101
They’re fast. Pedestrians are furious: ‘fat’ ebikes divide Australian beach suburbs
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
101 points (98.1% liked)
micromobility - Ebikes, scooters, longboards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility
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Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!
"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"
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Some kid the town over from me was going max speed (~50km/h) and smoked their leg on a mailbox. Probably needed over a dozen stitches, judging by the picture.
I won't be surprised if they get regulated to half their current speed, or even needing basic licensure and an age limit to operate one.
In Norway they are locked to about 21kmh and throttles are not allowed. Need to have pedals. You are also "required" to not go above walking speed when passing close by pedestrians. Although that last one is not really enforced.
You are also required to be insured, even those e-scooters
I'd be surprised if this won't be the standard everywhere in a few years.
Not sure what Australian government has been doing. Legislation was in place asap over here
That said, regulation sucks and it's be way more fun to just go 50kmph on a bike with just a throttle. But then you are not really a bike anymore. Probably more of an electric motorcycle and would need a license and be constrained to roads.
I’m on board with all these regulations except the mandatory insurance; active mobility (walking, bicycling, kick scooters, skateboarding, etc) should not require insurance.
Idk, it's for if you hit someone. They go pretty fast and can easily do a lot of damage to a pedestrian
Private liability insurance is anyway something everyone should have, just make those cover bike accidents and that's it
Indeed, then they should fall under the same legal definition as a motorcycle, with tags, insurance, driving licence, etc.
Perhaps it's just the US, but most of the time, the speeding bikes on bike paths here are non-electric, lycra clad fellows doing well over 40kmh on road bikes. I can't even keep up with them on an ebike, haha. They also fly through the red lights, which makes me feel a bit unwell thinking about what could potentially happen if they are unlucky.
I'm a bit worried their aggressive behavior is reflecting poorly on the larger community while cars kinda get off with a slap on the wrist for things of a similar nature.
A family friend actually got pulled over for doing 64 kmh on his road bike. Non electric, but he was speed gunned and pulled over, haha.
Japan also (though not sure on max speed's exact value). Bicycles here aren't generally allowed on sidewalks, either (with exceptions for kids/elderly)
How much will regulation do if there are a few inquisitive teenage minds working on ways to get around such restricttions?
Regulations would show that the bike manufacturers would be doing their part to increase safety.
Regulations would show that the bicycle owners would have to purposefully go out of their way to make their bikes faster.
Regulations allow us to hold people accountable when the rules are broken or when negligent accidents happen.