Well, that makes sense. An ebike is really a light motorcycle, and needs similar safety systems. Harleys from the 1920s look like modern fat-tire ebikes.[1]
[1] https://www.hdforums.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1920sHar...
[1] https://www.hdforums.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1920sHar...
I understand why you say that, but no no no. A motorcycle is 200kg+, capable of 150+km/h, and really needs proper training (Unlike as in the US, where it seems being able to steer it is sufficient to get your licence).
E-Bikes should need a proper licence, very very different from motorcycles. Both are very dangerous, but in different ways.
In Europe we have <50cc licences, where you still need to learn a dumded down version of the road code, and that's not even enough to my taste.
(Almost lost my life, with proper motorcycle training, full equipement, in Paris, just getting to confident).
Please do not take motorized 2 wheels lightly, an e-bike can kill you very easily.
E-bikes has a maximum speed is 25 km/h, and from the few studies done on the subject there doesn't seem to be any increase risk from e-bikes compared to regular bikes. One significant data point is that the average speed of e-bikes has been observed to be similar as of regular bikes with two exceptions: up hill has a higher speed than regular bikes and long flat stretches has more even speed. Most accidents involving bikes and e-bikes alike occur at very slow or even still speed, with the rider falling off and landing badly.
There are two factors however that those studies have found. More disabled people use e-bikes, and when they end up in accidents they tend have worse injuries. E-bike users also tend to use their bikes more often and thus have more accidents with their bikes than people who ride their bikes less (looking at accidents per person rather than accident per mile).
Going based on accident rates, any license that e-bikes should have should also apply to bikes, e-scooters and likely also people who jog in cities. There is simply no data that support a law treating e-bikes as different from regular bikes, as long they are limited to 25 km/h. A motorcycle weighting 200kg+ and operating over 150+km/h is however a very different beast which the accident rates also demonstrate, which is why they need a proper license to operate safely among other human being.
Lots of people seem to ride with it disabled though, confident that if the police catch them, they just push the switch and pretend it was on.
This stems, AFAICT, from mobility scooters for the disabled. On pavements they have to be limited to 4mph for pedestrian safety, but on roads it is probably in fact safer to ride faster, which they do. Hence a flippable speed limiter.
What we got that serve a similar purpose is 4 wheel "e-bikes", also called quadricycle. Basically cars that has their gearbox altered to only use gear 1 and 2, which by eu-classification put them in the same category as e-scooters. Very popular with teens since it allows them to drive without a driving license, and very accident prone. Looking at the statistics, those should require a license to operate.
Unless someone throws something on github of course ;)
The problem is, of course, enforcement. If there is truly a speeding and safety problem with ebikes, then the existing laws around bikes, ebikes, and speed limits can be enforced to solve it. Most consumer-ready e-bikes are already speed limited. For example, many won’t do any motor assistance past 20mph. (E.g. a class 1 ebike)
Different menace I'd argue.
However, try as I might I could not find a single case of infant being killed by a bike in my country. The only explanation I have is that thanks to the slow speed, bikers and e-bikers alike have time to slow down if there are a risk of a collision. It would be interesting to see UK statistics and hear if the same is true with elderly mothers?
In neither of these cases did we actually hit each other because I was alert. If I happened to be wearing headphones and deep in thought (arguably not best course of action on a pavement in a city but not wrong either), I'd be badly hurt.
I guess most people are alert enough to avoid the e-bikers, so accidents don't happen much, but they are still a menace (in my locale at least).
I have nothing against e-bikes as such, I own one in fact and it's a good piece of kit. I just think that as power goes up, enforcement should keep up.
And riders ride their bikes as if they were cars. Lane splitting is not legal in many places. You can’t park as easily etc and there was far less commuting in the cities I lived in. Europe city motorcycling is more akin to cycling, a lot more assertive, more utility than leisure. Europe motorcycling in general needs great bikes and riders, which they have. Paris is great fun, but like anywhere one needs to be like a local. London is much worse. The worst anywhere is São Paulo, Brazil.
Ebikes and escooter with too much speed/power are generally regulated as motor scooters or motorbikes in many places. But is it policed? The Euro approach to limit ebike power and speed seems to work well. Bosch kit is amazing.
Source? I will gladly agree that standards should be greatly increased in the US for operating both four-wheeled and two-wheeled vehicles, and I much prefer driving in western European countries partly as a result, but this is an exaggeration that doesn't apply to the states I've lived in.
https://www.cardosystems.com/blog/how-to-get-a-motorcycle-li...
Looks like others that allow skipping the skills test seem to only allow it if you've completely a separate safety course (no idea how comprehensive those safety courses or skill tests are).
MSF instructors can and will fail students. New motorcycle riders are usually experienced drivers, and the exceptions are almost always kids who've been riding dirt bikes for years.
So can a conventional bicycle. Roller skates and pogo sticks can too.
I wish people would stop advocating for the absolute bottom of the barrel technical competency wise people in places of political power to pass some sort of regulation on technology.
In a perfect world, lots of correctly done, statistically based regulation would be a good thing, but in the world we live in, the less regulation, the better.
Equally, I'm dismayed at people with no road awareness and, seemingly, concern for their own and others safety, bring given these "light motorcycles" and riding them as if they are bikes... On pavements, on roads down the wrong way, through red lights and parks.
People aren't any smarter on purely mechanical bikes but there is a higher bar to being dangerous.
[0]: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-tra...
But regulation and safety needs vary widely depending on category.
This is an e-bike: https://ride1up.com/product/roadster-v2/
So is this: https://www.eskuta.com/products/sx-250-series-iii-eapc-elect... (at least it's being marketed as one).
Really, we just need more terms. But it'd be nice if we could keep the label e-bike for the...bikes. Not the light motos.
Except for just the Harley motor weighing more than an average person and the e-bike combined.
So no, not really.