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I don’t think that a sweeping speed limit ban is helpful. FWIW, I don’t own an e-bike and have only borrowed them from other people a few times. In the more ru

I don’t think that a sweeping speed limit ban is helpful. FWIW, I don’t own an e-bike and have only borrowed them from other people a few times. In the more rural, even suburban areas, it might be totally safe, even safer to go 25-30mph instead of 20, if you’re on a road with 35mph car traffic. I agree with you for major cities, I’ve had to deal with the antisocial people who rip through crowds.. but a sweeping ban like that will limit usefulness outside of cities. I’ve hit 30+mph on a regular bike with a strong wind at my back, and it felt fast. But not dangerous by any means - I was out on a rural country road. It’d be nice to get that “wind” from electricity, regardless of the weather, to greatly reduce the commute time between towns, without needing to drive a (more dangerous) car.

Mashimo 1y ago
You could classify very fast e-bikes as scooters / moppets. That why you can still drive them, but maybe you can't share the bike lane any more.
nicoburns 1y ago
I think higher speeds should be allowed, but they should be liscensed like any other motocycle (perhaps they're their own class with their own rules, but they should be registered with a license).
- californical 1y ago
  I can hit that speed on a regular bike with a good wind, which is perfectly legal. Adding an extra licensing step could slow the adoption of people switching from cars to e-bikes for commutes (a very positive step in my opinion). A coworker of mine has a medium-speed e-bike, maybe goes 25-30mph in the (mostly empty) bike lane of a 45mph road for a lot of the journey. Tries to take 35mph side roads for the rest. It’s a very suburban/stroad-y area. His commute is about 4-5 miles, so he gets to work in ~10 minutes. This is a great solution for all - less cars, more efficient vehicle, less stressful for him not needing to drive. Any impediment to that reduces the likelihood of other people catching on to what he does. Maybe those medium-speed e-bikes should have a license in the same way as a fishing license. It’s trivial to obtain, but if you violate certain rules, the license acts as a means to revoke your privileges. I’d be perfectly ok with that.
  - saltcured 1y ago
    Does that bike lane go next to parked cars? You can imagine that even conscientious drivers could fail to see a bike approaching that fast and open their door into its path. I admit I rode my bike up to 35-45 MPH sometimes in my youth, just with pedaling and gravity. But, I was wise enough to realize I belong in a normal traffic lane at that point, not flying along the edge near pedestrians, parked cars, etc. And I wasn't exceeding the posted speed limit for that road. I had a less wise friend, with a very aerodynamic road bike, who hit ~60 MPH (in a 25 MPH zone) and T-boned a car because they did not consider unsafe it was with the limited sight lines. I felt sorry for the driver who, by all accounts, didn't do anything wrong.
  - zamadatix 1y ago
    Bringing these points back to ones made in the previous comments: - Is there a meaningful difference of some people being able to actively hit 30 mph vs everyone being able to passively go 30 mph the whole way - Should vehicles capable of those speeds just be licensed in some way based on that rather than whether or not they have an ICE and 4 wheels - Is there a way to separate the classifications so devices which are more truly "e-bike" in typical speed do not need to follow the same regulations as something more "electronic motorcycle". Your friend going to work and back bike lanes and streets at 30 mph sounds a lot closer to the "electronic motorcycle" side of things, so doesn't necessarily say one thing or the other about more truly "e-bike" types of devices or why they should be considered the same.
  - pandaman 1y ago
    Can you hit that speed on a regular bike on a regular street? Can you break quick enough when people or cars get into your path while at that speed? E-bikes I see around here are operated by people who don't use the front brake and wipe out all the time at <20 mph. It would be fine if they just hurt themselves but they also run into pedestrians and cars, causing bodily harm and property damage.
  - Mawr 1y ago
    The operative word here is "I". It's not people who are experienced enough cyclists to be able to go fast that are the problem. It's novices that are able to go super fast without all that experience you've gained over time.

Mashimo 1y ago

You could classify very fast e-bikes as scooters / moppets. That why you can still drive them, but maybe you can't share the bike lane any more.

nicoburns 1y ago

I think higher speeds should be allowed, but they should be liscensed like any other motocycle (perhaps they're their own class with their own rules, but they should be registered with a license).

californical 1y ago
I can hit that speed on a regular bike with a good wind, which is perfectly legal. Adding an extra licensing step could slow the adoption of people switching from cars to e-bikes for commutes (a very positive step in my opinion). A coworker of mine has a medium-speed e-bike, maybe goes 25-30mph in the (mostly empty) bike lane of a 45mph road for a lot of the journey. Tries to take 35mph side roads for the rest. It’s a very suburban/stroad-y area. His commute is about 4-5 miles, so he gets to work in ~10 minutes. This is a great solution for all - less cars, more efficient vehicle, less stressful for him not needing to drive. Any impediment to that reduces the likelihood of other people catching on to what he does. Maybe those medium-speed e-bikes should have a license in the same way as a fishing license. It’s trivial to obtain, but if you violate certain rules, the license acts as a means to revoke your privileges. I’d be perfectly ok with that.
- saltcured 1y ago
  Does that bike lane go next to parked cars? You can imagine that even conscientious drivers could fail to see a bike approaching that fast and open their door into its path. I admit I rode my bike up to 35-45 MPH sometimes in my youth, just with pedaling and gravity. But, I was wise enough to realize I belong in a normal traffic lane at that point, not flying along the edge near pedestrians, parked cars, etc. And I wasn't exceeding the posted speed limit for that road. I had a less wise friend, with a very aerodynamic road bike, who hit ~60 MPH (in a 25 MPH zone) and T-boned a car because they did not consider unsafe it was with the limited sight lines. I felt sorry for the driver who, by all accounts, didn't do anything wrong.
- zamadatix 1y ago
  Bringing these points back to ones made in the previous comments: - Is there a meaningful difference of some people being able to actively hit 30 mph vs everyone being able to passively go 30 mph the whole way - Should vehicles capable of those speeds just be licensed in some way based on that rather than whether or not they have an ICE and 4 wheels - Is there a way to separate the classifications so devices which are more truly "e-bike" in typical speed do not need to follow the same regulations as something more "electronic motorcycle". Your friend going to work and back bike lanes and streets at 30 mph sounds a lot closer to the "electronic motorcycle" side of things, so doesn't necessarily say one thing or the other about more truly "e-bike" types of devices or why they should be considered the same.
- pandaman 1y ago
  Can you hit that speed on a regular bike on a regular street? Can you break quick enough when people or cars get into your path while at that speed? E-bikes I see around here are operated by people who don't use the front brake and wipe out all the time at <20 mph. It would be fine if they just hurt themselves but they also run into pedestrians and cars, causing bodily harm and property damage.
- Mawr 1y ago
  The operative word here is "I". It's not people who are experienced enough cyclists to be able to go fast that are the problem. It's novices that are able to go super fast without all that experience you've gained over time.