Two bills moving through the California legislature this year could change how e-bikes are bought, ridden, and regulated across the state. One would require
As a cyclist, I’m all for e-bikes requiring a license.
As a cyclist, I disagree. For traffic, we only need licensing on e-bikes that support people to go faster than ±20 km/h whithout pedalling to such speed by their own body strength. Basically: treat e-bike like the motorcycles they are. But ± 20km/h is a speed a normal healthy person on a normal non-electric bicycle can also easily achieve. It’s a generally safe speed in most situations. If it isn’t, it’s a mental health or sociopath behavior of the driver / very poor street infrastructure problem, but the light e-bike shouldn’t have to take the blame.
On mountainbike trails (and on hiking trails!!!) i’m more in favor of something getting close a complete ban for anything motorised.
I agree with you in principle, but those rental e-scooters reach 25 km/h far faster than the average commuter could with pedals. In cities, cyclists usually don’t hit that kind of speed very often (you have intersections and stuff after all) and those who do, clearly have had plenty of practice.
I do still support them being license free up to about that speed though. Just saying they’re actually slightly more dangerous than pedal operated bicycles.
I think I agree! Are we talking about the same? I was talking about e-bicycles (regular looking bicycle with battery and motor, which doesn’t help you anymore above that cut-off speedlimit), not e-scooters (the one with tiny wheels, stand-up while riding, no pedalling at all). The e-scooters can just all have licenses and license plates imo, it’s a normal motorised vehicle, has nothing at all in common with a bicycle)
Where I come from, e-scooters and e-bikes are both classed as “light motorized vehicles” so the same regulations apply. And e-bicycles on high assist require close to no input so IMO they’re not actually very different from e-scooters in terms of how dangerous they are to pedestrians (bicycle will have better stability, but the scooter will be able to swerve quicker so it evens out). Which I’m not saying the ones limited to 25 km/h should require a license and a license plate, but I’m saying that at that speed they start getting more dangerous than regular cyclists at the same speed (who have to work to hit that speed), so it makes sense that e-bikes that can go faster (even if they’re still “assisted”) require licensing.
One of the issues you’d run into there is enforcement by definitions. For something comparable, see the scene in Breaking Bad where Hank pins down the RV, but can’t go inside without a warrant because it’s a “domicile”, not a vehicle.
If an ebike user with pedals is pulled over, in some cases it can be hard to factually prove the electric motor is working, since they could still theoretically get up to speed with it (I’ve brought mine home on a 100% dead battery before. Slightly tougher, but still traffic safe)
As a cyclist, I disagree. For traffic, we only need licensing on e-bikes that support people to go faster than ±20 km/h whithout pedalling to such speed by their own body strength. Basically: treat e-bike like the motorcycles they are. But ± 20km/h is a speed a normal healthy person on a normal non-electric bicycle can also easily achieve. It’s a generally safe speed in most situations. If it isn’t, it’s a mental health or sociopath behavior of the driver / very poor street infrastructure problem, but the light e-bike shouldn’t have to take the blame.
On mountainbike trails (and on hiking trails!!!) i’m more in favor of something getting close a complete ban for anything motorised.
I agree with you in principle, but those rental e-scooters reach 25 km/h far faster than the average commuter could with pedals. In cities, cyclists usually don’t hit that kind of speed very often (you have intersections and stuff after all) and those who do, clearly have had plenty of practice.
I do still support them being license free up to about that speed though. Just saying they’re actually slightly more dangerous than pedal operated bicycles.
I think I agree! Are we talking about the same? I was talking about e-bicycles (regular looking bicycle with battery and motor, which doesn’t help you anymore above that cut-off speedlimit), not e-scooters (the one with tiny wheels, stand-up while riding, no pedalling at all). The e-scooters can just all have licenses and license plates imo, it’s a normal motorised vehicle, has nothing at all in common with a bicycle)
Where I come from, e-scooters and e-bikes are both classed as “light motorized vehicles” so the same regulations apply. And e-bicycles on high assist require close to no input so IMO they’re not actually very different from e-scooters in terms of how dangerous they are to pedestrians (bicycle will have better stability, but the scooter will be able to swerve quicker so it evens out). Which I’m not saying the ones limited to 25 km/h should require a license and a license plate, but I’m saying that at that speed they start getting more dangerous than regular cyclists at the same speed (who have to work to hit that speed), so it makes sense that e-bikes that can go faster (even if they’re still “assisted”) require licensing.
One of the issues you’d run into there is enforcement by definitions. For something comparable, see the scene in Breaking Bad where Hank pins down the RV, but can’t go inside without a warrant because it’s a “domicile”, not a vehicle.
If an ebike user with pedals is pulled over, in some cases it can be hard to factually prove the electric motor is working, since they could still theoretically get up to speed with it (I’ve brought mine home on a 100% dead battery before. Slightly tougher, but still traffic safe)