what are we coming to? police after bikes?

[no mods]

caught this on local news. basically Cleveland cops are after speeding bicyclers. they say the speed signs that use radar are actually encouraging to bicyclers to "see how fast they can go".... http://www.local12.com/news/state/s...s-speedy-cyclists/Nf6IzwimMUa_8lAumwzNWg.cspx

sadly you would think they would go after some sort of local gangs or real criminals and try to make Cleveland a better place.

 

[deronmoped]

Makes you realize that the government has way too much money and time.

Something that should be common sense, not flying by pedestrians on your bike, has now got to be controlled by the police, through a speed sign? Are the idiots going to pay any attention to a speed sign anyways?

Deron.

 

[Takemehome]

....sadly you would think they would go after some sort of local gangs or real criminals and try to make Cleveland a better place.

Funny, same thing I heard from drinking drivers and speeding drivers.
Of course, they are not "real" criminals.

Are the idiots going to pay any attention to a speed sign anyways?

When fines will come, they will pay.

 

[tailwind]

 

[Anonymous]

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[dogman dan]

Well,,, if yer going 35 in a 25 zone thennn,,,,,

 

[Anonymous]

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[Tiberius]

I don't know if this is the same in the US, but here in Britain (and I assume most of Europe) the argument goes like this...

An e-bike is officially a bicycle, so long as it complies with the e-bike regulations.
A bicycle is not a motor vehicle
The speed limits only apply to motor vehicles.
So an e-bike is not subject to the speed limits.

I don't want to see anyone be a test case, because it would open a whole can of worms.
The logic is that the speed limits only apply to powered vehicles because only they can go fast. But an e-bike is officially an unpowered vehicle. So if an e-bike were caught exceeding the speed limit.......

Nick

 

[Rassy]

I've been checked by radar several times in my little town (1000 peeps). Usually in the school zone when the 20 MPH speed is in effect. My trike/trailer will do 30 MPH, but I normally keep it under 20 so that I can pedal along. The cop just waves and smiles and hollers out "17" or "19", etc. I think they are more curious than trying to "catch" me breaking the law.

 

[Anonymous]

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[monster]

there was a speed trap the other day on the private road at my workplace. aparently a few years back someone was killed on the road there. they now randomly check peoples speed (30 limit). if you speed then your car gets banned. i wasn't speeding. my bike can't do much over 30 anyway. but its quite shocking to see someone pointing a radar gun at you. you don't notice it untill its too late.

 

[Rassy]

Tiberius wrote:

A bicycle is not a motor vehicle
The speed limits only apply to motor vehicles.
So an e-bike is not subject to the speed limits.

I don't think this is correct. Bicycles must (are supposed to) stop at stop signs and red lights and occupied cross walks, etc. as well as many other traffic rules, including speed limits. There are some specific exceptions allowing bicycles to do some things that cars and motorcycles can not do, but I have never seen an exception that allows a bicycle to exceed a posted speed limit.

 

[monster]

I don't know if this is the same in the US, but here in Britain (and I assume most of Europe) the argument goes like this...

An e-bike is officially a bicycle, so long as it complies with the e-bike regulations.
A bicycle is not a motor vehicle
The speed limits only apply to motor vehicles.
So an e-bike is not subject to the speed limits.

I don't want to see anyone be a test case, because it would open a whole can of worms.
The logic is that the speed limits only apply to powered vehicles because only they can go fast. But an e-bike is officially an unpowered vehicle. So if an e-bike were caught exceeding the speed limit.......

Nick

speed limits still apply to us im sure. probably there could be an argument that we are motorized vehicles if using a modified ebike. the law has not been written yet because there is no test case. hope that doesn't happen. probably legislators are waiting to see what happens. if some jerk were to purposly set off speed cameras then i bet the cops would get wise to ebikes. as long as people don't show off too much or ride 30+ all the time then we will probably be ok. it takes some skill and money to make a safe 30+ bike so it think it is only sensible well adjusted individuals who are doing this.

i remember the case of the motor biker who took off his reg plate and did high speed stunts in front of a speed camera. police recognised him from the photos and banned him.

 

[dogman dan]

In the US it will vary some from state to state in some details. But in most states I'm sure, even bicycles have to obey all road laws if using the road. So that means 25 mph on a residential street in my town, and 15 for a school zone when the lights are flashing. In this state, there is no such thing as an ebike legaly. Just mopeds, that limits top speed to 25 mph. And for mopeds, I need a drivers licence. But the cops here are going to ignore me as long as I don't ride up the street on the wrong side, run stop signs etc. I'm sure they could give a shit if I went 35 as long as the street had that speed limit.

Back when we were kids, the loophole we used was that the irrigation ditch roads were not " Roads" so we could ride up and down them all day on dirt motorcycles with no problems. But we'd get ticketed right away if we tried to ride across a street when the ditch crossed a " road". We could cross pushing the dirt bike though.

The same loophole would apply I bet, to speed limits on bike paths, parking lots that are private property, etc. On our local bike paths, I have seen no speed limits posted, and there's nothing in the local ordinances either. In another state, that recognises an ebike and limits speed to 20 mph, then it would be 20 mph everywhere. That woud depend on the wording too, with some places saying 20 mph limit or whatever, and others may say 20 mph on level ground, implying higher speeds could be legal if you pedal for it, or are going downhill.

But when you go by the cop that's radaring the school zone, belive me, he'll ticket you for sure if you exceed the school zone speed. He won't care about the ebike, he'll ticket you if you blast through the school zone pedaling a big wheels toy trike or zooming on roller blades.

 

[chet]

In most states all bicycles have to obey motor vehicle traffic regulations.

 

[Vim]

From the article -

People who walk the paths in Beachwood City Park have been complaining about bicyclists who fly by, Lance Armstrong-style, so police have posted a radar sign to show bikers how fast they're going. It's similar to the digitized signs that warn motorists about their speeds through construction zones.

The sign typically catches riders going more than 10 mph, the city's speed limit for bicycles in the park.

Police don't give out speeding tickets to bicyclists but do warn them to slow it down.

Seems to me the Police are only responding to complaining citizens, which is only proper. Hell, they're handling it pretty leniently for the cyclists by saying with only a speed sign - 'Hey, slow down or we'll actually do something about it'.

When there's no one around, I open it up and have fun. But if there's people walking on the paths, sidewalks, parking lots, etc., I slow it down and show respect so hopefully I'll get that in return. If you break the rules, all bets are off. I would be pissed if a cyclist passed me on a walking/biking path doing 20mph.

 

[Tiberius]

Since it has provoked some comment, I'd better try to explain my post above.

First, I'm talking about the UK. Other places may be different.
Second, the "speed" limit for e-bikes is not a speed limit for the bike. Its the speed above which the electric assistance must shut off. In the UK that limit is 15 mph, and we know that the guys in lycra can and do pedal bicycles over 30 mph.

The 30 mph speed limit in built up areas applies to motor vehicles but not to bicycles.

So....
You can actually go over 30 mph on an e-bike without necessarily breaking the law. The conundrum is that if you are caught doing it, unless it were downhill and you were dressed in lycra, it might be hard to to argue that the motor wasn't delivering any power.

Nick

 

[dogman dan]

Quite a bit of difference in the way the law treats a bicycle in the UK vs the US then.

I pass a lot of walkers on the bike path in the mornings at 20 mph. Usualy the same folks every day. After about 6 months of stopping to chat with each one of em, I got them trained to stop hogging the path walking three abreast. They know the sound of my horn now, and just take one step to the right for me when they hear me coming from behind. They are fine being passed by me at speed since they now know and trust me. Other bikes now ride the path that used to risk riding in the nearby street because of the stupid walkers on the path. Now that I trained the morning walkers, the path is better for all the bikes.

Of course this works better in a smaller town. We're about 100,000. I think walkers are a major contribution to the problem in Cleveland. They can be amazingly oblivious. The other day in El Paso, while driving a car, I had two ladies with two baby buggies stroll right out in front of me without even looking on a major 4 lane road Fortunately I saw they were that stupid and was ready for the idiots.

 

[diver]

here in Gainesville fl , the cops are writing up stop sign violators on bicycles and in fl one must obey the all laws of the road but most bikers don't.