Discussion
@meganL asks:
Q5. How can we legislate and design to discourage dangerous riding that we assume e-cycles enable without being ableist fuckheads about it?
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite
@ascentale @meganL @bikenite #BikeNite A5. Simple: We don't. There is statistically no significant danger to public safety presented by ebikes, so this is not a problem that in my eyes requires legislation.
Now, having visited the Bay Area of California in 2024, I can tell you that in the weeks I was there, I saw maybe one adult on a bicycle. The majority of ebike riders I saw were young children who were unwisely given cheap "Amazon special" ebike devices by their parents.
@ascentale @meganL @bikenite #Bikenite A5. I think we need to heavily subsidize ebikes to get the number of law abiding regular folks to outnumber the scofflaws. Right now it’s still early adopters and thrill seekers who seem to dominate. We also need much wider cycleways that can accommodate passing so people can hurry by as I plod along at 8mph on my heavy, non-electric box bike. But politeness & courtesy are no longer common in US society, so we have a long way to go. 😔
Q5. How can we legislate and design to discourage dangerous riding that we assume e-cycles enable without being ableist fuckheads about it?
Until we have done that for cars, which cause far, far more injury and death than e-bikes, we shouldn't.
@EverydayMoggie For sure the danger of cars is more important, but we can do multiple things at once. Addressing dangerous e-cycle riding shouldn't mean undermining efforts to improve safe infrastructure. In fact, this could be one way to help with dangerous riding.
@meganL @bikenite A5. I don't have a good answer, but the city of Dublin, CA, just enacted a new anti-e-bike ordinance: https://dublin.ca.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/5394
no doubt some people are riding like jerks, but it feels like many ride on the sidewalk, etc, because there are no other places for people to ride without sharing the road with 40mph cars with no separation.
So I don't have a great answer other than make more facilities / streets available where it's not possible to drive or ride too fast or dangerously, while also being able to accommodate lots of different types of cycles.
@ascentale @meganL @bikenite Speed limit 30 km/h in the city would be a good point to start from. #Tempo30
