 |
| Image courtesy of Trek Bicycles |
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....
3 comments:
I didn't particularly enjoy riding in Michigan, but the laws were interesting: non-motorized vehicles fell under "traffic law", as apposed to "motor vehicle law". Motor vehicles were regulated by traffic law, as well, but traffic laws preceded motor vehicles. Anyway, traffic law regulated intersection use, road side use; fundamentals. Walking, bicycling, horseback riding, moving herded animals all had to follow traffic law, & it was pretty lax, because these were all considered essential forms of transportation, available to everyone. As a side note, I imagined if ever someone was caught breaking traffic law in Michigan, it could be argued that a herded animal could make the same mistake, legally, lol. I also imagine that if non-motorized bicycles were outlawed, an effective agreement could be made that they are essential transportation for everyone, same as walking, & pre-dating the automobile, gives them more right to the roads than automobiles, which is why current motor vehicle law requires cars to yield to them, same as pedestrians.
IDK, it is not a youth issue, and maybe that is how it manifests in public forums. I see lesser than desirable actions from all ages on eMotos (call'em what they are). With that said, my actions on singletrack and bike paths may be seen by pedestrians as less than desirable as well. I do call out, behind, left, right, depending on the scenario. (Yes, I call out on your right at least once a week, people will walk on the left, with their back to you).
So here is the rub, we ban eMotos, kids could stay in the house more often than having adventures? That argument is more of parenting issue than anything, ban the kids from the house till the lights come on.
Again, eMotos have a motor on them, how are they able to use Bike Paths? Bike Paths are intended for non-motorized usage.
IMHO anything with a motor and wheels is a motor vehicle which should require registration and licensing (free of charge for mobility devices and users with disabled person placards). Then violators would be easier to identify.
Regarding kids: My grandchildren and grand nieces/nephews have no problems getting out of the house on either unassisted bikes or their little feet. Something is wrong if a school-age child needs a motor to get out of bed. My guess is it's peer pressure, which would go away if everyone needed a license.
Post a Comment