A California school district wanted electric bikes away from its younger students' campuses. The bikes did not necessarily disappear. Some of them moved
This is something I don’t get about E-Bike regulation: it seems to target the wrong things.
In my country throttle-controlled bikes did qualify as e-bikes, now they don’t anymore. So the relevant distinction for an e-bike is that you have to control the throttle by moving your feet in a circular motion. Big whoop. It’s like regulating that a car is only a car if you have to spin the gas pedal with your feet instead of pressing it. It makes no difference.
The other thing they regulate is the power. But what does more power actually mean? All it means is that you get to the top speed a little quicker, that does nothing.
Because contrary to cars, e-bikes are required to have an electronic speed cut-off.
That’s the only thing that really matters in regards to regulation.
Over here the max speed for pedal assist is 25km/h, which is easily achieved by regular bikers. And regular bikers are not regulated in regards to power output or control scheme either.
That’s the problem though: ebikes are required to have speed and power cutoffs …but you can import a modkit or even an entire bike that exceeds those cutoffs with zero problem or oversight and just start riding it around. There’s no enforcement or consequences until a kid hits a parked car going 70km/h
This is something I don’t get about E-Bike regulation: it seems to target the wrong things.
In my country throttle-controlled bikes did qualify as e-bikes, now they don’t anymore. So the relevant distinction for an e-bike is that you have to control the throttle by moving your feet in a circular motion. Big whoop. It’s like regulating that a car is only a car if you have to spin the gas pedal with your feet instead of pressing it. It makes no difference.
The other thing they regulate is the power. But what does more power actually mean? All it means is that you get to the top speed a little quicker, that does nothing.
Because contrary to cars, e-bikes are required to have an electronic speed cut-off.
That’s the only thing that really matters in regards to regulation.
Over here the max speed for pedal assist is 25km/h, which is easily achieved by regular bikers. And regular bikers are not regulated in regards to power output or control scheme either.
That’s the problem though: ebikes are required to have speed and power cutoffs …but you can import a modkit or even an entire bike that exceeds those cutoffs with zero problem or oversight and just start riding it around. There’s no enforcement or consequences until a kid hits a parked car going 70km/h
This is a big problem, I just watched a 12-14 yo going 35 mph, keeping up with cars. Parents like to help kids go faster for some reason