Popular among teenagers, the large electric bikes have triggered ‘numerous complaints’ to councils as fears grow for the safety of riders and pedestrians
Fat bike with studded winter tires, tubeless is so nice for winter work commute though. I use mine with cheaper tires in the warm season but if the stars align I’ll be getting a lighter bike for the warm seasons instead because the fat bike is just really damn heavy. The only issues I have with pedestrians are the sections where people regularly walk the bike lane even though there is a double wide sidewalk as well, and the bike lane is flanked with plants so it’s not even more convenient.
Oooh, they are SO close to figuring it out. It involves narrowing the roads, putting in a barrier-separated lane with traffic signals for bikes, and a wider walkway for pedestrians. All the puzzle pieces are there, lol.
It always seemed weird to me that it's such a problem over there. I ride an electric fatbike in the US sometimes but I make a point not to ride like an asshole, most other riders seem to be reasonably courteous on paths and streets.
Same here. The bikes don’t even need to be fat for that.
The same bikers that rightfully complain about cars parking on bike lanes have absolutely no qualms of recklessly speeding through pedestrian zones moments later. And they not only hunt pedestrians - this week a teenager ran over a child on a bike and sped off without stopping. At least the childs’ presence in the pedestrian zone was legal due to the childs age.
You are absolutely correct that these types of bicycle riders do exist and are negligent and selfish. That said, the altitudes and actions of a minority of cyclists are not representative of the attitudes and actions of the majority. For instance, I ride a bike and I complain about cars parking in the bike lane because it’s a safety hazard for everyone involved. I also would never speed through a pedestrian area for the same exact reason.
Side story: I was cycling on a multiuse trail the other day and came upon a guy jogging. Before I attempted to pass him, i rang my bell to signal my presence. Unfortunately he had earbuds in and didn’t hear me, and he walked right into my path without looking behind him first because he was moving across the trail to get to a bench on the other side. It’s my responsibility to yield to pedestrians and avoid accidents , so I braked really hard and stopped like a foot short of hitting him. My brakes squealed a bit, I yelled out, yet the guy still never heard me and never turned around.
I guess my point is that most of us are trying to do the right thing.
The other day, I was at a four-way stop, with one car (12 o’ clock) arriving just before me, and another (9 o’ clock) arriving just after me. I slowed and waited for the first car to go, but they did that annoying thing where they want to let me go first because they think they’re helping. I defiantly got off my bike and waited in the intersection (because I’d rolled forward a few feet by this point) until they went. When I made my turn, 9 o’ clock shouted from his truck that “maybe I should just stop at the stop sign next time”.
Moral of the story is, because of the lack of communication between cyclists and drivers, some people will always come away from interactions like those angry.
Some kid the town over from me was going max speed (~50km/h) and smoked their leg on a mailbox. Probably needed over a dozen stitches, judging by the picture.
I won’t be surprised if they get regulated to half their current speed, or even needing basic licensure and an age limit to operate one.
In Norway they are locked to about 21kmh and throttles are not allowed. Need to have pedals. You are also “required” to not go above walking speed when passing close by pedestrians. Although that last one is not really enforced.
You are also required to be insured, even those e-scooters
I’d be surprised if this won’t be the standard everywhere in a few years.
Not sure what Australian government has been doing. Legislation was in place asap over here
That said, regulation sucks and it’s be way more fun to just go 50kmph on a bike with just a throttle. But then you are not really a bike anymore. Probably more of an electric motorcycle and would need a license and be constrained to roads.
That said, regulation sucks and it’s be way more fun to just go 50kmph on a bike with just a throttle. But then you are not really a bike anymore. Probably more of an electric motorcycle and would need a license and be constrained to roads.
Indeed, then they should fall under the same legal definition as a motorcycle, with tags, insurance, driving licence, etc.
Perhaps it’s just the US, but most of the time, the speeding bikes on bike paths here are non-electric, lycra clad fellows doing well over 40kmh on road bikes. I can’t even keep up with them on an ebike, haha. They also fly through the red lights, which makes me feel a bit unwell thinking about what could potentially happen if they are unlucky.
I’m a bit worried their aggressive behavior is reflecting poorly on the larger community while cars kinda get off with a slap on the wrist for things of a similar nature.
A family friend actually got pulled over for doing 64 kmh on his road bike. Non electric, but he was speed gunned and pulled over, haha.
I’m on board with all these regulations except the mandatory insurance; active mobility (walking, bicycling, kick scooters, skateboarding, etc) should not require insurance.
Japan also (though not sure on max speed's exact value). Bicycles here aren't generally allowed on sidewalks, either (with exceptions for kids/elderly)
Sidewalks need to be safe. Personal mobility devices need a safe area to drive, separated from pedestrians. Both need to be separated from cars. The endgame should be car-free cities.
In the meantime, nobody should be hurt or killed just because they’re trying to get around town.
I agree with you completely. I just want to add that automobiles also hit and kill pedestrians in pedestrian zones daily, and I’m not talking about crosswalks. We should be outraged by this as well, and our cities and governments have the power to fix this if they wanted to.
Similar thing last week here. It was not a fat bike, and the kid here was five or something, but yes. And the teenager here drove off without stopping, and is still at large.
Most sources indicate that the term “jay driver” came before “jaywalker” there being numerous article headlines from 1905 through the next decade that include the term “Jay Driver.” Peter Norton’s book Fighting Traffic on 78 indicates that in 1922 use of the term “jay driver” was an attempt by George A. Davies to use the known meaning of “jay walker” and apply it to drivers of vehicles.
Worse, they’ll probably make people jump through unnecessary hoops (licensing, testing and so on) for people to use them and it will become out of reach for most, due to affordability.
I mean it would be great to have people educated on rules etc of course, but imho that should be something done as free public service.
I think you missed my point. The joke is the idea that one asshole driver spoils the ability to drive for anyone else, shitting on the statement “Don’t ride like an asshole or you might get ebikes banned in your area”. Replace with “Don’t drive like an asshole or you might get cars banned in your area” with the same logic. Would never happen, because fuck this system and our infrastructure strictly designed to benefit oil companies.
Oh I got your point, which exactly leads to the fact that it would just become another enterprise to capitalise on, instead of banning anything, using shitty behaviour as an excuse to do so.
Edit; i.e. if you wanna ride a bike, well us politicians have decided that you need to do xyz first, but don’t worry, my buddy offers x, my 2nd cousin does y and my wife actually has offers on z ATM. Don’t look at us, it’s because Billy over there didn’t have his helmet on last year cu he’s an asshole.
There was a phase of idiots riding the rental scooters irresponsibly in my city when they appeared.
As they’ve become normal, tho, the novelty has worn off and you mostly just see people calmly getting from point A to B, and parking them in sane spots. Ebikes have been more gradual so there’s not been a wave of dangerous behavior at all.
I ride a high performance electric skateboard, myself, and though I like my fun, I make it a point to never put pedestrians in danger. I do unintentionally scare people at times, as they don’t expect a dude on a skateboard to be capable of stopping on a dime when needed.
Douchebags seem to push the limits on new things like this, at first, but at least in my city, courteous rider etiquette has developed.
I think it was a combination of things. The city didn’t ban them outright in response to the initial problems, in fact they set up no-go and slow zones within which the scooter companies have to disable or slow down the scooters.
Some kids that ran into a baby stroller (no one was hurt) were made a huge example of in the local news, the family fined and shamed to hell and back. The problem is the people, not the vehicles.
The city was already built for mixed modes of travel, so there were already bicycle “highways” that are perfectly suited for these. As my city was already extremely favourable to multiple layered transit systems, instead of getting rid of a new one, a lot of work was put into solving the problems around it. And traffic separation has only gotten better in the years since.
I also think people here were just more courteous around something like this to start with. A city-run public rental bike system had been a thing for a couple of years already, so the concept was somewhat familiar. Though they aren’t electric, and have to be parked at special racks.
The most recent development is that some car parking is being converted into scooter parking around common destinations, and the scooter companies now give you a discount for parking in them, alleviating the big disorganised piles of scooters around transit hubs, supermarkets, etc.
The rental fees have gone up to much more realistic amounts, so people don’t use them every chance they get anymore. And when they do they try to get where they are going in a timely manner so as to not waste money on a minute more than they have to.
And I think more are committing to using them long term using the monthly passes. I’ve been seeing more and more people carrying helmets, for when they use a rental scooter. They’ve legit become a utility, integrated into people’s routines, instead of sporadic entertainment for drunken idiots.
At least one company has instituted a system where you can report badly parked scooters, which on repeat offenses apparently results in some kind of consequences for the person who last used it.
During the second summer the city limited their speed to 15kph across the board for a month, IIRC, which I bet took the fun out of them for people joyriding them. There was also a “curfew” for a while where they would stop working after 9pm, because people were using them to ride home while drunk.
The limit is back up to 20kph, I’m on my fourth summer of skateboarding, and no-one seems to be a dick about it anymore. Electric personal vehicles are just one of the things you see in the city now, and they are used by everyone. It’s been especially nice to see more of the elderly out and about on pedal assist bikes.
But introducing them definitely came with some bumps.
I love being able to report badly parked scooters. In my city it’s unfortunate that it’s the scooter companies that park them badly like putting them in the bike rack outside a bike shop
Oof. Yeah that wouldn’t fly here. Pretty sure they can only deploy them at spots decided by the city.
I think all the models here now have field-swappable batteries, so they only get taken in for maintenance. Still I’ve only ever seen recently deployed neat lines of them in designated scooter parking areas.
I hate it when they do this, happens all the time in my city after big events.
PSA: If you rent a bike or scooter, don’t put it in the bike rack. The rack is for people who need to lock their bike up. You can leave your rental scooters or bike next to the bike rack, in another out of the way place, or best of all in a rental dock so it can recharge, but there’s no reason to use the rack if it’s not your bike and you don’t need to lock it up.
More precisely, a certain type of ebike which is designed to go very fast and its governor can be easily bypassed.
Some even add a throttle on the handlebar and remove the pedals making it an unlicenced and uninsured electric motorcycle.
I am all for replacing cars with bicycles and push for ebikes for those who need the assistance, but we need to clearly define and regulate what’s a bicycle and a motorcycle and where they are allowed to ride and at what speed.
But they have also garnered a cult status among young people, who are using them to get around with friends, take their surfboard to the beach and commute to school.
Hmm, it’s almost like young people aren’t being given other viable transportation options, so they flock to the mode which affords them freedom and flexibility. Should we be surprised then, that the artificial barrier for youths was breached one day, and that day is now?
IMO, the story starts far earlier, with poor government policy failing to provide transport for all. I’m no expert on Australia transport priorities, but whatever they’ve been doing for the last so-and-so years clearly isn’t working for the youth. So it’s no surprise that these councils are being caught off-guard, when their negligence finally comes to bear.
I’ve got to be honest, in my area, the people driving the fastest are my fellow millennials. A few Gen X can get honorable mentions (when they drive bad they really put effort into it), but the newer generation seems more careful.
Of course. But, even there you see the kids doing the wrong thing. Because they’re kids. It’s not their fault, it’s just they’re not emotionally, nor intellectually mature enough.
They do the odd “helmet blitz” in my city. Every few months the cops walk around the beach and foreshore just write tickets to everyone not wearing a helmet. In general most people wear their helmets all the time because who knows when the next one will be.
A few weeks of fines or confiscations for people riding on the footpath like dickheads would probably knock the worst of it on the head.
we really need to stop stealing things. it would be nice to leave my bike and helmet outside of a store and be able to come back to it. if the Japanese can do it, why can’t we?
Bicycles are frequently stolen here in Japan. I’ve experienced it myself.
The difference is that most bicycles are registered with the police and the police take theft seriously, so you’re likely to get it back.
Also, the majority of bicycles here have a dinky little lock attached to the frame over the rear wheel, so it is easy to lock in seconds.
Although the locks are not very strong, they decrease crimes of opportunity I would imagine. In fact the one time my bicycle was stolen it had been left unlocked.
In a country with socialised medicine and social security we tend to be a bit more accepting of rules for public safety. If only to stop deadshits from clogging up the hospitals with avoidable brain injuries that will see them on disability payments for the rest of their lives.
Add comment