On Sunday, July 16, 2017 at 8:54:53 AM UTC-4, Duane wrote:
Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 11:32:18 PM UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/15/2017 11:21 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
A number oftimes in the last couple of months I've noticed extremely
dangerous riding by these newfangled electric scooter/bike riders. In
our area these are NOT allowed on the park trails or multi-use paths
yet many electric bike operators zoom along at quite a high speed
compared to the average pedal powered bicycle rider. Add in the fact
that these electric bikes are nearly silent and you have an
increasingly hazaradous thing to try and avoid. what makes it really
bad is that these things don't need to be licensed and it seems that
most of the ones riding them have no idea what the rules of the road
are for them and/or where they're allowedto ride them.

Be aware of these things lest one day they give you that run down feeling.

I wonder if eventually electric bikes and their rider will have to licensed?

I agree that these things are going to be yet another difficult
complication on our road systems.

The cycling industry is lobbying hard to get favorable legislation for
electric assist bikes. They seem to see this as a huge potential market,
and I think they're correct. (The upscale bike shop I visited
yesterday, in a big city, had the electric bikes on the prominent "right
inside the door" display.) These things will let lazy people look
athletic and "green" without sweating much.

But I can envision lots of low skill riders cranking along at about 20
mph, riding facing traffic, passing cyclists without warning, speeding
on MUPs, sliding out on turns, etc.

Of course, they'll also be a boon to experienced and competent cyclists
who are suffering the ravages of age. I have a couple friends like that
who are definitely interested.

We'll see how it works out. But I'm not entirely optimistic.


--
- Frank Krygowski

What has me concerned are the electric bikes/scooters that do NOT have
pedals; in other words they're NOT electric assisted bicycles but
electric motorized bikes. Too many times the people I see riding them
have no idea whatthe traffic laws are, they ride them on prohibited
paths, and they ride at a high rate of speed where there are extremely
poor sight lines. In the park I rode through yesterday a guy on a purely
electric scooter (2-wheeler) was bombing through even though there are
many signs posted stating no motorized vehicles allowed. that means
electric bikes too. This guy had no consideration that there might be
little children around the next bend that he could not see yet the was
going at a high rate of speed. It seems to me that it's only a matter of
timet before one of these reckless e-bike (no pedals) riders seriously
hurts someone or gets themselves injured severely or killed in traffic
because they fail to follow the rules of the road or exhibit plain old
common sense when riding.

Cheers


I see them here in Montreal too. Often they are people with handicaps but
not always. I avoid these paths, not because they're dangerous but because
the speed limit is 20k/h. These scooters don't seem to be bothered by the
speed limit and the cops don't seem to want to ticket them. There's one
that I used to take on my commute because it was empty and I could avoid
traffic. But I was stopped and warned so now I take the road with the
traffic.

--
duane

When I lived in Toronto (Canada) they paved the walking trails in a park system that stretched from Bayview Avenue over to Warden Avenue. I used to use it for my commute home in the evening. Then they limited the speed to 20 kph (12.5 mph) AND installed speed bumps on those paved paths. In the evening the paths were empty but I could not ride at any beneficial speed so I too returned to the busy roads.

BTW, when I say electric scooters I'm thinking of 2 wheeled scooters that do not have pedals. Like you said many (most) of their riders will pass illegally on the right on a road with just one lane of traffic in each direction, will ride on pathways where they are prohibited by law or bylaw and generally ride in a very unsafe manner for everyone one else on the roads. They're like those daring Ninja bicyclists but the problem with these electric scooters is that they re very fast asnd silent compared to some guy (or girl) on a regular bicycle.

I can se a time coming when the public will be demanding that these things be treated as a m otorized vehicle and therefore require a license both for the scooter and the rider. Their numbers are increasing by a lot and they are creating a real hazard on the roads and the park pathways and on the rail-trails hereabouts.

Cheers