Looking at this complicated suit and the tragic underlying facts from the vantage of a SoCal beach town, using 3 different lenses. Where's all this headed?
Lens 1. A responsible public safety official (PSO) witnessing an obvious explosion in irresponsible ebike use -- mainly by kids and tourists, but everywhere an ebike can roll with little rider effort. This PSO's under a lot of pressure to do something visible about it from drivers, pedestrians, law enforcement, and responsible cyclists of all kinds.
Lens 2. A parent who doesn't want to see anyone get hurt — especially the kids — but also doesn't want to see their kid socially isolated.
Lens 3. A responsible ebiker, driver, and pedestian who greatly values his trottle as an intermittent safety feature and knee-saver. (Just my personal values. Let's not start another T-word war.)
Lens 1: What to do from the PSO's perspective given the legal, political, and enforcement realities on the ground? Cycling's generally valued here. An outright ebike ban would never fly, but the current ebike situation's no longer sustainable. More ebike-involved injuries and fatalities and liability will come.
Trying to game this out, I think we're in store for...
1. A relatively easy-to-enforce throttle ban. You're either pedaling or you're not, and you can't coast against obvious resistance for long.
2. Much tighter restrictions on motor power, age, and access, but much harder to enforce.
Teens, pre-teens, and younger kids are simply ill-equipped to handle a vehicle with the acceleration and potential momentum of an ebike, and adult tourists aren't much better. Take away the throttle and much of the assist, as the EU does, and few of the offenders would touch an ebike.
Yes, responsible ebike riders and throttle users like me would suffer, but relatively small price to pay from the PSO's perspective. And yes, the PSO would sooner or later know the EU precedent.
Lens 2: Parents will be all over the map on measures like these, and around here, they have power. The PSO will face a tricky political calculation.
Lens 3: Gonna be really pissed if I have to remove my throttle. But I also drive and walk here, and something clearly has be done.
I am not advocating a throttle ban! Just trying to game out where this mass attractive nuisance event might be headed in a hotbed of ebike misuse. My LBS owner, who sells ebikes of all kinds, sees at least a throttle ban in California's future — only because of the droves of irresponsible riders the ability to pass on pedaling attracts.
Sorry, just sayin'.
