4 ms·

Cars are so much worse in this regard. Most cars can easily go twice as fast as you would ever legally be able to drive on the street. You don’t even need a swi

Cars are so much worse in this regard. Most cars can easily go twice as fast as you would ever legally be able to drive on the street. You don’t even need a switch to go 100mph! The problem is, of course, enforcement. If there is truly a speeding and safety problem with ebikes, then the existing laws around bikes, ebikes, and speed limits can be enforced to solve it. Most consumer-ready e-bikes are already speed limited. For example, many won’t do any motor assistance past 20mph. (E.g. a class 1 ebike)

rich_sasha 4y ago
I mostly agree, except in many cases (not all) cars abuse a different space than that operated by regular cyclists and pedestrians. Eg I won't have a car going fast down the pavement and hitting my elderly mother, not usually anyway. With these ebikes in the UK, they go anywhere they can fit. Different menace I'd argue.
- belorn 4y ago
  The fear that bikes might hit a disabled person on the pavement is an interesting case. I often see parents walking with a stroller on bike lanes (nice and flat, and often clear of snow), so many times in fact that I look up if there were any statistics on bikes hitting one and killing the helpless baby inside. I also don't see other pedestrians reacting to the situation as if the parents were putting the child in mortal danger. However, try as I might I could not find a single case of infant being killed by a bike in my country. The only explanation I have is that thanks to the slow speed, bikers and e-bikers alike have time to slow down if there are a risk of a collision. It would be interesting to see UK statistics and hear if the same is true with elderly mothers?
  - rich_sasha 4y ago
    I have personally been almost hit by an e-bike delivery driver riding on the pavement while looking at his phone. Same for going down bike paths the wrong way, or going through a red light. In neither of these cases did we actually hit each other because I was alert. If I happened to be wearing headphones and deep in thought (arguably not best course of action on a pavement in a city but not wrong either), I'd be badly hurt. I guess most people are alert enough to avoid the e-bikers, so accidents don't happen much, but they are still a menace (in my locale at least). I have nothing against e-bikes as such, I own one in fact and it's a good piece of kit. I just think that as power goes up, enforcement should keep up.

rich_sasha 4y ago

I mostly agree, except in many cases (not all) cars abuse a different space than that operated by regular cyclists and pedestrians. Eg I won't have a car going fast down the pavement and hitting my elderly mother, not usually anyway. With these ebikes in the UK, they go anywhere they can fit. Different menace I'd argue.

belorn 4y ago
The fear that bikes might hit a disabled person on the pavement is an interesting case. I often see parents walking with a stroller on bike lanes (nice and flat, and often clear of snow), so many times in fact that I look up if there were any statistics on bikes hitting one and killing the helpless baby inside. I also don't see other pedestrians reacting to the situation as if the parents were putting the child in mortal danger. However, try as I might I could not find a single case of infant being killed by a bike in my country. The only explanation I have is that thanks to the slow speed, bikers and e-bikers alike have time to slow down if there are a risk of a collision. It would be interesting to see UK statistics and hear if the same is true with elderly mothers?
- rich_sasha 4y ago
  I have personally been almost hit by an e-bike delivery driver riding on the pavement while looking at his phone. Same for going down bike paths the wrong way, or going through a red light. In neither of these cases did we actually hit each other because I was alert. If I happened to be wearing headphones and deep in thought (arguably not best course of action on a pavement in a city but not wrong either), I'd be badly hurt. I guess most people are alert enough to avoid the e-bikers, so accidents don't happen much, but they are still a menace (in my locale at least). I have nothing against e-bikes as such, I own one in fact and it's a good piece of kit. I just think that as power goes up, enforcement should keep up.