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Comment by ogre_codes | Hacker News Reader

> I am optimistic that these kinds of devices will get more people on two-wheeled personal transportation but I’m concerned about the people going 30mph on bike paths or riding in the road with no education.

At 20MPH your turbo assist turns off completely leaving the rider in this weird state where 1MPH slower is easy and 1MPH faster is brutal. If you are going 30MPH anywhere on this, it's because you are a world-class cyclist or are going downhill.

People ride on roads with no education all the time, we call them drivers. People going 20MPH on a 30 pound bike aren't dangerous to others. People surfing the web while driving a 6 ton truck are dangerous to everyone.

> Tangentially I’m disappointed that electric drive has translated to “no rules” on roads and bike paths.

This is literally every form of transportation. There were no/ terrible rules around cars when they came out as well.

View on HN

Two stroke mopeds are not new but I do not see them on bike paths. I do see them in the road. e-bikes that comply with the existing laws have similar capabilities to mopeds yet people ride them on bike paths.

Another dimension of this phenomenon is electric cars. Teslas are somehow synonymous with "self-driving" even though they could have the same capabilities with gas motors.

Somehow electric motors are translating to "new rules" even though we have existing rules that apply.

> At 20MPH your turbo assist turns off completely leaving the rider in this weird state where 1MPH slower is easy and 1MPH faster is brutal. If you are going 30MPH anywhere on this, it's because you are a world-class cyclist or are going downhill.

A buddy of mine bought an e-bike this summer that can go 30mph for 30 miles. I see bikes like this on the local bike path regularly.

> People ride on roads with no education all the time, we call them drivers. People going 20MPH on a 30 pound bike aren't dangerous to others. People surfing the web while driving a 6 ton truck are dangerous to everyone.

What? Where can you drive a car without taking a driving test and getting a license?

30lb bikes going 20mph are absolutely a threat to pedestrians.

Inattentive drivers are dangerous but that's entirely irrelevant to this conversation outside of it being a reason people are scared to ride their electric motorcycles in the road.

> What? Where can you drive a car without taking a driving test and getting a license?

In the US, driving instruction is basic, and easy to pass and most people have long forgotten it. Trying to suggest they are "Educated" is ridiculous.

> 30lb going 20mph bikes are absolutely a threat to pedestrians.

Absolute nonsense. The number of pedestrians injured each year by cyclists is tiny, likely zero most years. eBikes don't change this because fundamentally. Cyclists (acoustic or electric) are much more alert than car drivers because if you aren't alert on a bike you get smashed by someone in a car. Cyclists don't hit pedestrians out of self preservation. Hit a pedestrian and it's going to fucking hurt. People in cars hit pedestrians without even noticing.

The hurdle for driving is far beyond the hurdle for cycling. The hurdle for riding a motorcycle is even more difficult than driving a car.

Yes, roads are dangerous. This is my point.

30lb bicycles weigh a lot more than 30lb when you put riders on them. The energies involved can and do injure people.

> Absolute nonsense. The number of pedestrians injured each year by cyclists is tiny, likely zero most years.

No. Here are some statistics from the UK in 2018 because they’re the first Google result. Cycling is wonderful and is a net benefit to communities. Trying to claim there are no injuries caused to pedestrians by cyclists is just silly.

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Figures published by the Department for Transport (DfT) show that 531 people were involved in collisions with cyclists in 2017, up by 15 per cent in 12 months. The accident rate was higher than at any time since at least 2013 when the statistics were first published. More than 120 pedestrians were seriously hurt in collisions with bikes last year and three were killed, the figures show.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/calls-for-new-law-as-cycl...

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