Are ebrakes sufficient?

[teklektik]

The brief 2002 federal note that Teklektic linked doesn't mention brake cutouts (is that all there is on the federal level?), but many statutes do call for it.

To be clear - that is not a 'brief note'. It is both the exact law verbatim as well as the sum total of Federal ebike regulation for the past 16 years.

My point was simply that Federal regulations are not applicable as claimed - the matter of other State statutes is a new and different matter entirely.

Again I don't wish to digress OT, but many fanciful and flat out incorrect claims about Federal ebike regulations are bandied about and serve only to confuse and misinform. My remarks are only to raise a point of information to try to avoid propagating bogus information about those regs.

 

[John in CR]

I've never heard of locking brake levers, so I need to look into that. Most of my ebikes require 2 cutoffs due to 2 controllers, so I do one with the rear brake handle and the other on a horn button. They're regen so I use them all the time and it's second nature in emergency braking. The switch on the front brake handle activates the brake light, another nice safety feature for anyone mixing with cars.

 

[wturber]

<snip>
Neither do I belittle your freedoms, such as they are. I only recognize that allowing people to use motor vehicles almost everywhere has ruined every major city in the world, and imposed upon us the single largest preventable cause of death and serious injury. I believe freedom from those things is much more important than the freedom to go really fast and inflict the consequences on others.

Well, "ruined" is in the eye of the beholder. I'd much rather live in the Phoenix metro are with our many cars than in New York City. That said, we can certainly agree that the automobile radically changed the nature of cities.

But you are simply wrong about the largest cause of preventable deaths. Tobacco use, alcohol use, and obesity are the causes that head up that list. Automobile deaths pale in comparison. Perhaps you meant the largest preventable cause of accidental deaths? But even then, automobile accidents are still not the leader. Poisoning tops that list. Auto accidents are second and followed very closely by falls. Yes, in the United States your are almost as likely to die from a fall as you are from an auto accident but more likely to die from poisoning. Overall, you are about twice as likely to die from either poisoning or a fall than from a car accident.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/accidental-injury.htm

BTW, I like the idea of brake handles with motor cut-offs - and I should probably investigate the use of an additional kill switch.

The problem with safety issues is that people change their behavior based on their perception of risks. Adding safety measures to a device can have perverse effects if the perception of increased safety is greater than the actual increase. Likewise, not adding a safety measure may not be as risky as it would seem so long as user are aware of the risk and adjust their behavior accordingly.

 

[Chalo]

I mean preventable deaths, as in cars can effectively be prevented. Also, you are only looking at crashes; I reckon most of the so-called obesity deaths are also attributable to cars, as well as a large portion of cancer and heart disease deaths. Probably a lot of addiction-related deaths too.

 

[Raisedeyebrows]

Sorry for going OT but I wanted to mention this, according to Visionsource:

“Bungee Cords Are A Leading Cause Of Serious Eye Injuries”

Remember to be careful if you’re using bungee’s to secure things to racks.

 

[Alan B]

Bungee cords were not allowed in my son's Boy Scout troop, I think the rule came from the Council if not higher in the organization. Many accidents apparently.

 

[Raisedeyebrows]

If people choose not to have an ebrake lever hooked into their system it doesn't bother me, I always just put it on, connected it figuring it's another point of protection since it pretty much instantly cuts power and it was included with the kits I ordered. Also one on the front brake works good as a tap clutch for shifting the Bafung mid-drive system.

 

[Alan B]

If people choose not to have an ebrake lever hooked into their system it doesn't bother me, I always just put it on, connected it figuring it's another point of protection since it pretty much instantly cuts power and it was included with the kits I ordered. Also one on the front brake works good as a tap clutch for shifting the Bafung mid-drive system.

Good point, the motor cutouts on the brakes have many uses.