What Are Your Ideas For E-Bike Laws?

We are all aware of the fact that there are problems and potential problems with safety for bicycles and e-bikes.

The existing laws are out of date and out of touch with reality in some cases. What would you suggest to change the regulations to ensure improved safety standards and regulations?

I feel that there should be improved regulations for equipment, "road rules", and "sidewalk/ trail" rules.


Equipment Rules


The mandatory helmet is great! Maybe better helmets are required.

The mandatory bell is just fine too. Is a louder horn needed?

Bright lights front and back after dark are a definite yes. Maybe they should be brighter.

I'd like to see a glow-in-the-dark safety vest be mandatory, possibly even during the day, but definitely after dark.

Any e-bike and bicycle that is being driven on the road should have a brake light and turn signals. (When driving up behind them, I don't have a clue as to what they are doing or where they are about to go and it makes me very nervous)


Road Rules


The same rules should apply to e-bikes, handicap scooters, electric wheelchairs and bicycles on the road as applies to all other street vehicles EXCEPT:

Left turns on the street should NOT be allowed. Drivers of e-bikes and bicycles should keep to the right, cross through the intersection and STOP. Then when it's safe, cross the street and proceed.

The Idaho Stop should be permitted.

http://www.itd.idaho....

NO Idaho Stops should be permitted at 4-way stops. You MUST stop and take your turn to cross.


Sidewalk/Trail Rules


Scrap the wheel size rule. Any size of wheel should be allowed.

A maximum speed limit should apply to sidewalks. There are now maximum speed limits on snowmobile trails and on recreational lakes for power boats. If you want to go faster, get on the road.

On the sidewalk/trail, the Idaho Stop must be used at each and every intersection.

Keep to the right of the sidewalk/trail and pass only on the left.

Use your bell well in advance of passing. Don't sneak up behind and scare people.

Slow down when passing.

There should be a priority of right-of way. Handicapped first, pedestrians second, bikes and e-bikes third. What about skateboards and inline skates? Large ocean going ships and sailboats have priority over other vessels on the water. The same system can apply to sidewalk/trail right of way.

Dogs on leashes must be kept to the right. There should NEVER be a situation where the dog is on a leash on the left side of the sidewalk/trail, the owner is on the right side and the lease is stretched like a clothesline across the right of way.


Law Enforcement


No fences, bushes, plants, signs or other visual obstructions should be permitted within 18 feet of a sidewalk or road. A vehicle backing out of a driveway can't see if their way is clear until they are already blocking the sidewalk or roadway.

Since a driver's license is NOT required you can't have your license suspended so why not just impound the vehicle? Impound the little kid's bike, the handicapped person's wheelchair, and if it's a jogger, impound their Nikes.


Ok Ok..... I'm done. It's your turn! Lets hear some more suggestions.

My 2¢ worth:

"Left turns on the street should NOT be allowed. Drivers of e-bikes and bicycles should keep to the right, cross through the intersection and STOP. Then when it's safe, cross the street and proceed."

I must adamantly disagree with this one. As a cyclist, I'm used to making left-hand turns at intersections. Why should I stop doing this simply because I'm on an eBike? It's always safe to do if you make your intentions known.

I'm kind of FOR the Idaho Stop, but it has to be universally implemented. No exceptions for four-way stops. If it works in Idaho.... That said, I'm sure it'll never happen in Ontario. We're too backwards with our road laws already. I vote for more roundabouts instead.

Standardize the ebike wattage limit with the USA, to 750W max. 500W just penalizes folks that are large or live in hilly or windy neighbourhoods or that wish to pull/carry cargo... Moving from 500W to 750W would really "push things over the line" in terms of acceptance by car ppl looking for alternatives...

Standardizing w/the USA would also simplify things for manufacturers and distributors/retailers selling into different markets. Transport Canada is already on record as stating that their long-term goals (for automobiles) is to standardize US and Cdn. regulations.

TC/MTO etc have no studies they can point to where 750W is shown to be any less safe than 500W. Scuttlebutt is, the 500W limit was chosen at least partly just to protect a Canadian/Quebec manufacturer (BionX).

tks
loC

The mandatory helmet is great! Maybe better helmets are required.

Why not elbow and knee pads? If helmets are so great, why not require their use for car occupants too?

link to Cyclehelmets.org

Link to pdf of Dr.Walkers 2006 Study on bike safety

Tks
lOcK

A maximum speed limit should apply to sidewalks.

Read about Naked Streets and the concept of "negotiating public space":
link to Google search about "naked streets"

Stripping away the rules and the signs makes the pavements safer...

Only two rules for surfing the sidewalks:
1) On wheels you have NO RIGHTS WHATSOEVER
2) Nobuddy looks/acts nervous.

Folks on wheels only need to SLOW DOWN around pedestrians or other traffic.

tks
Lock

Thanks for the great comments Lock

As I was working this morning, I realized that many of my favorite short-cuts now have monster speed bumps installed to provide "traffic calming".

Perhaps we need speed bumps installed on the sidewalks and trails as well.

Yikes!!!!

Maybe full helmets with face shields should be mandatory in case of falling fish.


http://www1.whdh.com/...

Saying left hand turns should never be allowed is absolutely and utterly retarded.

I have been cycling since I could walk and never had any problem with left hand turns. So long as you stick to the right hand side of the lane. When I cycle I can reach 35km very fast and have no trouble keeping up with traffic to get through the intersection.

Now in terms of my Power Assisted Bike I purposely purchased the best I could find. Motorino bikes use the Greenwit motor.

The Motorino motors can outperform standard brushless hub or brushless geared motors. Wider and thicker magnets are driven by custom windings to produce 35% more torque than other 500Watt and 750Watt LEV motors. Those windings are sequenced by their CCT controller- a durable governor which applies power and torque when necessary, while conserving battery reserves when possible. Satisfying both Canadian and American regulations for power-assisted bicycle motors, their MOTORINO DC Brushless Hub motors can climb steeper and longer hills while carrying heavier loads than any competitor.

The Motorino bikes use the Greenwit CCT controller which has three electronic gears; each presets a maximum speed for the bike. The controller provides power at different frequencies for each gear. To increase torque it provides impulses to the rotor for longer periods at the same current instead of increasing the current over a short period of time, as in a single speed motor. This is why they call the system a Continuous Current Transmission. The rider can change between these three gears on the fly. GREENWIT TECHNOLOGIES Inc.is now working on CCT controller that will change gears electronically and automatically depending on the road conditions.

With that being said the bike I have weighs 220lbs which sounds pretty heavy right? It is because of the higher quality wheels, rims, brake etc that they use in their bikes. I myself am 230 lbs and this heavy bike can easily cart my arse around without trouble. It out performs any other bike in its class on the market. It even has no problem carting myself and my fiance (the bike I have is designed for 2 people so having the passenger with their helmet on is allowed under the legislation).

The point of what I am saying is that is with the right bike making left turns is very very easy and you can keep up with traffic without issue. My bike picks up speed so fast because of the motor and controller. It's amazing. Even with all the weight on the bike the battery lasts me just as long as riders under 200 lbs riding bikes around 170lbs while going the same distance. That's how much more efficient the right bike can be.

Saying left hand turns should never be allowed is absolutely and utterly retarded.

I have been cycling since I could walk and never had any problem with left hand turns. So long as you stick to the right hand side of the lane. When I cycle I can reach 35km very fast and have no trouble keeping up with traffic to get through the intersection.

I want to say THANK YOU for your reply!

I really appreciate you taking the time to read these posts and to post your opinion. I wish more of our members would let us all know what their opinions are. Now that e-bikes are here to stay and the pilot project is over, there will likely be a lot more e-bike riders on the road and numerous problems are going to come to a head in the near future. It's too bad that there is no way to legislate "common sense" so I can see a lot of new laws being proposed to make up for this lack of common sense.

Saying left hand turns should never be allowed is absolutely and utterly retarded.

I have been cycling since I could walk and never had any problem with left hand turns. So long as you stick to the right hand side of the lane. When I cycle I can reach 35km very fast and have no trouble keeping up with traffic to get through the intersection.

I want to say THANK YOU for your reply!

I really appreciate you taking the time to read these posts and to post your opinion. I wish more of our members would let us all know what their opinions are. Now that e-bikes are here to stay and the pilot project is over, there will likely be a lot more e-bike riders on the road and numerous problems are going to come to a head in the near future. It's too bad that there is no way to legislate "common sense" so I can see a lot of new laws being proposed to make up for this lack of common sense.

Anytime. I agree with you that more people should take the time to be informed. It boils my blood when people don't then have an opinion.

It is agreed that that there will be new laws. I don't think it will happen at a provincial level but at a municipal level. What I would like to see is for the local municipalities to fund and education/information drive. For example in the spring, gather volunteers from the e-bike community to go out and talk to people. Hand out pamphlets and answer questions pedestrians, cyclists and motorists may have.

I plan to start a blag shortly to document my experiences, caveats and challenges. Another thing I plan to do is print out a large number of sets of the law so I can hand them out any time I have an uneducated person with something to say. For example on my way home yesterday I had a cyclists behind me at a red light say to me "You know that's not a real bike don't you?". It was rather funny. not a real bike? Am I riding a car in disguise? My oh my! I turned my head around and politely thanked him for his opinion and let him know that it was in fact an electric bike. He then replied that I am not supposed to be on the right hand side of the road, I should be in the middle of the lane. I smiled and advised him he was wrong. I then suggested he check out the mto.gov.on.ca website as electric bikes are supposed to follow the same laws and regular bikes. I then asked him where he heard what he did and he said from the website. Funny because there is not one mention of driving in the middle of a lane.

The website states "They must follow the same rules of the road as set out in the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) that currently apply to cyclists, with some exceptions." Not one of those exceptions is driving in the middle of the lane. Now there are some cases where the power assisted bicycle can drive in the middle of the lane and that is only in lanes that are reduced in size and where staying to the right poses a risk to the power assisted bike rider. The street I was on was not one of those streets. There was no need to pass me at the light as I would easily accelerate faster than him.

Something is going to have to give at some point, laws can't keep being made to overlap ignorance.