ebikes are different if you are drunk

[Jerome Daoust]

Drinking too much? Don’t ride your E-bike[/url]"]Ontario, Canada — Drinking too much, and then trying to ride your E-bike home? That can get you into trouble, in more ways than one.

First off, of course, it’s hard to handle any kind of equipment when you’re drunk, and accidents are three times more likely to happen.

Secondly, if you’re seen by a police officer, you could be arrested for DUI.

D[riving] electric bikes or mopeds while intoxicated is illegal.

“As long as they are electric, they fall under the Criminal Code,” a police spokesman pointed out.

Regular bicycles powered by pedaling don’t fall under the Criminal Code, however, police strongly urge people not to use them as an alternative mode of transportation after drinking, either.

Maybe this is only an issue if you are caught on a road (not a bike path)?

 

[nicobie]

I'm pretty sure you can get a DUI in CA on a regular bike, in fact, you can get in trouble walking drunk.

Nick

 

[mrgarci1]

Yep, here in AZ, BUI (bicycling while intoxicated) falls under OUI (operating while intoxicated - also covers boating) and is just as ticketable as DUI. Which makes sense - a drunk bicyclist (especially in a college town, where "cyclist" means frat boy on a beach cruiser) is just as much a danger to himself as a drunk driver would be - a bike lane alongside a 45mph road is not exactly forgiving.

 

[Anonymous]

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[dogman dan]

Yeah, here you can get a dui on a horse. They use that one all the time out on the Navajo reservations and Pueblo indian lands. I had to go get my brother in law once. Too drunk to ride his bike, he then got refused a ride on the bus. Smart driver. He's clean and sober now for about 4 years so we're very happy with him.

 

[swbluto]

here are more details on the ebike laws for US states and canada aswell as some parts of the world..

almost all of the US states conform to the federal limit of 20 MPH (some 25MPH)..
once your bike is capable of more than that.. its no longer considered a bicycle.

california seems to be the most liberal of the US states they have a 1000W motor capacity but still a 20MPH speed limit.

my point in the initial post was.. to advocate any power assisted bicycle that cannot go faster than an athlete to be classified as a real "bicycle".. and to be of no more a risk than any other form of bicycle. that in my mind would put the speed limit closer to 35/40 mph.. here in AUS we dont have a speed limit at all.. but how fast do you think you could go on a 200W engine ?????

probably about the speed of an old man jogging..

The power limit is a speed limit in disguise. They reason that the average healthy cyclist puts out 200 watts continuously, so that's what they'll limit the power of motors to. Fortunately, if you go into a velo and cut your total effective surface area by a sixth, you can get to pretty fast speeds on 200w. You just won't accelerate that quickly...

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, the trouble with 200 watts is on a direct drive motor, it has no gears to give mechanical advantage. They should allow 600 watts for direct drive motors. With a 200 watt limit I'd be looking at rc motors and chain drive for sure. No wonder the cyclone is popular there.

 

[swbluto]

Yeah, the trouble with 200 watts is on a direct drive motor, it has no gears to give mechanical advantage. They should allow 600 watts for direct drive motors. With a 200 watt limit I'd be looking at rc motors and chain drive for sure. No wonder the cyclone is popular there.

If they mean output power, which I'm sure they do, then there's essentially no difference between drive systems and hub motors if it's constantly kept at 200 watts output. But, indeed, that's pretty hard to do with a hub as pretty much no one actually measures their output power - they seem to just see the power in.

 

[Ypedal]

I can maintain pretty good on the booze.. but some people can't ( I'm talking about those who drink 1 beer and slur their words.. yeah.. you know who you are ! )

I love loading up a few cans and heading out for a rip, cruise around until you find a quiet spot.. crush the can and take it home.

On the flip side.. yes.. i've had a dozen beer and a pile of vodka on an all day drunk and took my ebike home.. back streets and trails at 2am going 10 to 15 km/h towing another guy on rollerblades !! hehe.... :lol: ( not recommended.. but damn hilarious it was !! )

Just like having a beer at a restaurant and driving home, some booze at the pedals should be fine.. but if you can't stand straight.. good luck keeping ballance on 2 wheels !

 

[mrgarci1]

On the flip side.. yes.. i've had a dozen beer and a pile of vodka on an all day drunk and took my ebike home.. back streets and trails at 2am going 10 to 15 km/h towing another guy on rollerblades !! hehe.... :lol: ( not recommended.. but damn hilarious it was !! )

Lol that brings back (fuzzy) memories, e-biking around in the middle of the night after getting out of the bars with my buddy Cliff on his longboard hanging onto my rack. Good times, but certainly not something to make a habit of.

 

[JS Tyro]

that in my mind would put the speed limit closer to 35/40 mph.

Those must be Aussie miles. In the real world, 25mph is a realistic limit for weekend warrior athletes and even some dedicated amateur road cyclists have trouble doing the 40km time trial under an hour. Elite athletes can time trial at 50 kph (30 mph).

In my competition days, I could cruise at 35mph only if motorpacing. 30mph was relatively routine for local criteriums if the pace was good, but that was in a pack.

I agree that the speed limit should have been up to 25mph/40kph, not 20mph/32kph as in most jurisdictions.

I also disagree with power limits. With the speed limit, the power limit is superfluous but can restrict heavier riders (or those that want to tow a trailer) or those in particularly hilly terrain. I would rather see an acceleration limit (as is locally applied to mopeds) rather than a power limit. I think power limits were set by politicians who think that the nonsense spread in TV automobile commercials (buy more horsepower!!!*) actually has some meaning in the real world.

*Interesting trivia - in N.A., the average hp sold in cars in the last 25 years has doubled. However, average driving speeds have not improved due to increased congestion on the roads. More gas wasted to get nowhere.