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MA cyclist here, I'm not annoyed by scooters and I'm happy to share the bike lane if it means fewer cars on the road. The only caveat is that with the advent of
by kibwen 4y ago
MA cyclist here, I'm not annoyed by scooters and I'm happy to share the bike lane if it means fewer cars on the road. The only caveat is that with the advent of small electric vehicles we need to start thinking about what an appropriate speed limit is for bike lanes; I'm actually thinking less about scooters than I am about e-bikes, since those can easily reach highway speeds if they're not limited.
- alistairSH 4y ago...if they're not limited... The 3-class system is pretty good for defining e-bikes. But, it's useless for actually enforcing anything. 1 - pedal assist only, 20mph max assist 2 - pedal or throttle, 20mph max 3 - pedal only, 28mph max And anything faster is just an electric motorbike/scooter (and should have tags and a license, etc). I'm fine with sharing bike infrastructure and multi-use paths with class 1&2 e-bikes, e-scooter with similar speed limits, and anything else in the e-mobility space (e-hand-cycles, etc). I'm in the DC suburbs and we get a lot of e-bikes, but so far, they're mostly a mix of expensive Trek/Specialized stuff that older or less-able adults ride for fitness. Or, cheap (Amazon, etc) e-bikes used for transport. And bike lane traffic is light enough that there's no conflict. But, I definitely see the potential problem. A friend just texted me a for-sale listing for a lightweight e-dirt-bike that does 70mph, but from 10' away you'd never know it wasn't a pedal bike at all (looks like a regular downhill race bike).