California School Bans Kids' E-Bikes, So They Start Parking Them At The Neighbors' Homes
a month ago by resipsaloquitur to c/fuckcars
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/70251131
This is something I don't get about E-Bike regulation: it seems to target the wrong things.
In my country throttle-controlled bikes did qualify as e-bikes, now they don't anymore. So the relevant distinction for an e-bike is that you have to control the throttle by moving your feet in a circular motion. Big whoop. It's like regulating that a car is only a car if you have to spin the gas pedal with your feet instead of pressing it. It makes no difference.
The other thing they regulate is the power. But what does more power actually mean? All it means is that you get to the top speed a little quicker, that does nothing.
Because contrary to cars, e-bikes are required to have an electronic speed cut-off.
That's the only thing that really matters in regards to regulation.
Over here the max speed for pedal assist is 25km/h, which is easily achieved by regular bikers. And regular bikers are not regulated in regards to power output or control scheme either.
That's the problem though: ebikes are required to have speed and power cutoffs ...but you can import a modkit or even an entire bike that exceeds those cutoffs with zero problem or oversight and just start riding it around. There's no enforcement or consequences until a kid hits a parked car going 70km/h
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@lemmy.world
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You may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.
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I just wanted to clarify somethings about e-bikes for people who may have not operated one. There is little to no difference between throttle vs pedal assist. Most pedal assist engage the motor with little to no effort, so you can "pretend" to ride a bike while using the full power of the motor.
Regulating the speed/power output is only way to control the speeds these bikes can go. That being said, 20 mph/32 kph seems like a good "max speed". Regular bikers* achieve this speed.
People are generally still incredibly dumb, don't operate any vehicles safely, and a lot of infrastructure doesn't have space for human power vehicles, pedestrians, and motored vehicles.
I don't understand why this school district is banning/restricting ebikes, it seems that is something that a larger governing body should be responsible for (also maybe parents). The only thing that this ban has done is create an e-bike parking problem in the surrounding neighborhood (which will probably result in more parking restrictions for those neighborhoods).
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