E-BIKE SPEED RESTRICTIONS (AGREE OR DISAGREE )

[m@Robertson]

Point being, stuff changes quickly as you get older....

If I live long enough to retire, I'm taking up track driving again. Maybe I'll do a truck/trailer hauling a dedicated racer, but I had way more fun using this to ruin peoples' day. And I could carry my whole garage in the back to the track. Still have it. This is in the esses @ Sonoma Raceway

 

[mjeds]

If I live long enough to retire, I'm taking up track driving again. Maybe I'll do a truck/trailer hauling a dedicated racer, but I had way more fun using this to ruin peoples' day. And I could carry my whole garage in the back to the track. Still have it. This is in the esses @ Sonoma Raceway
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you know I have been wondering for a few months if you were the same MRobertson from LXF. and now it is confirmed. I am Mr. Incredible from LXF.

 

[PedalUma]

The most fun is watching the Historic and Classic cars race in Sonoma. It is just down the street from me. I like that the track is not like watching pin-pong balls go around the toilet. It has hills and s-turns. This is an older video, but you get the idea.

 

[AHicks]

The "ultimate" car event here in the Detroit area has to be the Woodward Dream Cruise. This is about street cars, and just about anything goes. 60's and 70's muscle cars from stock to wild, antiques, customs, full on drag race cars (as long as they can be street driven, they're legal). It's not just about the cars either. It's about the people! Cars and people line both sides of a 20 mile section of Woodward Avenue for a one day celebration of cars. People by the millions, cars by the tens of thousands (from all over the country), CRUISING! This is the day the garage queens of all types get dusted off and brought out for display and hard play. The city of Pontiac is on the north end of the route, and action here has to be experienced to be beleived. Hole shots are allowed, and encouraged by the crowds. Police will NOT bother you for pulling a hole shot as long as you are behaving in a sane manner. You have to be acting like a real a-hole to get a traffic ticket this weekend. And oh yah, the car manf's bring out some of their toys, both on display, and driven very discreetly by company execs you would never tell from the rest of the crowd. Dodge especially, with their new breed of muscle cars, can be seen everywhere. Their world HQ is literally just a couple miles east of Pontiac......

woodward dream cruise detroit michigan - Google Search

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

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.

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I’ve thought a bit about this and for my personal comfort I don’t go over 21 mph which is pas 3 on my aventon pace 500 for my commuter. I don’t feel safe over that speed and do much less with people around. I initially thought ebikes could be more dangerous than regular bikes until I got passed like I was standing still on a road bike the other day and made me feel like we are all sharing the same paths and bike lanes so just have to get along at safe speeds.

 

[Alicia Margaret]

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.

I agree with you , Thank you so much for your opinion

 

[Alicia Margaret]

What is MUP, IIRC means in English?

MUP=Multi-use paths IIRC=If I remember correctly

 

[kmccune]

The "ultimate" car event here in the Detroit area has to be the Woodward Dream Cruise. This is about street cars, and just about anything goes. 60's and 70's muscle cars from stock to wild, antiques, customs, full on drag race cars (as long as they can be street driven, they're legal). It's not just about the cars either. It's about the people! Cars and people line both sides of a 20 mile section of Woodward Avenue for a one day celebration of cars. People by the millions, cars by the tens of thousands (from all over the country), CRUISING! This is the day the garage queens of all types get dusted off and brought out for display and hard play. The city of Pontiac is on the north end of the route, and action here has to be experienced to be beleived. Hole shots are allowed, and encouraged by the crowds. Police will NOT bother you for pulling a hole shot as long as you are behaving in a sane manner. You have to be acting like a real a-hole to get a traffic ticket this weekend. And oh yah, the car manf's bring out some of their toys, both on display, and driven very discreetly by company execs you would never tell from the rest of the crowd. Dodge especially, with their new breed of muscle cars, can be seen everywhere. Their world HQ is literally just a couple miles east of Pontiac......

woodward dream cruise detroit michigan - Google Search

If it was around here the State police would have multi-o's writing tickets they have no "Quota" just the more tickets wrote the better the prospects for promotion, I noticed another thing toward the election VA is apparently the only state where "public servants" are allowed to campaign for their "man'( smokey bear hat and all).
The older I get the more I see personal freedoms eroded, more hue and cry for more laws the fatter the prisons and jails will be, wake up America, or one day the "Gestapo" will come for you.

 

[Coolbob]

Great debate subject, I'm in!

I am all for restricting paths, trails, etc. to particular modes of transportation; examples include, but are not limited to pedestrians, horses, bicycles (including eBikes), motorcycles, quads, 4x4, etc. Restricting what mode of transportation is allowed protects the safety of all users and the integrity of the trail, path, passageway, etc.

However, I am very much against breaking down the category of 'bicycle' into sub categories. A rider on a bicycle is every bit as capable of being a jerk and endangering the safety of others as a rider on an eBike. Allowing analog bicyclist to a designated area and banning eBicyclist does not inherently reduce speed or increase safety. Same thing goes for further subdividing eBikes into Classes.

We don't limit what cars can drive on roads, streets or highways based on the horsepower of the car, we establish rules of the road and speed limits.

 

[rajron]

Speeds are higher in the US than the UK. And there are 3,000 Watt throttle bikes here with 20" wheels that weigh 106 pounds. It is not just that, but the type of non-riders who are attracted to these throttle bikes.

That is not 50 mph in this video.

 

[Alvarenga]

That is not 50 mph in this video.

Assuming that is the speedometer reading on his display, it reached 80, 80 km/hr = 49.72 mph, so yeah that is not 50 mph.

 

[rajron]

Making it simpler - that bike in the vid was going much slower than 49.72 mph no matter what the speedo said.

 

[Alvarenga]

Making it simpler - that bike in the vid was going much slower than 49.72 mph no matter what the speedo said.

Could be.
Not too hard to fake the speedo reading.
Why bother?
Just so people on the internet have something to argue about?

 

[rajron]

Could be.
Not too hard to fake the speedo reading.
Why bother?
Just so people on the internet have something to argue about?

 

[Alvarenga]

There is another vid from the same guy where the camera isn't on the bike, and he goes past the camera, and he doesn't look to me like he is going 50 mph. I suppose you could estimate how fast he is going by timing him between fixed objects if you knew how far apart they are. But really, I have other things I should be doing.

 

[rajron]

Yea; I was looking at the acceleration and deceleration - a racing car with four slicks would have a very difficult time stopping so quickly from 50mph as he does in the vid, and he is on a bicycle.

 

[rajron]

and... back to the point of this thread. I'm all for speed limits but opposed to speed restrictions that limit a bike mechanically or electronically.
My car is limited to 132 mph because it starts to fly, my bike will go very fast, down hill in particular, but it is stable to the highest speeds I can reach.
note: I would never speed past pedestrians or other bike riders. Slow down be aware of the surroundings be cautious and courteous to others on the road/path.

 

[Alvarenga]

and... back to the point of this thread. I'm all for speed limits but opposed to speed restrictions that limit a bike mechanically or electronically.
My car is limited to 132 mph because it starts to fly, my bike will go very fast, down hill in particular, but it is stable to the highest speeds I can reach.
note: I would never speed past pedestrians or other bike riders. Slow down be aware of the surroundings be cautious and courteous to others on the road/path.

I agree in general, but I have reservations about people who are essentially on e-motorcycles on the local bike path. They wouldn't have a vehicle like that if they didn't want to go very fast, so they should actually be on the street. But once you decide you are going to regulate the actual vehicle you open up a big can of worms.
I do volunteer trail work at a place where we have multiple types of users, mountain bikers, hikers, horse back riders. There are no actual speed limits but ebikes are supposedly limited to pedal assist which must stop at 30km/hr, and 500 watts. The trails are designed so it is difficult to go too fast, but we still have our share of accidents and medical evacuation is tricky enough that we have talked about clearing helicopter pads for emergency use at places that are far from the trailhead.
The problem I can see developing is ebikes that are really e motorcycles showing up and creating havoc. There is an off road vehicle area just outside where we are, and those guys like to push the limits. It is pretty easy to say that gas powered motor cycles aren't allowed, but something that is electrical powered is quiet, and it isn't as clear whether it is an ebike or an e motorcycle.
I really don't know how it should be regulated.

 

[rajron]

I emphasise on my own personal safety where ever I ride my ebike I don't read in too much on laws restrictions on where I go. All the places I go there are signs posted all over. As a general rule I go with that. Posted signs in my range will have rules for example if I ride to community park there are signs saying do not feed the birds or do not go on the grass. I observe those rules.

When riding on the roadways I obey traffic laws and signs as if I were driving my pickup truck.

I don’t have a bike rack for my cars so all my ridding is from home. Living in the valley of the Sun we have a grid of streets; all major streets are in square miles so peddling on the streets with bike paths are easy and is where most of my riding takes place. Because some streets don’t have bike lanes, I occasionally use one of the multi-use paths which extensively cut through the valley to connect to a street with a bike path.
So, I want to have a fast bike, with lights when I take my rides and as mentioned when using the multi-use paths, I am very cautious and courteous to others sharing the path; as I am to others on the streets. I don’t come across very many bike riders on the streets but find many riders on the paths especially during the weekend, that said almost everyone I come across are riding carefully hopefully it stays a pleasant place to ride, on the paths that is, for on the streets it is a battle field with the cages, but always being cautious and courteous oh and obeying the laws of the land.

 

[JES2020]

texas: where people want big government infrastructure (i assume you didn't build all those roads yourself!) but no regulations so that they can ride fast when someone is "chasing" them!

In Texas they can just shoot the chasers and claim stand your ground !