If it’s about limiting it to bicycle type speeds, that could be done separately. Electric bikes are already limited in the speed assist to 25 km/h usually, but there’s no reason to have them require pedals or power assist. I get your concerns, but those can be pretty much be handled by capping out speed even lower in certain paths, like 15 km/h on bicycle paths.
The reason being forced to have pedals is a problem is with extremely extra slim bicycles that should for all intents and purposes be considered scooters and are much less a collision threat than traditional bicycles. There’s also no need to cap out the power the motors can exert, which just remove control from the vehicle on steep inclines and just make weighty people on bikes more dangerous on the road by being more likely to swerve. What there should be a cap on is speed and mass, since those are the principle factors during a collision. Not requiring pedaling also make riding a bicycle much safer, there are a lot of people who get tired out and become a lot less aware of the road from pedaling.
As an aside, IMO riding a bicycle or any vehicle on roads as opposed to a vehicle specific path for any considerable length of time should require having to get a permit and maybe even a license and insurance, because participating in it is much more about the flow of traffic than the characteristics of a particular vehicle.
If it’s about limiting it to bicycle type speeds, that could be done separately.
Yeah, but at least in some legislations, there already is a class of vehicles that is limited to those speeds but isn’t classified as a bicycle. In Germany, a Mofa is a motorized bicycle but requires a helmet and a simple license and insurance.
I guess the idea was to include electric bicycles into the bicycle category only with some strict distinctions to avoid blurring the line to already existing motorized two wheelers. And I do like that I can ride my electric bike everywhere I can ride a non assisted bicycle and without any stricter rules for equipment etc.
As an aside, IMO riding a bicycle or any vehicle on roads as opposed to a vehicle specific path for any considerable length of time should require having to get a permit and maybe even a license and insurance, because participating in it is much more about the flow of traffic than the characteristics of a particular vehicle.
That would be a huge loss of freedom though, insurance and thus license requirements would raise the barrier to entry massively which is exactly the opposite of what you want. Same with requirements for helmet or permit and it would seriously limit the independence of teenagers. There just isn’t a separate path away from car traffic everywhere.
![[meme] Why do people only seem to mean cars when they talk about electric and/or autonomous vehicles?](https://lemmy.kya.moe/imgproxy?src=lemmy.world%2fpictrs/image/8b4f07d2-ffe9-468c-a7da-0e970998b67f.png){kind=link}
If it’s about limiting it to bicycle type speeds, that could be done separately. Electric bikes are already limited in the speed assist to 25 km/h usually, but there’s no reason to have them require pedals or power assist. I get your concerns, but those can be pretty much be handled by capping out speed even lower in certain paths, like 15 km/h on bicycle paths.
The reason being forced to have pedals is a problem is with extremely extra slim bicycles that should for all intents and purposes be considered scooters and are much less a collision threat than traditional bicycles. There’s also no need to cap out the power the motors can exert, which just remove control from the vehicle on steep inclines and just make weighty people on bikes more dangerous on the road by being more likely to swerve. What there should be a cap on is speed and mass, since those are the principle factors during a collision. Not requiring pedaling also make riding a bicycle much safer, there are a lot of people who get tired out and become a lot less aware of the road from pedaling.
As an aside, IMO riding a bicycle or any vehicle on roads as opposed to a vehicle specific path for any considerable length of time should require having to get a permit and maybe even a license and insurance, because participating in it is much more about the flow of traffic than the characteristics of a particular vehicle.
Yeah, but at least in some legislations, there already is a class of vehicles that is limited to those speeds but isn’t classified as a bicycle. In Germany, a Mofa is a motorized bicycle but requires a helmet and a simple license and insurance.
I guess the idea was to include electric bicycles into the bicycle category only with some strict distinctions to avoid blurring the line to already existing motorized two wheelers. And I do like that I can ride my electric bike everywhere I can ride a non assisted bicycle and without any stricter rules for equipment etc.
That would be a huge loss of freedom though, insurance and thus license requirements would raise the barrier to entry massively which is exactly the opposite of what you want. Same with requirements for helmet or permit and it would seriously limit the independence of teenagers. There just isn’t a separate path away from car traffic everywhere.