How Would "YOU" Write the Electric Bike Laws?

1) Driver undergos a mental competancy exam - speed capabiliy of bike is determined by outcome of this exam.
-irresponsible speed demons are restricted to 15MPH max
2) Bike undergoes a electrical safety exam
3) If you pass 1 and 2 the government pays you $500.00 a year for helping to reduce global warming as long as the bikes odometer shows 400 miles of use a year.
No restictions on local or highway use.

1) Driver undergos a mental competancy exam - speed cababiliy of bike is determined by outcome of this exam.

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First question on mental exam:
"Rearrange the letters to spell 'speed cababiliy' correctly"

I am not a typist and am too lazy to spell check

1. Riders without a drivers license are restricted to 500 Watt motors.

2. Riders with a drivers license are restricted to 1000 Watt motors.

3. All riders must obey posted speed limits. (25 mph, 35 mph, 45 mph)

4. Electric bikes are never allowed on the freeways.

For persons 16 and over:

1) Gross Vehicular Weight less than 70 kg, and size less than 2 meters in length and 1 meter in width and 2 meters in height, and vehicle not otherwise matching the description of another type of legally defined vehicle (such as a moped). Safety equipment working and present. No other vehicle-based restrictions. No license, insurance, or registration necessary.
2) Obey all traffic laws and public property rules. 20kph top speed on sidewalks. 20kph top speed on public property and throughways where motor vehicles are prohibited whenever pedestrians or other non-motor-vehicle traffic is present within a 15 meter radius.
3) U.S. switches to the metric system al(fricken)ready

More seriouly.
I'd trash all restrictions other than speed. Voltage, wattage, gearing etc is all irrelevant. It is SPEED that matters. That can be regulated by one device alone. The electronic controller.

For instance it's asenine that you can't have a generator on your bike.

In N.B. here it is LEGAL to take a bicycle on the highway.
http://www.velo.nb.ca/road/motorvehicle.php
177(3) No person shall ride on or operate a bicycle on a highway
unless the person is wearing a bicycle helmet in accordance with the
regulations and the chin strap of the helmet is securely fastened under the
person's chin.

The only real problem becomes one of liability if you cause an accident or hurt someone. I agree there should be two sets of regulations, one for licenesed/insured and one for no license/insurance/registration.

Lowell I think that is taken care of with the requirement for a drivers license. Anything that goes OVER 32KM/Hr requires a license, and hence insurance. Anything below that is a bicycle.

Lessss said:

Lowell I think that is taken care of with the requirement for a drivers license. Anything that goes OVER 32KM/Hr requires a license, and hence insurance. Anything below that is a bicycle.

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Can one actually register a homebuilt or modified e-bike? At that point, a person may as well ride a 50cc scooter as the purchase cost would be simliar to a fast e-bike, and you'd need a regular drivers license, registration and insurance for both. I hear some of those modifed big bore scooters can be pretty quick :lol:

Insofar as laws of this type should be primarily concerned with public safety, I'd try to construct regulations that assure the vehicle:

- Qualifies as a bicycle
- Does not qualify as a motorcycle

(So as to protect our young citizens from parents who will give them anything, regardless of safety considerations.)


That said, language of the regulation might include:

****************

Vehicle must have no more than three wheels.

Vehicle must be capable of travelling on a level surface entirely under human power without human contact with the ground.

Vehicle must not be capable of travelling on a level surface entirely under motorized power in excess of 20kph.


****************


Anything else needed besides that?

What do you call a bike with no pedals? A scooter.

What do you call a motorized bike with no pedals? A motor-scooter.

What do you call a big motorized bike with no pedals? A motorcycle.

None of the above should be permitted on a bike route... cuz they ain't bikes.


I'll disagree with the assertion that accelleration is where people get in trouble with motor vehicles... off the track; it is speed, plain and simple. If you can show a direct correlation between horsepower and MVA injuries, I'd like to see it. The IIHS has lots of data correlating speed to injuries and death...


Hey, If you wanna make electric motorcycles, go for it... just call em what they are.

I like to compare what you call an e-bike to what a "fast" roadie can do. I cycle in a bike club and many people can maintain 20 MPH everywhere they ride and when riding with the "fast" group, I'm often hitting 30MPH everywhere as well. That's why I would write laws allow you to get the e-bike up to 35MPH because that's what a top athlete can do on a good road bike. For the rest of us like myself, it's nice to feel like a "Lance Armstrong" when I pop the throttle, but to go any faster and like it's been said, might as well be a motor cycle then if I'm never going to pedal the entire trip.

Just my 2 µW

Odd this is coming from a Canadian, but laws should not nanny the population. Seat belts save lives and that is different than protection from injury.

I have NEVER understood the no 4 wheel requirement.

I've never understood the insistance that the bike MUST start or only be capable of propulsion while human power is involved.

I think there needs to be an understanding that we all have a right to make use of the road. It is simply a sliding scale of the more dangerous the vehicle you are using on that road the more restrictions and public protections. Sorry but getting hit by a transport truck at 30 KM/hr can kill you, getting hit by an electric bike at 30 KM/hr is barely likely to break a bone. Any restrictions of that right must have VERY VERY good justifications.

Since it is the CONTROLLER that governs how many amps get to the motor the restrictions of the law should be on the controller. I'd like a motor to be able to maintain 30 KM/hr while going up that hill thanks.

The biggest source of disappointment with electric bikes is how the slow to a crawl going up a hill under their own power. Fix THAT disappointment and e-bikes will flourish more.

As I recall from my younger days, you had to be in pretty good condition to maintain 20mph using pedals.

Sure, any bike can go more than 15mph down a steep hill, and a powerful rider can go 30mph for a good stretch... but a bike that goes >15mph regardless of rider, is trouble in the making; or a re-writing of all the bike laws in the country to restrict some sales to adults. As you say, they might as well be motorcycles at that point.

The conventional bike itself has an inherent restricting feature: a 13yr old can't make it go very fast for very long. Slap a motor in it and you got a motorcycle... unless it's a puny little motor, then you got a moped or an e-bike.


Regulations protect the builders/retailers too:

If I'm a dimwitted parent at Wally-world and the clerk says: "that's a motorcycle"... I see that my kid shouldn't ride it until age 16 (or whatever). If I give it to my spoiled 12yr old anyway and he/she gets hurt... Wally-world is in the clear.

If my smarter brother sees an e-bike at Wally-world and the clerk says: "that's an e-bike"... he knows its safe enough for his kid to operate. If his genius 10yr old kid slaps an e-tek and 50lbs of lipos in the rig and jumps over eight lanes of interstate, Wally-world is still in the clear.

As a supplier or a manufacturer, are you going to take a chance that Wally-world won't stock your units because they get too close to the line? Not if you like making money... you are probably going to make sure every potential retailer knows your units can be handed to an unlicenced kid and you/they won't have to "stand-up" in a civil action, even if the kid adds a WileECoyote booster.

Just like "replica" or demilitarized weapons, anybody can have a retail item converted to a more dangerous (and perhaps illegal) item. The responsibility is then upon the owner to comply with restrictions that apply to the class of item the conversion falls under.

30 KM/hr !=30MPH
30 KM/hr =~ 19 MPH

Sorry for the confuzion Lessss, I was replying to knightMb's post...

The greater concern is not what gets hit by a rider going 30kph, but what speed can the average kid reasonably manage. Kids don't reliably tie their shoes; let alone look for oncoming traffic, observe signage...

No law I know of restricts the sale of bicycles to minors. If you have a class of bicycle that only adults can buy, because they are motorized to go over 20kph, they might as well be classified as motor vehicles and have the requisite safety equipment, eh?

As for the four-wheeler regulations, I assume its 'cause motorized four-wheelers resemble cars more than they do bikes, whereas three-wheelers resemble bikes more.

Lessss said:

The biggest source of disappointment with electric bikes is how the slow to a crawl going up a hill under their own power. Fix THAT disappointment and e-bikes will flourish more.

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You're right on there. It has to look "cool" too. No dorky rides.
If somebody would pull it all together and make it an off the shelf item, with good reliability (all of these things are possible with current technology) I think you would see them become much more widespread.

Adults verses Children

Freeways verses Streets

Since adults can have a drivers license anyway they are already "trained" to behave. In a sense the issue of responsibility of the government to "protect us from ourselves" is removed when someone is old enough to have a license. (my point is that we AREN'T seeing the value of such distinctions and SHOULD see it... we need to wise up to the differences between adults and chidren and how the laws should apply to them)

So the only way I can see electric bikes being "practically" regulated is if they separate children from adults. The children simply should not be allowed on a bike that can fully keep up with traffic on the typical suburban street which posts speed limits of either 25, 35 or 45 mph. (most are 25 mph) NO ONE is suggesting that ebikes should ever be able to do what a motorcycle can do which is to be able to ride on the freeways at speeds of 65 mph... that's strictly for full sized cars, trucks and motorcycles that can handle it. (let the Harley's ride the freeways)

In Missouri there is no distinction between an "ebike" and a "scooter" or a "moped". Basically you can do what you want if the power is less than 50cc or two horsepower.

A "general purpose" law that applies to all "non-freeway-vehicles" that can use the suburban streets should be open to whatever design you come up with.

BIKE PATHS... should have a separate set of laws because they are narrow and are shared with hikers and horses in many cases... so let's not confuse the "street legality" issues verses the offroad and bike path related issues. (many places don't even have bike paths or even shoulders to the sides of the road, so street issues are very important in such places... like the suburbs)

An Important Point:

The "extra" license that is required for a motorcycle is because of the dangers of having to be able to ride at freeway speeds. If the "non-freeway-vehicle" law simply said that you could run certain "mini-motorcycles" on the suburban streets if you already have a drivers license then all the regulatory bases are covered. You still NEED the "extra" license if you want to go on freeways...

So I see things divided:

Adults verses Children (bigger motor verses smaller motor for ebikes)

Freeways verses Suburban Streets (motorcycles verses ebikes)

The "lifecycle progression" would go:

1. Children can ride ebikes with small motors.
2. Adults (with a drivers license) can ride ebikes with larger motors.
3. Adults can get a "learners permit" to ride a motorcycle.
4. Adults can get a motorcycle license after passing all the tests.

I refuse to get a drivers license for a bicycle and should not need to if my max speed is 32Km/hr. That is a speed that CAN be achieved with a geared human powered bicyle, it is a speed acheivable by a horse.

Since adults can have a drivers license anyway they are already "trained" to behave.

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Not all adults can have a driver's license. For instance, some disabled or less-than-mentally-competent adults unable to drive can bike, and can ebike.

Yeah! Like ME. Umm ah wait a minute! hey, that's not nice

Lessss said:

I refuse to get a drivers license for a bicycle and should not need to if my max speed is 32Km/hr. That is a speed that CAN be achieved with a geared human powered bicyle, it is a speed acheivable by a horse.

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That's a good point, and there should be consideration given in that respect. I know people in their 30's that don't have drivers licenses and I think that's a good sign that transit and personal transportation can work. Forcing those people to get drivers licenses would seem backwards...
Perhaps another license class could be added that is strictly 2 or 3 wheeled electric.