I've been following the thread about Police interference with e-bike riders with interest.

While I understand everyone's frustration with the currently murky legal situation, I'm also concerned about the flip side of the coin- the alarming number of people I see doing truly stupid things related to e-bikes.

Examples:
- A woman riding a Chinese 150cc scooter festooned with e-bike stickers, putt-putting down a residential street. No plates, no motorcycle helmet. Who did she think she was fooling?
- An elderly man riding a large scooter-style e-bike at full speed on the sidewalk, who rode straight into the back of a group of young children. And then screamed abuse at them for getting in his way
- The young woman I saw this morning, riding the middle lane of a 3-lane one-way downtown street. She was riding an underpowered scooter-style e-bike, and not even bothering to use pedal assist when leaving the lights. She was being trailed by a massive traffic jam, and had a smug little "aren't I clever" smile on her face. I wonder if she would still be smiling, if this eco-terrorist (I think the term is justified) understood the amount of additional pollution she was causing because of the "alligator effect" and extra red light idling that was happening behind her.
- The inebriated guy I saw at Urban Wasp the other day, planning to purchase an e-bike as soon as his DUI suspension went through.

The trouble with all of this, is that those folks are the ones that the public (and the police) notice and remember. Rider ignorance hurts all of us individually, and hurts the cause of environmentally friendly transportation in general.

I'm wondering if there might be a role for this group in terms of promoting public education and rider safety. Maybe host meetups where an expert would come in, and talk about (and/or demonstrate) safe riding techniques?

I'm wondering if there might be a role for this group in terms of promoting public education and rider safety. Maybe host meetups where an expert would come in, and talk about (and/or demonstrate) safe riding techniques?

Just to simplify things, how would you suggest safe riding techniques for ebikes are any diff. than for pedal only bikes?
Tks
Lock

I think getting a few e-riders together to have a THINK-TANK discussion regarding rules and regulations, common sense and good manners is a terrific idea.
There is a lovely park in the West end of Etobicoke called Marie Curtis Park or along a little further west
is a huge park called PROMENADE PARK. South of the Lakeshore. It has many different areas, as well as picnic areas that would be wonderful for a group meeting. We could bring our lunch and exchange ideas as to what we hope for and sharing our experiences.
What do you think?

Just to simplify things, how would you suggest safe riding techniques for ebikes are any diff. than for pedal only bikes?
Tks
Lock

From what I see on the road, I would say that one difference is that people think about them differently. Many owners seem ambivalent as to whether they are riding a motor scooter or a bicycle, and don't seem to know which set of road regulations apply.

Differences in performance envelope affect rider safety as well. I can move my Kona Hoss down the road quite a bit faster than a pedelec, at least on the flat. But e-bikes make cycling accessible to a whole range of new riders, including the elderly and others with serious fitness and/or mobility issues. For some of those riders, 20-odd kph is heady stuff indeed, and many of them are clearly unsure how to manage braking distances, etc.

Finally, weight is an issue with scooter-style lead acid bikes. I always keep an eye on possible escape routes when cycling in traffic. Many of those options (curb hopping, for instance) are not an option for someone riding a 200lb e-scooter. Braking and acceleration are reduced on many of those machines as well, compared to a regular pushbike.

...E-Scooters have now been Banned in all Major Cities in China...

I have only heard of a few cities trying to restrict ebikes, including bans that were later recinded... Can you provide any links to stories about widespread bans in place now please.
Lock

Yikes.

Joshua, you are right about some and possibly even much of what you say.

But by pretty much stereotyping all e-scooter riders as social misfits, you aren't going to make a lot of friends around here. Especially since a group like this probably contains a lot of socially healthy, serious e-bike experimenters, who are in this for the challenge of building/modding advanced electrical vehicles, not because they need a "DUI ride".

Not trying to tell you what to think/say/write, but I think your obvious experience and knowledge would attract more respect and attention if you were a little more careful about your word choices...

IF you say an E-Scooter Rider is not Handicapped then why are people reporting E-Scooter riders acting like children on the roads and bike paths?

It's like saying:
If you say all men don't beat their wives, then why are the newspapers reporting daily on men who beat their wives.

When I see something like this, there is a tendency to discount the rest of the conetent, valid or not.

Interesting Joshua...

Here is a slide show of pictures of electric scooters taken within the last year in China:
http://www.flickr.com...

Lots of fairly recent videos also:
http://www.youtube.co...
http://en.sevenload.c...
http://www.youtube.co...
http://mytv.tvb.com/n...
http://www.metacafe.c...
http://www.travelpod....
http://uk.video.yahoo...
http://www.youtube.co...
http://www.youtube.co...

Zhuhai China pics:
http://www.flickr.com...
http://www.flickr.com...
http://www.flickr.com...

Very surprised also that there has been no mention of this on bike-eu.com

Lock

Joshua, I just wanted to check are you referring to e-scooters the 4 wheel scooter, that I would say is most commonly used by those that have issues ambulating? or are you referring to the scooter style e-bike with two wheels? I have one of those, and I definitely do not consider myself handicapped, nor do I consider them for use by the handicapped exclusively... just curious.

I agree that there are a lot of issues, and the cyclists (i'm one of those too) have been fighting this for years. There are those of us that are responsible cyclists and ebikists, we take the time to read the MTO regs for cyclists, follow the rules of the road, don't ride on sidewalks, etc. Then there are those that could care less, and make their own rules. I've been seeing this for years with cyclists...I live in a University town, and especially when the students are here, it is mayhem on the roads. I see cyclist sneaking up on the right of a line of traffic without a bike lane, only to then gun it through the red light, or jumping back and forth on the sidewalk whenever convenient, and just doing stupid stuff.

The only rule I've decided to ignore sometimes is that of a left turn onto a two lane road. Per the regs, I am to go to the left lane, then make my way over. I do this if there is not a line of traffic also wanting to get thru an advance green. If there is traffic, I am now doing a sweeping left hand turn into the right hand lane, assuming no one is turning right into the lane on the opposing direction... I have had so many impatient drivers decide to go to the right to swing around me, and if I wasn't cautious in checking around me, I would easily get schmucked. Its happened so many times, I feel it is dangerous to do it any other way. Has anyone else had this experience?

just some thoughts! andrea

With regards to ebikes being banned in cities in China, one westerner based in China now had this to say this morning:

They were talking about introducing some stupid restrictions on ebike/scooters some months back but it was put on hold when there was a bit of a backlash. I think it probably had more to do with the ICE bikes being pushed as they have probably taken a bit of a hit since ebikes have become so popular.

It may well be true that some cities ban ebikes as well as motorbikes in certain areas, but I've not been to anywhere that doesn't have ebikes, apart from mountainous areas where they just can't get up the hills. China has lots of rules but they are not necessarily enforced most of the time.

Ebikes, well they are generally more like scooters with 36V or 48V SLA batteries are everywhere in China. The scooters tend to be 48V and the things that look a bit more bike like might tend to be 36V and a bit lower powered. Ebikes are cheap here in China. They start about 1500RMB which is about 220USD but are generally more like 250USD to 370USD for an SLA scooter. There's some Li-Ion equipped bikes around but they are few and far between. Prices maybe start about 440USD plus.

Cheers
Lock