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this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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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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I mean, for serious - let's have a discussion here.
Where is the line at which allowing motocross bikes ride in public parks is problematic, but letting ebikes on them isn't?
noise/fumes from one and the ability to go faster than 40? there's a line in there somewhere that feels reasonable.
How about weight and destructiveness in power terms? Ebikes have a lot of low end torque that is capable of destroying nature. They shouldn't be on nature trails. Just the bike itself is about 3x heavier than a normal bike, and even the capability of going 25mph - they shouldn't be allowed.
In Finland and most of EU ebikes with 250W motor and speed limited to 25kph (15mph) are clasified as bicycles and you're allowed to ride those where ever you are allowed to ride bikes aswell. However motorized vehicles (not pedal assist) you're not allowed to ride anywhere except public roads or private property with permission so even a Surron with a 250W motor and limited to 25kph but no pedals would be off-limits.
I am on board with coming up with these lines. I'd say though that my wife's normal bike is 50 lbs and my ebike is 60. but a weight line, I don't know - is 100lbs it? when I made my comment I was thinking of "e-motorbikes" vs ebikes, thinking the power for motorbikes would be too much.
it's a fair point about speed - perhaps setting speed limits in parks could be enforced, (not sure) or park Rangers could determine bike validity based on power but there seems to be ways to fake that or change dynamically.
Horses are allowed on a lot of trails and are far heavier than any e-bike.
It's a great thing they don't have rotating wheels then eh?
I would not want to be drafting a horse at full gallop on soft ground.
It's a good thing this topic isn't about horses then.
Hoofs absolutely wreck the trails. They literally carve ditches on the forest floor.
The UK defines it as up to 250W and not providing motor support over 15mph. Exceed those limits and it becomes a motorbike.
That seems reasonable. Unfortunately in the US, the thought process is BIGGER BIGGER BIGGER on everything. I wouldn't be surprised at some point if you couldn't get a 250w bike in the coming years :D
It's a question of how powerful they are, motocross bikes can easily reach speeds that would be fatal if they hit a pedestrian.
E bikes, while they can potentially kill someone, are much slower.
https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2024-02-16/key-biscayne-bans-e-bikes-and-scooters
Should probably ban cars first if killing one person is the criteria
More likely I think we will see strict limits on what is considered an ebike and what is an e-motorcycle that is only allowed on roads.