Issues Escalating

Image courtesy of Trek Bicycles

We used to joke about this years ago. Whenever anything became "a thing" in the Mid-West it was old news everywhere else. Well, that's one thing when it comes to fashion, music, or culture, but it isn't good in some cases. 

My hometown where I grew up, a city of around 7,000 souls, is now in the throes of an e-bike dilemma. 

A recent report of a youth running into a car and causing nearly $1,500.00 damage has stirred up debate amongst the small town's populace. This seems to be an epidemic which isn't going away any time soon across all communities in the USA. 

Years ago I predicted this might become a problem. What's the quote? "With great power comes great responsibility". (from Spider-Man circa 1962) Give cyclists more power outside of what they can generate on their own, and well...... We can see the results, and it is not all good. Not even close. 

I likened it to when mopeds were all the rage in the 1980's. Youth were out of control on those machines many times resulting in conflicts and crashes with automobile users. Eventually these were effectively banned by making operators of these devices get licensed and insured. Now we are seeing similar efforts to effectively ban the modern-day moped equivalent in e-bikes. 

Trouble is these devices are infused into our society at such a fine-grained level they are going to be tough to regulate without taking out some of the rights and privileges of ordinary cyclists. As an example, a recent city ordinance proposed in Waukee, Iowa would have banned any two-wheeled vehicle with pedals and/or an electric motor from any street with a speed limit over 20mph. (Which is basically any street.), and also from bike paths. Good riddance to those pesky e-motos! But in the process you throw the baby out with the bathwater. Not good! 

Fortunately that ordinance was tabled. For now..... This is a ticking time bomb though. New Jersey already has a draconian law in place and they are ticketing law-breakers now. Other states and municipalities, strapped in terms of budget, looking for answers, and not having patience, are probably going to be pressing for things which many of us cyclists are not going to be happy with. 

Just keep in mind any kind of ordinance or law passed will have to be backed up with real enforcement, consequences, and legal backing, or those ordinances and laws will be paper tigers. Lawmakers know this, and my feeling is there is going to be no appetite for nuance in their solutions. 

The future for cycling will probably get interesting very soon. Probably not in a good way....