To be fair, if people are being reckless on e-bikes, then this is to be expected as a consequence. And it sounds like that’s been happening, including pedestrian injuries because of it.
The same thing happened with e-scooters in some cities, where people who weren’t following the rules got them banned for everyone else.
We all share a responsibility. Municipalities need to offer safe places for people to use their bikes, e-scooters, or walk. But at the same time, if you’re being a total asshole, you’ll ruin things for the entire community.
I think that rather than “banning” them, they need to enforce and severely punish offenders who are being intentionally dangerous.
I think a big problem with E-scooters and E-bikes is that a significant portion of them are rentals.
If thats your vehicle and you paid for it. You’re going to learn how to ride it properly and you’re going to ride it like you’re financially responsible if it gets broken.
Theres an old saying among petrolheads “Nothing drives quite like a rental”
I actually do agree, and have argued that point for years!
However, most rentals are low powered junk, so being reckless on a rental escooter or ebike isn’t nearly as bad as doing it on a 2000w device. I’ve unfortunately witnessed quite a lot of riders behaving badly with high-powered escooters and ebikes that are too big to be on pedestrian trails.
To be fair, if people are being reckless on e-bikes, then this is to be expected as a consequence. And it sounds like that’s been happening, including pedestrian injuries because of it.
The same thing happened with e-scooters in some cities, where people who weren’t following the rules got them banned for everyone else.
We all share a responsibility. Municipalities need to offer safe places for people to use their bikes, e-scooters, or walk. But at the same time, if you’re being a total asshole, you’ll ruin things for the entire community.
I think that rather than “banning” them, they need to enforce and severely punish offenders who are being intentionally dangerous.
I think a big problem with E-scooters and E-bikes is that a significant portion of them are rentals.
If thats your vehicle and you paid for it. You’re going to learn how to ride it properly and you’re going to ride it like you’re financially responsible if it gets broken.
Theres an old saying among petrolheads “Nothing drives quite like a rental”
I actually do agree, and have argued that point for years!
However, most rentals are low powered junk, so being reckless on a rental escooter or ebike isn’t nearly as bad as doing it on a 2000w device. I’ve unfortunately witnessed quite a lot of riders behaving badly with high-powered escooters and ebikes that are too big to be on pedestrian trails.