If they’re e-bikes, allowed to drive in streets, they should be able to meet speed limits. Having a much lower limit than cars might incentivize some to drive a car instead and reduce some of the gains they’ve made in reducing traffic.
If they are going to be in a car lane and treated as a car they should have at least some form of regulation. If they are going to be in a bike lane then they should conform to bike standards
In a perfect world where bicycles were in traffic or dedicated bike lanes, following traffic rules? Sure. However, spend a few minutes in the city and you’ll see reckless “bicycles” operating like lawless low-grade motorcycles. They move like a vehicle or pedestrian, whichever is most convenient in the moment. Wrong way riding, ignoring red lights, blasting through crosswalks, and scraping cars often. Ignoring bike lanes, disregarding bike lane traffic, weaving between people pedaling.
Obviously, I’d rather improved bicycle infrastructure to largely keep bicycles, cars, and pedestrians separate. They operate at 3 different speeds and maneuvering rates. Mixing bikes and cars in a more open area is one thing, where better visibility and less traffic pattern complexity makes mixing the two a predictable inconvenience. Having them split and swerve jammed traffic like they’re a Brazilian on a moto? Way more of an issue.
I’m sure speed was already an issue before e-bikes, but it was less prevalent because you had to use actual muscle to speed. Low-speed motorcycles E-bikes made that accessible to everyone.
I don’t see much crossover in the car/e-bike travelers. If you look for normal cars with T### plates, they’re uber/lyft/etc app cars. They’re traveling out of the city. They’re hauling something. Subway use is very, very prevalent where the traffic is the worst so the e-bikes are filling short trip roles or bad public transportation routes. So I don’t see slower bikes convincing many riders to drive a car. Some, but statistically few.
I have motorcycles. They’re road-legal, registered, insured, and capable of all legal USA speeds. They could only do 25mph in the city at best, splitting and filtering. You wouldn’t want them to go unregistered and lawless, right?
Anyway, banning the sale of speedy bikes just means Tony from Brooklyn will suddenly be Tony from Bayonne selling off-highway track bikes. Or they’ll have defeatable limiters. And Amazon will still thrive. The ban won’t do shit, enforcement needs to step up. We know proper bike lanes and bike etiquette aren’t coming anytime soon
If they’re e-bikes, allowed to drive in streets, they should be able to meet speed limits. Having a much lower limit than cars might incentivize some to drive a car instead and reduce some of the gains they’ve made in reducing traffic.
If they are going to be in a car lane and treated as a car they should have at least some form of regulation. If they are going to be in a bike lane then they should conform to bike standards
If they are e-bikes, allowed to drive in bike lanes, they should not be able to drive about twice the speed as everyone else.
In a perfect world where bicycles were in traffic or dedicated bike lanes, following traffic rules? Sure. However, spend a few minutes in the city and you’ll see reckless “bicycles” operating like lawless low-grade motorcycles. They move like a vehicle or pedestrian, whichever is most convenient in the moment. Wrong way riding, ignoring red lights, blasting through crosswalks, and scraping cars often. Ignoring bike lanes, disregarding bike lane traffic, weaving between people pedaling.
Obviously, I’d rather improved bicycle infrastructure to largely keep bicycles, cars, and pedestrians separate. They operate at 3 different speeds and maneuvering rates. Mixing bikes and cars in a more open area is one thing, where better visibility and less traffic pattern complexity makes mixing the two a predictable inconvenience. Having them split and swerve jammed traffic like they’re a Brazilian on a moto? Way more of an issue.
I’m sure speed was already an issue before e-bikes, but it was less prevalent because you had to use actual muscle to speed.
Low-speed motorcyclesE-bikes made that accessible to everyone.I don’t see much crossover in the car/e-bike travelers. If you look for normal cars with T### plates, they’re uber/lyft/etc app cars. They’re traveling out of the city. They’re hauling something. Subway use is very, very prevalent where the traffic is the worst so the e-bikes are filling short trip roles or bad public transportation routes. So I don’t see slower bikes convincing many riders to drive a car. Some, but statistically few.
I have motorcycles. They’re road-legal, registered, insured, and capable of all legal USA speeds. They could only do 25mph in the city at best, splitting and filtering. You wouldn’t want them to go unregistered and lawless, right?
Anyway, banning the sale of speedy bikes just means Tony from Brooklyn will suddenly be Tony from Bayonne selling off-highway track bikes. Or they’ll have defeatable limiters. And Amazon will still thrive. The ban won’t do shit, enforcement needs to step up. We know proper bike lanes and bike etiquette aren’t coming anytime soon
Also, traveling at a much slower speed than the flow of traffic makes you a road hazard. Minimum speed limits exist for this reason.
There is no minimum speed on city streets.