Driver’s-licenses for vehicles ought be based on the collision-energy contributed by that vehicle, & that goes up with the square of the speed,
& on the contribution to that energy by the motor, whether internal-combusion-engine or electric.
Put a 500w motor on an ebike driven by a flimsy 6-yo, & you’ve GOT a stupidly-amplified mortality-rate, waiting to happen.
Put a 250w motor on an olympic triathelete, & you’ve got some greater endurance or/and convenience, but no significant category-changing going on.
Those 2 situations are different-category from each-other, but NO country’s legislating it correctly.
The e-assist motor needs to be gauged in proportion to what the cyclist, themself, can produce in their 90-minute-duration ride/test and NOT on any arbitrary “this-number-of-watts is legal, that isn’t” idiocy.
Our body-reactions are in proportion to our bodies & therefore what amount of watts of motor ought be “no license needed” has to be in-proportion to our own actual muscle-power.
No jurisdiction’s getting this right, from what I can see, globally.
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One point you’re missing is that it’s not just raw power, but also speed. Currently, a legal ebike has a limit of 250 W, but irrespective of power, it also has a 25 km/h limit. If you’re doing 25 km/h, the motor cannot be putting out even 1 W.
In my opinion, there’s some value to power limits, in terms of how strong the acceleration is. But speed is the much more important factor for safety most of the time.
So… limits for cars and motor bikes too :P . Ridiculous I can go buy a 1000+cc road bike that I’m licensed for.
Driver’s-licenses for vehicles ought be based on the collision-energy contributed by that vehicle, & that goes up with the square of the speed,
And taxes based on 4th power law for the cost to road surfaces and infrastructure. I know rail freight was so underfunded and outdated it had to go or be upgraded for the first time in a century in some places. So obviously it all got turned into bike tracks. But road freight and the owners of the big trucking companies are massively subsidized road users. If we took the money government spends on fixing the damage they are doing to our roads and spent it on rail and freight handling I reckon we would be well in front. Road freight is transferring public funds into the private wealth of a very few. The owners of the trucking companies are all great mates with politicians and generous party donors for a reason.
This looks like a pragmatic approach to dealing with a public issue.
You’d have my vote.
What does it do to public health having triple trailored road trains roll through the middle of small towns all fucking day and night? And shitty diesel tanks idling at school pickup. But we are worried about e-bikes?
To be fair heaps of new people riding e-bikes and scooters who look like absolute tools. Often carrying a passenger with no helmet. Three people on an electric scooter isn’t uncommon. If taxpayers were not subsidizing their accident treatment and rehab then leave them to it. Not hurting anyone but themselves.
Lots of bikes very obviously overpowered and much faster than 25km/h that are meant for offroad being ridden on footpaths. The people who had them before to help their commute or their aging legs tended to ride them more sensibly and legally. So many dropkicks with them now it puts me off them.
Lots of bikes very obviously overpowered and much faster than 25km/h that are meant for offroad being ridden on footpaths. The people who had them before to help their commute or their aging legs tended to ride them more sensibly and legally. So many dropkicks with them now it puts me off them.
The answer is to enforce the existing laws that ban multiple people on one scooter, ban devices that are capable of going over 25 km/h, and ban riding where riding is not allowed. Introducing a new law that these people will just ignore with equal ease serves absolutely no purpose, when the problem is that people break the law because they know it’s not enforced.
South America looks more and more attractive every day…
we could start by banning private cars.
