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E-bikes are the fastest-growing segment of the bicycle industry. They're popular with commuters and baby boomers who might not otherwise be able to get out on a bicycle.
The bikes, which can cost $2,000 or more, combine the frame of a regular bike with lightweight batteries and electric motors for extra zip.
Their sales jumped 72% to $144 million in the U.S. last year, helping to breathe life into bicycle sales that have been relatively flat, according to the NPD Group, which tracks retail bike sales nationwide.
Their popularity has led to conflict.
In bike-friendly southern California, as local land managers take cues from agencies like the National Park Service, some are banning e-bikes from bicycle paths. That has angered riders, said Morgan Lommele, of PeopleForBikes, a bicycle advocacy group and trade association.
[...] Maine and 21 other states have adopted laws that classify e-bikes into categories. Most are treated like regular bicycles under such laws, said Lommele, who has been working with states to create uniform definitions. Only the fastest e-bikes are restricted to roads.
At Acadia National Park, the e-bikes are welcome on paved roads inside the park and even on dirt roads where cars and trucks are allowed.
But they're not allowed on the 57 miles (92 kilometers) of carriage roads funded and built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. that meander throughout the park, offering stunning views of lakes, mountains and the ocean. The carriage paths are popular with bicyclists.
The only exceptions for e-bikes are for people who qualify for mobility devices under the Americans With Disabilities Act, said Christie Anastasia, park spokeswoman.
Should E-bikes be treated like bicycles or motorcycles when it comes to roads, bike paths, and access?
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday June 27 2019, @09:57PM (5 children)
The problem with "is this a motorized vehicle?" is that it doesn't address the real problems, which are:
1. Is this going to be going fast enough to be dangerous?
2. Is this going to be loud enough to annoy everyone else and/or cause problems for the wildlife?
It might be good to change the regs from "no motorized vehicles" to "no going faster than 15mph" and "no noise over 65 decibels barring emergencies", which would be the actual problems you're trying to solve.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 28 2019, @12:11AM (1 child)
You forgot erosion:
3. Is this going to further destroy the very trail that brought everyone to the park in the first place?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday June 28 2019, @03:31PM
Then make a weight limit too.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by boltronics on Friday June 28 2019, @10:30AM (2 children)
Meanwhile, I'm zipping around on my non-electric mountain bike at 30kph with a noisy TurboSpoke [turbospoke.com] (so pedestrians know to stay out of the way).
I've had complaints because people think I'm using a ebike. Ha! Yet if I don't use a TurboSpoke, they complain if I don't ring the bell 60 times a minute.
As for possible speed restrictions, I can see my speed when I have my bike computer charged or am wearing my Garmin watch. However if a bike is not electric, good luck enforcing speed limits when there's nothing there to measure the speed!
Anyway. the police aren't going to catch a cyclist in areas inaccessible by cars (which accounts for most of my regular ~4k commute to work). They wouldn't care to, and they would be physically unable to. Heck, I've seen cyclists run a red light right in front of a police car and they didn't do a thing.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday June 28 2019, @03:37PM
For what it's worth, some jurisdictions do have cops on bicycles.
But yeah, this whole story should be under the I want to ride my bicycle [youtube.com] department.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday June 28 2019, @08:29PM
Heh, I used to do that as a kid with just a playing card or piece of plastic hitting the spokes. Probably not nearly as loud, assuming the "muffler" is actually a resonance chamber, but plenty loud enough to get people's attention, and really easy to tune the volume and sound to whatever you want.