https://www.thedrive.com/news/man-rides-electric-scooter-65-mph-down-a-texas-interstate-and-somehow-doesnt-die
My experience as a cyclist in Tampa Florida is completely at odds with so much of the claims publicly made by commentators regarding these highly dangerous vehicles.
Because of having so many near-collisions, as a cyclist, with e Bikes on the Upper Tampa Bay Trail and, as a pedestrian, on Hillsborough County's sidewalks, I now drive twenty miles one way to a bicycle trail I can access that is not infected with e-bike users, in order to ride 45 miles without colliding with a speeding motorized vehicle which, if it happened, would more than likely kill me.
In our neighborhood in Tampa, you will never see an e-Bike rider on the street riding in vehicular traffic. Incredibly, the only two locations they can be found are either on the trail, or on the sidewalk.
You take your life in your hands walking on the sidewalk in Tampa if God forbid, one of these six-inch-wide-tire hundred-pound machines is bearing down on you at 30 mph with a helmeted driver. They will not stop for you.
What fiendish insane minds have placed out-of-condition and inexperienced and unlicensed individuals on what really are motorcycles disguised as bicycles, to pose very real safety risks to the rest of the user population on trails and sidewalks?
And how in hell are e-Bike riders getting any kind of exercise?
The park where I walk, e-bike riders, mostly kids, whizz by at full speed.
They are dangerous to themselves and pedestrians................
My question exactly. If the point is to exercise then what good is a motorized vehicle? I can see if it’s for recreation or transportation. That said, I have not encountered one but I imagine they don’t make a lot of noise to give you fair warning.
It’s not the bike, it’s the rider. I’ve seen people go 40km/hr with no care to ride safely. I’ve had them, when I determined that I was safe to back up, to suddenly ride behind me and they were not in my view when I thought I could back up safely.
By picking themselves up off the ground, brushing themselves off and getting back on the bike.
I'm 63 years old. I get my daily exercise just putting my socks and shoes on.
E bikes should be banned from biking/walking trails and all sidewalks.
Treat them like what they are: motorcycles.
E bikes drive themselves!
Who knew!
Okay, I looked it up. Apparently you can vary the motor assist on an e-bike in order to get some exercise. My next question is, how fast will they go if you’re trying to outrun a mugger?
“one of these six-inch-wide-tire hundred-pound machines is bearing down on you at 30 mph with a helmeted driver.”
What kind is that? I have never seen one.
“And how in hell are e-Bike riders getting any kind of exercise?”
I am 78 and get plenty of exercise on my e-bike. I vary the torque assist depending on wind conditions.
Yes, they are closer to motorcycles than bicycles.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/man-rides-electric-scooter-65-mph-down-a-texas-interstate-and-somehow-doesnt-die
An ebike is not for excersize. It is a cheap way to get around. They didn’t want to be regulated at motorcycles so they called it a “bike”. It is not a bike. You don’t bicycle anywhere.
It is just a very affordable way to get around. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand that ebikes are just light duty motorcycles, so they don’t wear helmets or any protection for their body.
Crash, bang, oops, screwed.
There’s that video of this guy getting in an elevator carrying the battery from his electric bike when as the door closes the battery explodes - horrific, all caught on video.
Part of the problem is that young people whiz along on sidewalks on these bikes at 20-30 mph. This is a hazard if you are pulling out of a parking lot and focusing on vehicular traffic in the road. While you are looking left, these bikes can come whizzing past from the right, and vice versa. I have almost hit them a couple of times, and other people have told me the same story.
In Nashville the streets are full of e-bikes. Most of them are operated by tourists unfamiliar with their operations.
Saw a guy on an e-trike wearing a cowboy hat and smoking a big stogie. Had to laugh at that one.
Most of the current e-bikes will travel above 25mph. That is a lot for inexperienced riders. On the other hand, I can fold one up and put it in the back of my van or the trunk of my car. That is very handy for us retirees who like to travel and often spend time away from home.
I live in SW Florida and plan to spend August in New Hampshire. I’ll take the e-bike so the wife can visit her relatives and I can still get around town.
E-bikes are the best use of electric vehicles so far. They are cheap, reliable and they work.
I have owned two foldable e-bikes I purchased for my wife and I in 2020, and I can tell you...I don’t know about others but my bike, if you run out of battery, will damn well give you a workout!
Each bike weighs 60 lbs, and they are build like Sherman tanks. We fold them up, put them in the car, and drive to a bike trail. They are a blast, and a wonderful way to get out together and see things together.
I got bluetooth helmets so we could talk, and they change the whole experience in a good way.
I agree with you wholly on how dangerous these things are on a road, so needless to say, we don’t ride them on roads, if we can avoid doing so, though I do ride five miles on back roads to get to a certain bike trail. But when I have to do that, I am as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. And I defer to cars wholly. If I see traffic coming up behind me, I am inclined to pull off the road and simply let them pass.
You sound like you bike a lot, and I have to say, you sound like you have the same kind of negative view of eBikes that many automobile riders have of bicycles. Just an observation, I could be wrong.
Back around 2017, I had a cyclist run into my car as he was splitting lanes passing a long line of stopped cars, and I was pulling through the traffic. I don’t know what happened to him, but he was taken away in an ambulance after going head over heels with his bike across my hood. It was terrible. It was the most dangerous intersection on my commute, and he was splitting the lanes there right at that intersection. I ended up having $2000 damage to my car, and had to go to court when the rider sued my insurance for medical costs and damages. I won in court because what he had been doing splitting lanes at the peak of rush hour was incredibly stupid.
My point is, pedestrians, bike riders, E-bike riders, motorcycle riders and auto riders all have to share the same space, and not a single one of those constituencies has a monopoly on selfishness, stupidity, idiocy and foolhardiness.
Pedestrians are at risk on formerly safe pedestrian only trails that allow regular bikes on them, and those aggressive bicycle riders charge past the unsuspecting pedestrians inches away at 25-30 mph without even so much as a call out or a bell. I have found agressive bike riders on trails pose as much of a risk to E-Bike riders and E-Bike riders pose to them. Motorcycle riders rail against people in cars, wearing their faults on their backs as if there weren’t jackasses on motorcycles doing idiotic and stupid things on the road. Everybody rails at the auto drivers, who with occasional good reason, rail back at the pedestrians, cyclists, E-Bike riders, motorcycle riders and everyone else.
And by the way, on my last trip to Florida, I observed the way they have bike lanes set up, painted in the middle of roads with two lanes on the left and one lane on the right looks absolutely suicidal to me. Though I will say this-in the Delray area, I didn’t see a single cyclist using those lanes in the week I spent there. That seemed pretty smart to me.
For us Seniors electric tricycles (not jazzy chairs) might be the ticket in some locales. I can understand that seniors get more serious injuries with electric bikes because they are more brittle than the young uns. Balance is an issue, etc...thus tricycles are an answer.
You now have 4 wheelers, side by side, golf carts, Kei trucks, electric bikes, and three wheeled vehicles all fighting for access on roads and/or sidewalks. This is in addition to bikes and motorcycles. Part of the problem is vehicle mandates have made cars more expensive. Insurance is another issue. Another problem is that the buyers and sellers are biased toward whichever new version they have sold or purchased.
Very old news.