Comment by pcwalton

4 years ago

> There are people that cheat and that install throttles so they can move without pedaling but that's a great way to get your vehicle confiscated.

Note that this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In the US e-bikes with throttles are legally classified as Class 2 electric bicycles and are generally legal for use in bicycle infrastructure as long as they don't exceed 20 MPH.

FYI, the US classes are as follows: (1) 20 MPH (32 km/h) max, pedal-assist; (2) 20 MPH max, throttle; (3) 28 MPH (45 km/h) max, pedal-assist.

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pcwalton

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jacquesm  4 years ago

I'm not in the US.

  • Steltek  4 years ago

    I don't think you need to defend yourself so vigorously in this thread. But I would say that what you're seeing is distinctly the American experience with e-bikes and bike enforcement.

    Americans are generally clueless about e-bike laws. This includes police and e-bike owners. American e-bikes are marketed as having throttles, being to bypass traffic at high speeds using the bike lanes and bike paths, and not needing licensing/registration. As an analog cyclist, my experience is that e-bikers jump the lines at red lights, sometimes shoving you out of the way. With the bulk of my cargo bike, they sometimes instead jump around me on the sidewalk instead, which is kind of funny-terrifying to watch with their heavy bikes. On bike paths, e-bikes stand out for their high speed in crowds and you wonder if the "assist" from the motor is a binary on/off.

    If all bikes were given more room and more consideration from drivers, this may not even be a real problem as each type would be able to spread out. But the infrastructure is pretty poor and police enforcement against drivers is even worse. So all the "alt transportation" people need to cram together in whatever meager space was won at the last road reconstruction meeting. E-bikes look great for converting drivers to bikes so no one wants to talk about banning them. But they also end up keeping their car driver mentality of me-first and objectifying everything else on the road around them.

    • jacquesm  4 years ago

      I added the 'I'm not in the US' bit because I probably should have added my location to the post.

      Agreed, poor infrastructure serves as an amplifier of irritation between classes of vehicles that should not even be sharing the same pathways except to occasionally cross. The USA is very much car centric, I'm not even sure if I would ride a bike there. Where I live we have pretty good infra but even here e-bikes and s-pedelecs have upset the order a bit. But I'm sure it will work out in the long term.

    • pcwalton  4 years ago

      I don't think it's helpful for us cyclists to be turning against each other. We ought to be unified in advocating for better bike infrastructure. (Personally, I use an electric bike because I'm still recovering from a broken ankle and don't want to strain it.)

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    • bmj  4 years ago

      Americans are generally clueless about bike laws.

      There, fixed that for you.

      But they also end up keeping their car driver mentality of me-first and objectifying everything else on the road around them.

      This is a great point, and I've observed the same behavior among analog cyclists as well (I've been a regular bike commuter for over 20 years in a city without much cycling infrastructure). Many cycling advocates don't realize that simply getting people on bikes isn't the end goal. It really needs to be about changing the way people move through space among their fellow citizens.