Bike speed

[thedom]

What makes the difference on what bike, a posted speed on paths is the same on road. Cars can go 100mph , the speed limit is posted. On share trails it is posted 15 to 20 mph. So it does not matter if your bike has 250 watt motor or 1000W the speed limit is what's posted.Help me understand

 

[jabberwocky]

Pretty much all bike infrastructure was designed with non-powered vehicles in mind. If you want access with a powered vehicle there are going to have to be restrictions on it.

 

[mrgold35]

Class III ebikes are restricted in ABQ, NM, on bike only paved or bike only dirt paths (bike, hike, jog, wheel chairs, horses A-OK). Class III have to ride the same roads for motor vehicles (ride with traffic in bike lanes, obey traffic laws/lights, no side walk riding, etc...). The city is thinking about revising the restriction to allow Class III ebikes on bike paths with the max speed limit of 20 mph. I don't see the problem with Class I, II, or III ebikes on bike only paths IF max speed is 20 mph or under. We do have the "Tour de France" pedal bikes that exceed the 20 mph speed limit on paved bike paths with zero issues.

Probably the only advantage of my Class II Radrover 750w rear hub compared to Class III Himiway Cobra Pro 1000w mid-drive for me is having the extra hp/tq riding in the Sandia foothills at +6000 feet.

 

[BEC111]

I don’t think speed limits on undulating trails would work. Bikes go faster down hill and slower climbing. If you are going too slowly at the bottom of a hill you might not have enough momentum to reach the top of the next one. Even on an e-bike.

Where would the cops enforce the limit? At the bottom of a decline? At the top? Some point in the middle? At some arbitrary location? (Speed traps for bicycles?)

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the need to address overly aggressive riders whether motorized or not. But car drivers are also often too aggressive. Speed limits don’t seem to do much about them.

 

[jabberwocky]

Speed limits don't even work on roads, which are designed for those speeds and have entire government agencies devoted to enforcing them.

Expecting jurisdictions to set speed limits on bike paths and MUPs and then allow unlimited power vehicles and somehow thinking that enforcement will prevent conflict issues is very optimistic wishful thinking. We know humans don't work like that. In addition, most bike paths and MUPs and such aren't usually even under various DOTs. They are usually parks or locally managed. I.E. run by agencies with no budget for that kind of enforcement because they have never needed to allocate money for that.

This argument comes up from time to time, and at this point I just assume its advanced in bad faith.

 

[thedom]

I guess so,electric skateboard blow by me.It was something to get off my chest, owning a class 3 ebike they make you feel like a red headed step child

 

[6zfshdb]

IMO, speed limits on MUP's & trails are unenforceable and are only posted to limit liability should an accident occur. I'm not saying they are a bad thing, but they are of little use and are largely ignored where I ride.

 

[teskow]

If children are raised as responsible individuals they should for the most part grow up to follow rules and regulations without the fear of the law having to punish people with fines or other consequences. Unfortunately some past leader/leaders are making skirting and or breaking the rule of law normal. When a leader does it sets a bad president especially in the eyes of the young. We should all follow the rules, regulations and law because it is the right thing to do whether someone is watching or not.

 

[thedom]

I fla .I have seen police and Rangers watching bile paths, I don't know about ohio , yet will find out in a month.

 

[tomjasz]

If

and that's where it flops.

 

[jabberwocky]

I'm not going to argue that blind obedience to the rules is somehow admirable. I'm just realistic about the world we live in and (as electric bike enthusiasts) our place in the advocacy world. Lots of other people belonging to lots of other user groups use non-road infrastructure (from actual bike lanes to sidewalks to various flavors of multi-use paths to off road trails). Those other user groups tend to wield way more power than electric bike riders do, because they have a longer history of use, and in many cases were the ones who advocated for and helped build it in the first place. We want to come in and get access to that stuff. Great. We are going to be the first user group granted access with an actual motor. If we want to a) get access in the first place, and b) keep that access after we get it, there are going to have to be some restrictions on what actually gets defined as an ebike and allowed.

We can argue about what those restrictions should be, but its unrealistic to assume we can get and keep access with no restrictions whatsoever (especially if the idea for making that work is some sort of new rule and enforcement regime that is unlikely to happen and unlikely to work even if it ever did because people be people).