact car traveling at typical urban speeds can do. ~40,000 people a year are killed in automotive crashes. That's one person every fifteen minutes, roughly. A person on a bicycle killing someone in a collision is so rare I can tell you the two times it's happened in my state: once in the 90's when a bike courier hit a pedestrian who stepped out into the street without looking, and more recently when two cyclists collided on a bike path (which happens to be one of the most trafficked bike paths in the nation.) > As someone who has a motorcycle license, and had to do a bunch of training and get insurance I see folks on these things as no different to my if I were on a 125cc or 250cc motorcycle/scooter. Most 125CC scooters are capable of 50-60mph (even a 50cc scooter can usually easily hit 40mph); the majority of e-bikes in the US top out at 20-25mph. A 125CC scooter weighs about 300lb; a typical e-bike is well under 50lb. A 125CC scooter can carry a passenger; the majority of e-bikes cannot. There is near universal experience from early childhood with learning to ride a bicycle. There is not near-universal experience with learning to ride a scooter or motorcycle. Etc etc etc.