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Comment by cameldrv | Hacker News Reader

This is a real problem. IMO, the issue really is that ebikes are too good/too flexible. They are fast enough to get you to work quickly and more comfortably mix with city traffic. The flipside is that they're too fast to mix with pedestrian traffic. If there were some way of limiting speed on mixed use paths, e-bikes would be perfect.

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Speed limits is how it is usually done -- cars can all go much faster than most roads allow for and we are mostly fine.

Set speed limits and mercilessly fine serious violations, and the problem goes away as far as it will ever be.

Speed limits are effective? Serious enforcement? Surely you must be kidding. Speed limits are a joke everywhere, even school zones during drop off times.

Any reasonable speed limit for a shared use bike path (IMO, <15mph) will be routinely ignored by both e-bikes and roadies.

E-scooters in Europe are generally soft-limited to 25kph (15.5 mph). This is seems like quite a good practical measure, although it's "problematic" from a software freedom perspective. It's quite hazardous for the rider to go much faster than that anyway, scooters are much less stable than bikes.

Actually there should be speed limits for shared paths even without ebikes. Here (Hungary, EU), I think it's 20kph (12.5mph). Even that is too fast to hit someone, but of course, the point is that you'll have more time to slow down and react.

I'd say they are somewhat effective. I don't ride much on shared paths, but when I do, I usually see people not going full speed. After all, unlike with a car, it's also dangerous for the biker. The only concern might be that you may experience speed differently on an ebike/pedelec since you have to put in less effort. I've never tried those so I have no idea.

If you design the road to feel unsafe at high speed, travellers will automatically slow down

Speed limits are not enforced in my corner of the country and the limits are way too low; it’s regular to do 85 in a 45. I’m additionally dubious of the ability of police to actually catch a speeding cyclist; when I was a college kid I easily outran the campus bike cops simply by being in good shape.

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