What amazes me is that clueless tourists who have no idea how to get around town are able to rent ebikes here like those below and suddenly they are hurtling down perpetually clogged city streets with buses, taxis, cars and pedestrians.
There has been a huge increase in people getting killed and injured on bicycles in the last few years. I initially assumed that in our state it was because of people driving while playing with their phones and driving while smoking pot. These are two of the primary causes of our increased traffic fatality rate. But the number of fatal bicycle accidents is up higher than other type of traffic fatalities including motorcycle accidents.
Not long ago I realized that one rarely sees young people riding expensive road style bicycles these days. These days exotic expensive lightweight road bicycles almost always have an older guy with a helmet and multiple flashers visible from every angle riding them cautiously. But we now are seeing all sorts of fat kids and adults riding e-bikes at speeds that they could not achieve on their own.
It used to be that by the time people got fit enough to ride a bicycle fast, they also had developed a set of skills that helped keep them safe even if their traffic etiquette was not all that it could be. Now, as you say people with basically no skills are piloting a semi-motorcycle around with almost no skills, knowledge, or concern for others at high speeds on the same surfaces being used by pedestrians and it is becoming more of an issue than it once was. I have not seen any statistics about the number of pedestrians being hit by e-bikes, but I am sure that this is way up as well.
What amazes me is that clueless tourists who have no idea how to get around town are able to rent ebikes here like those below and suddenly they are hurtling down perpetually clogged city streets with buses, taxis, cars and pedestrians.