E-BIKE SPEED RESTRICTIONS (AGREE OR DISAGREE )

[Alicia Margaret]

My bike will do 35 throttle only but I find myself mostly in PAS 2 or 3 doing 16-18mph. It is nice to know I have that in reserve t

Thank you so much for your opinion

 

[Alicia Margaret]

I'm a senior and I can take care of myself, including how fast I think I should be going, thank you.
It's a common sense thing, NOT an age thing.

Sir, I did not want to insult or hurt senior people in any way. I'm just talking about seniors who aren't completely healthy. There is a heartbreaking fact behind saying this. I had a neighbor grandfather who loved me very much, But now he is no more. Even I'm really sorry if you're hurted.

 

[Alicia Margaret]

There is quite bit of context here that is missing. If you are riding on a lightly traveled route with good sight lines, good visibility at crossings and intersections, and good surface conditions higher speeds are fine. Take away one or more of those things and 10mph might be insanely reckless. It all comes down to judgement, and unfortunately a lot of people out there have poor judgement.

There are lots of ways to "enforce" a speed limit beyond having a cop with a radar gun. You can design trails and roads to be "self-enforcing": you can make the path narrower, use a different surface (e.g. bricks rather than asphalt), or have barriers such as bollards that will force a cyclist to slow down to navigate them safely. You can also "enforce" after the fact when an accident occurs by assigning fault, and we all know that there are big differences between the consequences of an accident at 10mph (some scratches and bruises and possibly wounded dignity) and at 28mph (typically a pretty trashed bike and broken bones) so a reasonable evaluation of the damage caused should be enough to determine if a cyclist was traveling at an unsafe speed.

Thank you so much for your opinion

 

[Alicia Margaret]

This, exactly this. The beauty of eBikes in the United States is that you don’t need to register and insure the bike or License the rider. Great for families, different circumstances, multiple bikes, very low barrier to entry.

Allowing them to go so fast, or a combination of fast and heavy, that makes serious injury likely in a crash or near-crash will require some combination of license/registration/insurance as are required for motor vehicle that used our shared public ways.

I think there are pros and cons to introducing limitations on the vehicle design vs. regulations on the use of the paths, bike lanes, and roads. Some combination of both might be the right approach, even if enforcement is fairly lax. An enforcement only approach (no limits on the vehicle design) would require serious enforcement using resources which are likely better used on other things in most places. A vehicle-design only approach would limit the usability of the vehicle in some cases, for cargo, steep hills, longer distances and higher speeds, etc.

In the end I find it helpful to remember that the streets aren’t mine. They belong to all of us, collectively, and my own personal contribution to society (taxes, whatever) would never be able to build even the tiniest, tiniest fraction of the various streets and paths that I use in the region. People who get upset at limitations on their use of public resources seem to forget that.

Thank you so much for your opinion

 

[Alicia Margaret]

If you have a private ranch, great, ride whatever you want, how ever you want. But in the commons that is different. My elderly aunt, a bird watcher, was struck by a bike on a public path and died a few days later. Hey, what if when you report an illegal bike (moped) in a public space and as a reward, you get to keep it, provided it gets detuned and made legal?

I'm really sorry for your loss. And hopefully people will think about the safety their own and others

 

[BEC111]

Me personally I think there needs to be some restrictions. If there are no restrictions at all, people will start behaving like crazy. Which will be detrimental to everyone. 28 miles per hour is not a bad speed but it is a very high speed for many people, especially among senior citizens who are not completely healthy but they need to exercise. You will notice that some stupid people ride e-bikes at high speeds in family parks which can lead to accidents, Even sometimes it happens. Think about these, what those people can do if there are no restrictions. Me personally I think there needs to be some restrictions.

View attachment 105332

Speed limits on most bicycle infrastructure aren’t too userum and have nothing to do with whether the bikes are electric or analog. My ebike can assist up to 28 mph, and there are a few spots on my usual MUP where I can reach those speeds in a handful of spots for a few hundred feet before traffic, intersections or ascents require slowing down.

Wherever I can go that fast I’m frequently passed by someone on an analog road bike. More importantly for this discussion, road bike riders frequently pass at average speeds about 20 mph while I’m happily riding at 12-16 mph.

I doubt these folks would accept a speed limit.

Similarly, limiting assist to 15.5 or 20 or 28 mph usually has no influence on how fast folks actually ride. As someone else mentioned, folks driving cars, motorcycles, trucks and so forth regularly ignore speed limits. Adding them for bikes probably would work almost as well.

As someone else pointed out, bad behavior is endemic today. Or haven’t you seen school board meetings on the news?

We have to assume other folks will behave as well as we’d like to behave ourselves. Since we often fail, we have to expect the same from others. The answer is pay attention. Be careful. Have fun.

 

[ActionJackson]

My Vado SL is limited to 25km/h and that’s probably enough for multiple user paths in Tokyo but I need and yearn for more assistance on the roadways. 28mph is 45km/h roughly, so plenty enough for me.

 

[Elkman]

The answer is not to put a speed limiter on a bicycle as it makes them less safe for use in towns. When motorists are on city streets and driving at 30-45 mph the speed differential with a bicyclist creates a very real hazard. If motor assist allows a bicyclist to go faster they will be less likely to get hit by a motorist.

In New York City in 2018 there were 11,053 pedestrians injured and only 270 of these pedestrian injuries involved a bicyclist. In terms of reasons noted for the accidents with motorists the number one reason by far was driver inattention/distraction. When 97.5% of pedestrian injuries are caused by motorist, I would expect that is where something needs to be changed if one is serious about preventing pedestrian injuries.

I would bet that in 99% of the bicycle and pedestrian encounters it was due to the inattention/distraction of the pedestrian who was busy talking or texting with the smartphone.

 

[ExPatBrit]

I would bet that in 99% of the bicycle and pedestrian encounters it was due to the inattention/distraction of the pedestrian who was busy talking or texting with the smartphone.

Walkers/ runners with earpods or headphones, I have a bike bell but I still proceed slowly if the body language shows their spatial senses are "offline".

 

[mjeds]

I do not believe in laws to protect people from their own stupidity. stupidity culls the herd.

I believe in personal responsibility, basic (common) sense, and knowing your own limits.

there is already too much regulation on everything. which is one of the reasons we have a society of morons and f-tards.

 

[PedalUma]

Yesterday I had an assignment. It was to discharge the battery of a 1,000 Watt Ultra bike as quickly as I safely could, bringing it from 98% of charge to 63%. Technically it is not a bike but an electric motorcycle with pedals attached. It was a fun hour but not that great to ride. It is 89 pounds. My bikes are under 40. Some builds are closer to 35 pounds. And my bikes out climb the Ultra and out last it for the distance. My bikes are also legal. So, if there were an incident or accident I would not get into trouble. Thank my lucky stars I did not crash into someone. After the discharge I rode one of my bikes back to my workshop. It was much more fun. If we eliminate the rouge bikes we will not have further restrictions put on all of us.
Explanation. My friend is getting a joint replaced in Germany and is departing today. He needed to discharge it for the 3 months of storage.
Here is one of my recent builds on the left. Yes, it is electric. And here is an unlawful and clunky Ultra with a silly basket with baguette.

 

[Taylor57]

Yesterday I had an assignment. It was to discharge the battery of a 1,000 Watt Ultra bike as quickly as I safely could, bringing it from 98% of charge to 63%. Technically it is not a bike but an electric motorcycle with pedals attached. It was a fun hour but not that great to ride. It is 89 pounds. My bikes are under 40. Some builds are closer to 35 pounds. And my bikes out climb the Ultra and out last it for the distance. My bikes are also legal. So, if there were an incident or accident I would not get into trouble. Thank my lucky stars I did not crash into someone. After the discharge I rode one of my bikes back to my workshop. It was much more fun. If we eliminate the rouge bikes we will not have further restrictions put on all of us.
Explanation. My friend is getting a joint replaced in Germany and is departing today. He needed to discharge it for the 3 months of storage.
Here is one of my recent builds on the left. Yes, it is electric. And here is an unlawful and clunky Ultra with a silly basket with baguette.
View attachment 105720View attachment 105721

Boy, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed

 

[m@Robertson]

We have speed laws now that are routinely disobeyed by all manner of vehicles. There has been no societal outcry to stamp out the practice.

For as long as I have been involved with ebikes, I have heard about how increased legislation is imminent thanks to scofflaws etc. etc. Nothing has ever come of it. Further, despite the enormous increase in ridership, there doesn't appear to be any noticeable uptick in the accidents a vocal minority warn us are about to overcome us.

I think this is whats going to happen:

1. Laws will be loosened in the USA to recognize the reality of ebikes in the general population: That is - *nothing* is legal given the requirement of less than 750w output. Everybody knows it. Nobody cares.
2. code that enforces power limits (notice I did not say speed) will be lessened or eliminated. A housewife with two kids and 4 bags of groceries who needs to pedal up a hill with a cargo bike is out of luck on a 749w bike of any stripe. The political will to enable electric bicycles to replace automobiles as much as possible in society will counter the dubious safety issues associated with power levels.
3. The existing laws we have against unsafe speed according to conditions will continue to govern as they do now. My 28 mph commuter is unsafe at 10 mph when going past a gaggle of schoolkids on a field trip.

We have the laws in place now. What we don't have is - a will or an interest - to enforce them. Quite frankly far FAR more lives would be saved by prosecuting autos that run down cyclists. We are just as likely for that to happen in the USA as we are stricter ebike regulation.

EDIT: One last thing: Without any question, the most uncaring riders I see in this small tourist town are the local riders on analog bikes who are aggressively wending their way thru knots of pedestrians while running their errands or commuting. Its enough to make me want to toss a broomstick into a few dozen wheelsets as they go by to remind them to be safe or else. Ebike riders are a small fraction of the problem overall.

 

[Maka]

I think just the opposite, I think you should have whatever is available, And just have a choice tab on the control panel for what you want to be the max. speed to be limited to. If you want to go 100 MPH. more power to you.... But you are responsible for your choices, so if you wreck, you have no one to blame but yourself! I live in an area that if you want to ride your bike, there are a few places where it would be REALLY DANGEROUS to not be able to keep up with the flow of traffic, if you can't go 35-40 MPH for an 1/8 of A mile, you will probably get bumped off the road! It's better to be in the middle of the road at car speeds, and go with the flow in those dangerous areas.
Maka

 

[m@Robertson]

I live in an area that if you want to ride your bike, there are a few places where it would be REALLY DANGEROUS to not be able to keep up with the flow of traffic, if you can't go 35-40 MPH for an 1/8 of A mile, you will probably get bumped off the road! It's better to be in the middle of the road at car speeds, and go with the flow in those dangerous areas.
Maka

I can't agree with this more. Riding a bike on a trail for recreation is one world. Commuting / utility riding is a different one. I had to lay on the throttle today to get into a left turn lane before the traffic behind me got a green light and shut down my ability to get in the lane at all without getting flattened.

Come to think of it I think thats probably where most of this speed = bad stuff comes from. I have no issue with people slowing down on paths if for them a bike is a personal RV and used like one. By all means stop and smell the roses, enjoy the view etc. But if you ride a bike to actually get somewhere... day in and day out... people telling you to go slow are visitors from another planet I don't live on.

 

[AHicks]

Yesterday I had an assignment. It was to discharge the battery of a 1,000 Watt Ultra bike as quickly as I safely could, bringing it from 98% of charge to 63%. Technically it is not a bike but an electric motorcycle with pedals attached. It was a fun hour but not that great to ride. It is 89 pounds. My bikes are under 40. Some builds are closer to 35 pounds. And my bikes out climb the Ultra and out last it for the distance. My bikes are also legal. So, if there were an incident or accident I would not get into trouble. Thank my lucky stars I did not crash into someone. After the discharge I rode one of my bikes back to my workshop. It was much more fun. If we eliminate the rouge bikes we will not have further restrictions put on all of us.
Explanation. My friend is getting a joint replaced in Germany and is departing today. He needed to discharge it for the 3 months of storage.
Here is one of my recent builds on the left. Yes, it is electric. And here is an unlawful and clunky Ultra with a silly basket with baguette.

Different stroke PedalUma. Your personal 'druthers don't make it right or wrong....

 

[Alicia Margaret]

The answer is not to put a speed limiter on a bicycle as it makes them less safe for use in towns. When motorists are on city streets and driving at 30-45 mph the speed differential with a bicyclist creates a very real hazard. If motor assist allows a bicyclist to go faster they will be less likely to get hit by a motorist.

In New York City in 2018 there were 11,053 pedestrians injured and only 270 of these pedestrian injuries involved a bicyclist. In terms of reasons noted for the accidents with motorists the number one reason by far was driver inattention/distraction. When 97.5% of pedestrian injuries are caused by motorist, I would expect that is where something needs to be changed if one is serious about preventing pedestrian injuries.

I would bet that in 99% of the bicycle and pedestrian encounters it was due to the inattention/distraction of the pedestrian who was busy talking or texting with the smartphone.

Thank you so much for your opinion

 

[Lightning 123]

Boy, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed

 

[Lightning 123]

Some people like heavy trail worthy ebikes with large batteries and lots of power. I've never seen anyone put flowers on them before.

 

[mschwett]

In New York City in 2018 there were 11,053 pedestrians injured and only 270 of these pedestrian injuries involved a bicyclist. In terms of reasons noted for the accidents with motorists the number one reason by far was driver inattention/distraction. When 97.5% of pedestrian injuries are caused by motorist, I would expect that is where something needs to be changed if one is serious about preventing pedestrian injuries.

to be fair... on a typical workday in new york city (pre covid) there were about 120,000,000 vehicle miles traveled. similar numbers are hard to determine for cycling but it's more like 5,000,000 miles (assuming an average trip length of 10 miles, which is reasonable given the dimensions of new york city). call it 25 times less. so for one out of 40 pedestrian injuries to be related to a cyclist isn't actually that great of a statistic. of course, i'm sure the injuries are less serious.

and yes, the number one priority is making everyone safer from cars, which most big cities are working really hard on. it simply undermines those efforts when we then go and make bikes more like cars, but without the safeguards.