How Often And How Long Are Class 3 E-Bikes Traveling At More Than 20 MPH?

[Jeremy McCreary]

All new cars must meet safety requirements, be registered and insured, and the operator must be licensed. Kids on e-motos do not have any of those requirements.

Not only that, but motor vehicles face a credible threat of enforcement with substantial penalties for reckless behavior. Until recently, very little enforcement on the ebike/emoto side. And the yahoos ride like they're invulnerable.

 

[mschwett]

All new cars are easily capable of exceeding the speed limit on any road they're likely to encounter.

which is why they’re heavily regulated, inspected, registered, insured, require drivers to be licensed, and there are entire police forces (like the highway patrol) dedicated to enforcing those laws.

personally i would rather see bikes continue to be relatively inexpensive, freely available regardless of age, uninsured, not have tags and plates, not require training or licensing, etc etc. the reason this used to work is that the damage you can cause with a 25lb vehicle that you propel with your own energy is fairly limited and mostly to yourself. if a vehicle strays too far from those parameters, things change.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

A related question: has anyone ever had a cop or park ranger check the class of your bike?

No. In fact, I've only seen two "ebikes" pulled over in 4 years, and both were illegal emotos ridden on the street by kids obviously under driving age. This is in a place crawling with both legal ebikes and emotos.

Very little visible enforcement here till Carlsbad started cracking down on emotos on the streets maybe 18 months ago.

 

[Jim1348]

...A related question: has anyone ever had a cop or park ranger check the class of your bike?

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, under U.S. law, police officers must have either reasonable suspicion of a traffic/equipment violation or probable cause that a crime has been committed to stop a vehicle. These temporary detentions are considered "seizures" under the Fourth Amendment, meaning they cannot be based on an arbitrary hunch or whim. Now there are a few things to focus on here. One of whether a bicycle is considered a vehicle in whatever state we are discussing. Google/AI says: yes, bicycles are treated as vehicles in all 50 U.S. states. While specific definitions vary slightly, every state’s traffic code grants cyclists the same rights and imposes the same duties on them as motor vehicle drivers, such as obeying stop signs and traffic lights. And, yes, I am aware of the "Idaho Stop" which is a traffic law allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs. First enacted in Idaho in 1982, it improves cyclist momentum, reduces intersection congestion, and often increases rider safety by allowing cyclists to get ahead of motorized traffic.

So, if we focus on the reasonable suspicion/probable cause part of it, theoretically, if an officer saw a Class 2 e-bike and could see the operator using a throttle, that could be considered reasonable suspicion if the area being operated on doesn't allow Class 2 bikes. On the other hand, if only Class 1 bikes are allowed and a bike is being operated in that same area, how would the officer determine is the bike is Class 1 or Class 3 without stopping it? To me, they look the same from a distance. If they are traveling more than 20 MPH, would that be enough? I suspect that Class 1 bikes going downhill can travel faster than 20 MPH. Also, many riders can probably pedal as Class 1 faster than 20 MPH.

If there is a collision, are police in the United States going to document is the e-bike is a Class 1, 2 or 3 on a traffic accident report? I assume most e-bikes are marked which class they are, but Google AI Overview states: Not all e-bikes are marked as Class 1, 2, or 3. While many states use a three-class system for street and trail access, the three-class system is not a mandatory federal rule for every e-bike.

Another thing to consider is speed limit enforcement aspect of bikes, including e-bikes. In may area, there are a few areas that often have pedestrians that state: "SPEED LIMIT 15 MPH SLOW YOUR ROLL". How much over the limit should enforcement begin? 1 MPH? 5 MPH? Regarding regular motor vehicles in my area, it is often understood that up to 10 MPH over the limit you are okay. Beyond that and a citation is more likely.

Another issue is accuracy of bicycle speedometers. My e-bike speedometer doesn't agree with what my GPS displays. Which is correct? I am inclined to think that the Garmin GPS is more accurate.

For as simple as this issue may seem to some people, it actually can be a bit more complicated than it seems like.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, under U.S. law, police officers must have either reasonable suspicion of a traffic/equipment violation or probable cause that a crime has been committed to stop a vehicle. These temporary detentions are considered "seizures" under the Fourth Amendment, meaning they cannot be based on an arbitrary hunch or whim. Now there are a few things to focus on here. One of whether a bicycle is considered a vehicle in whatever state we are discussing. Google/AI says: yes, bicycles are treated as vehicles in all 50 U.S. states. While specific definitions vary slightly, every state’s traffic code grants cyclists the same rights and imposes the same duties on them as motor vehicle drivers, such as obeying stop signs and traffic lights. And, yes, I am aware of the "Idaho Stop" which is a traffic law allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs. First enacted in Idaho in 1982, it improves cyclist momentum, reduces intersection congestion, and often increases rider safety by allowing cyclists to get ahead of motorized traffic.

So, if we focus on the reasonable suspicion/probable cause part of it, theoretically, if an officer saw a Class 2 e-bike and could see the operator using a throttle, that could be considered reasonable suspicion if the area being operated on doesn't allow Class 2 bikes. On the other hand, if only Class 1 bikes are allowed and a bike is being operated in that same area, how would the officer determine is the bike is Class 1 or Class 3 without stopping it? To me, they look the same from a distance. If they are traveling more than 20 MPH, would that be enough? I suspect that Class 1 bikes going downhill can travel faster than 20 MPH. Also, many riders can probably pedal as Class 1 faster than 20 MPH.

If there is a collision, are police in the United States going to document is the e-bike is a Class 1, 2 or 3 on a traffic accident report? I assume most e-bikes are marked which class they are, but Google AI Overview states: Not all e-bikes are marked as Class 1, 2, or 3. While many states use a three-class system for street and trail access, the three-class system is not a mandatory federal rule for every e-bike.

Another thing to consider is speed limit enforcement aspect of bikes, including e-bikes. In may area, there are a few areas that often have pedestrians that state: "SPEED LIMIT 15 MPH SLOW YOUR ROLL". How much over the limit should enforcement begin? 1 MPH? 5 MPH? Regarding regular motor vehicles in my area, it is often understood that up to 10 MPH over the limit you are okay. Beyond that and a citation is more likely.

Another issue is accuracy of bicycle speedometers. My e-bike speedometer doesn't agree with what my GPS displays. Which is correct? I am inclined to think that the Garmin GPS is more accurate.

For as simple as this issue may seem to some people, it actually can be a bit more complicated than it seems like.

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Enforcement challenges like the ones you mentioned have no doubt hindered enforcement. As did lack of a need for much bicycle enforcment in the pre-ebike era. Bikes were probably largely off enforcement radar back then.

I think the explosion of ebikes and emotos in public spaces we saw here in coastal SoCal caught everyone by surprise — including public safety officials, law enforcement, and the public at large. Nobody knew what to do about this unprecedented and rapidly growing and evolving problem. And that left the door wide open for illegal emotos to move in.

My pro-legal ebike state senator's holding an ebike safety webinar tonight. Her bill SB 1167 to go after deceptive emoto manufacturers and dealers passed the senate unanimously and is now before the assembly with wide support.

I'll ask what's being done to improve enforcement on the ground and report back.