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Comment by ordu | Hacker News Reader

> As I've been reminded countless times, "driving is a privilege not a right".

In a country made for a car drivers it seems like a kind of an essential privilege.

That was my point. As someone who walks a lot, there are also large parts of the US that are wholly inaccessible by foot.

The only viable non-car using way to access these areas is an eBike, and even then some areas have super aggressive drivers that are happy to run you over. Unsurprisingly, people aren't too keen on walking/scootering/biking in these conditions :c

Can eBikes be taken long-distance to rural areas?

Possibly? The Tern GSD has a quoted range of 140 miles with the 900Wh battery pack. Of course, it would take you about 7 hours to cover that distance.

I hear that the battery I have can do 40 miles of range in flatter terrain. Here in hilly Seattle, I get 10 miles of range on it. Slower speeds also gets more range, I definitely am sacrificing range for speed when going 30mph :P

As an unrelated aside, it's also a weird phrase (though absolutely common in usage!) as the privileges of the nobles and peers, for example, were way more difficult for the crown to abrogate than were the ordinary rights of mere commoners. Privileges were strong. Maybe being able to employ, and deploy, your own soldiers would have some effect on that.

It would probably be better if the phrase were "a grant not a right" or "a license not a right", but I guess that's not as catchy.

No, that's what they want. Lose it and you end up part of the depised underclass. Unable to travel by rule of law.

The point being missed: they'd stop you from taking trains or whatever if it wasn't the driver's license. The idea is to make your life miserable so you would pay, so whatever ticks you, they'll do.

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