Honestly a great take. While i generally doesn’t mind throttle-only use of an ebike, some of these machine is just way too fast, to the point people are starting to look at ebike like they look at car.
Honestly a great take. While i generally doesn’t mind throttle-only use of an ebike, some of these machine is just way too fast, to the point people are starting to look at ebike like they look at car.
Its been achieved here in vietnam, and I wouldnt be surprised if parts of several chinese cities were close to that.
Its actually crazy being able to cross a city or town without having to stop for traffic (outside hcmc and hanoi) and park 3 feet from that cool place you just saw’s entrance.
As long as addressing the issue discourages riding, its better to kick the can down the road.
Huh, neat. What city? Would visit some day.
If addressing safety issue for everyone involved is discouraging riding, i genuinely not sure what is wrong with society. It’s not even license requirement, just have sensible speed and spec for a thing that’s called “bicycle”
I am in Sa Pa right now, but most of the cities are like that, especially the smaller ones. They could do a little more for pedestrians, sometimes you have to walk on the street, though it doesnt feel unsafe, and only the steepest places have stairs for pedestrians, but I really like this town.
Nothing will solidify your hate for cars more than seeing literally hundreds of riders stop every 5 minutes because 3 cars have to come to a complete stop every time theres an oncoming bus or van.
Isn’t it? My understanding from the video is he wants this popular non-car mode of transportation to regulated the same way that motorscooters of similar power are regulated. If this happens, I expect these unregulated motorbikes to become as unpopular as regulated ones, as former riders go with the next most convenient way to do 55mph, a car.
I’m not following how an automobile would be the “next most convenient” method, if the existing laws that classifies over-powered two-wheelers as motorcycles were properly enforced. This is how I imagine it would look:
Current riders of over-powered two-wheelers might be categorized as any of: 1) minors who don’t qualify for any type of driving license, plus adults that have too many driving record points, yet still have places to go, 2) minors who could obtain a driving license but can’t afford an automobile, and still have places to go, 3) minors or adults who are not interested in dealing with mainline road traffic and would rather over speed on trails and off-street paths, 4) they are simply unaware of the legal quagmire that regulated over-powered two-wheelers but are otherwise happy with their choice of transportation.
In this breakdown, riders in categories 1 and 3 would not consider switching to an automobile as a viable alternative, because of the licensure and complexity/boringness of driving a car. A crackdown on overpowered two-wheelers leaves these riders with basically nothing.
For category 2 rider, a legal ebike would be cheaper than buying and maintaining a car. Though this is muddled because riders in this category might already have had cars, but had reduced their mileage because they had a two-wheeler to use instead.
For category 4 riders, if they were happy with their mode of transportation, then some might continue to operate illegally and accept that. But others might pursue a motorcycle license, seeing as they have no issue running at higher speeds and powers alongside mainline road traffic. The primary disincentive for riding motorcycles in the USA is not licensure or wearing safety gear, but is one’s personal level of acceptable risk when riding alongside automobiles driven by distracted drivers. Since category 4 riders had no qualms about that before, getting these riders licensed and insured is a more-surmountable obstacle.
And motorcycles are cool.
My point is that it’s nowhere near a “ban ebikes and they’ll all suddenly drive cars” scenario, but there’s a substantial amount of nuance in what constitutes good public policy, whether that’s to increase enforcement of existing laws for two-wheelers, add new redundant law, enforce laws against motorists, develop more public transit options for riders in categories 1-3, or something else.