I have many many dislikes of e-bikes but this has to be one of the biggest. I've seen it soo many times where cars have to slow down on a 4 lane road to get around an ebike, then at the next stop light the ebike just rides between cars or up on the sidewalk to get back to the front causing the drivers to do the same thing again.
Let the City know what you want to do about e-bikes - official survey
- Thread starter espro
- Start date
I have many many dislikes of e-bikes but this has to be one of the biggest. I've seen it soo many times where cars have to slow down on a 4 lane road to get around an ebike, then at the next stop light the ebike just rides between cars or up on the sidewalk to get back to the front causing the drivers to do the same thing again.
Uh...bicycles do this too, you know.
Roomie
Banned
I see your the biggest e bike fan and while that's nice I'd love to see you in traffic while I was on my bicycle. If the speed limit is followed anywhere in Toronto you a: wouldn't pass or be even close to me with an e bike and b: cars wouldn't have to go around because I can easily get around at the posted limits. Not all do this and that's fine but there's more e bike riders doing stupid things compared to bicycles that I've seen in recent times.
Roomie
Banned
I agree and I don't think they should be banned. Something needs to be done to make them not a free for all with virtually no consequences for what you do on them. I even think the same with bicycles. It sucks for the majority who are normal when commuting on them but unfortunately enough ******** out there have ruined it for the majority.
Given that electric only vehicles are becoming more common (I even saw a Zero on Gerrard a while back), it's inevitable that ebikes will eventually end up having a status similar to scooters. It's just a matter of time. Until then, things are going to be hell.
IMO, I think skill level and lack of speed are the two main issues. Get them off sidewalks and park trails, set the limiter at 50km/h instead of 32km/h. and institute a system where you go online to answer a number of questions to get a e-bike license (similar to boats).
I agree with everything but the licensing part. It is too easy to cheat for your pleasure craft operator card, and these are vehicles that are in use everyday on the roadways which effects a lot more people than a boat on a lake. We need a tougher licensing system that will actually teach these people how to ride and the rules of the road. Maybe call it an e-limited speed motorcycle licence (M-ELSM).
except bicycles are narrower and thus easier to pass, than the wider e-bike scooters
this statement of your's which you keep repeating ignores a couple key points:
1) enforcement is for all intents and purposes useless unless the offender has something worth losing, like a permit or licence. the tickets the police can write for such offences for people without a driver's licence or insurance are negligible. hell, on an e-bike, you don't even need to carry any identification, so how the cop will know your true identity is beyond me.
2) a significant number of people who ride e-bikes have lost their driving privileges for one reason or another. ie. they are bad drivers. i am of the opinion that such people should not have access to a means to wreck further havoc on the roads
3) insurance isn't impractical or a waste to the person struck by an ebike rider.
They seem to have become the de facto vehicle of convicted impaired drivers.
Roomie
Banned
I know I ranted about people using them due to loss of drivers lic. and I don't mean to say everyone riding an e bike is doing so because of a dui. Sadly I just happen to know 4 people personally that have them just because of this. The one guy who lives down the street with one is on his 2nd impaired and where did I see him and his e bike the other day? Yeah that's right, the beer store after knowing a bunch of people were at his place drinking beer all afternoon. (small town, everyone knows everyone) As for BusaBob's comments, I agree on all of them. It's a chaotic system with no means of control for who operates these machines on the road with the rest of us lic'd and insurance paying people. It's too bad some have ruined it for others but that's the way of the world these days.
If the police would simply start charging the suspended drivers who are using them it would solve a lot of the issues. If your license is suspended for impaired you cannot operate one. The current system would work if enforced.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
That's news to me. I did not know that you are not allowed to operate an e-bike while having a driving prohibition order related to a conviction under the Criminal Code.
Still, that doesn't affect people who've had their driver's licence suspended for non-criminal code reasons.
Also, how will the police know if a person operating an e-bike has a suspended licence if he/she is not carrying a driver's licence or ID and if there is no registration plate on the e-bike? The only way they would know would be during an investigation after an accident or obvious drunk driving incident.
The three people who I've personally run across who ride e-bikes:
1) suffers from epilepsy and is not allowed to drive a car for the reason that he/she may have a seizure while on the road. However, this person tows his/her two young children behind the e-bike using one of those child stroller bicycle trailers
2) is elderly and failed his driver's test
3) has a suspended licence due to too many demerit points (he's bipolar, and cannot control himself during manic episodes) and can no longer afford insurance
IMO, none of these people should be operating a 200 lbs (350 to 400 lbs if you include the riders) motorized vehicle on a public roadway.
They would know by running their information through the computer. It's illegal to give false identification information to a police officer, and it's a federal offense if you're caught doing so.
As for insurance, unless you seriously wish overweight bicycle riders, bicyclists with loaded pannier luggage, etc. to pay insurance as well, it's simply insane to put that on ebikes. There's no question that I could cause just as much damage to a vehicle or person on my bicycle as on my ebike. I could very well kill someone running over them with my bicycle if the jumped out; same as on an ebike.
Should we have bicycle insurance then? How about walking, I'm sure I could accidentally kick an infant, or trip and break some car windows. Alright, so then maybe we're allowed to crawl for free...but then what if someone trips over us! Ah! That's a liability! Run for the insurance salesmen, we have yet another industry. Your cellphone could explode on a cashier when it's on the counter, should we have cellphone explosion insurance, or a more general "**** happens" insurance?
Life is *FULL* of liabilities, and there needs to be a line drawn between liabilities individuals can accept, and liabilities that are too great and must be shared. Drunk people could ride a bicycle too, and while illegal (it's illegal to operate any vehicle drunk or on a DUI suspension on a public road, that includes bicycles), it still happens. Enforcement should be tougher, but insurance on an ebike is just as ridiculous as insurance on a bicycle, and if you're going to make a bicyclist pay insurance, where does it stop?
I just can't believe that the insurance companies have people so brainwashed as to think that all liabilities must be covered by insurance, and that high insurance rates are a GOOD thing to keep people off the road. Bloody insane.
cb500f
Well-known member
I'm all for people finding alternative transportation that cuts down on traffic congestion. I really am. As a gas powered scooter on the roads of downtown Toronto last year, I was extremely offended that motorists thought that my scooter which was 50cc gas powered, insured and plated was not allowed to take a lane in traffic... then I started seeing the stupidness that e-bikes were doing!!
They would take up a full lane on Lakeshore ... have they gone completely mad? Lakeshore hits upto 70km's per hour .... what the hell are people on e-bikes trying to do by taking up a full lane of traffic .. and I mean full on blocking position ....
This riding year has been fairly short so far and I have only had my new baby for 2 weeks but I have already seen the trend happening again. I was really surprised when I stopped at a light and was looking around to see one weaving through traffic and come and stop beside me at the light in portion of the lane I wasn't in. He started to talk to me about wanting to get a bike when the light changed and I started driving .. the car behind me almost ran that guy off the road ... LOL! What is wrong with people??
They would take up a full lane on Lakeshore ... have they gone completely mad? Lakeshore hits upto 70km's per hour .... what the hell are people on e-bikes trying to do by taking up a full lane of traffic .. and I mean full on blocking position ....
This riding year has been fairly short so far and I have only had my new baby for 2 weeks but I have already seen the trend happening again. I was really surprised when I stopped at a light and was looking around to see one weaving through traffic and come and stop beside me at the light in portion of the lane I wasn't in. He started to talk to me about wanting to get a bike when the light changed and I started driving .. the car behind me almost ran that guy off the road ... LOL! What is wrong with people??
Drumstyx, you seem to fail to see the difference between a motor vehicle and an exercise tool. If a bicycle rider can maintain a steady speed of 30km/h, that is because he is in good physical shape and skilled enough to properly control it. Any idiot can (and does 
) hop on an electric scooter and show his/her true nature. If I were running things, this is how I'd solve the problems:
1) Non-motorized bicycle: Take a written test like G1 so you know the traffic rules, carry the card on you, for any riding on public roads. For trails and stuff, no license needed, no insurance needed as the risk is small enough
2) Motor (electric powered or not) scooter: LSM, plates, insurance, licensing, all the jazz.. Incentives can be offered for electric scooters like no or reduced renewal fees.
) hop on an electric scooter and show his/her true nature. If I were running things, this is how I'd solve the problems:1) Non-motorized bicycle: Take a written test like G1 so you know the traffic rules, carry the card on you, for any riding on public roads. For trails and stuff, no license needed, no insurance needed as the risk is small enough
2) Motor (electric powered or not) scooter: LSM, plates, insurance, licensing, all the jazz.. Incentives can be offered for electric scooters like no or reduced renewal fees.
Roomie
Banned
Drumstyx the other flaw in your hatred towards cyclists is not all of us are trying to ride on the roads. E bikes are and as such need to be regulated. They're not self powered machines. They have a motor and like very thing else motorised on public roads they should have to follow the same rules.
Licensing e-bikes will be a challenge. Many of the ones I see downtown are ridden by people who look like they don't have fixed addresses.
If you mean to say you ride on the sidewalk in a bicycle, then you are breaking the law. Bicycles belong and must be on the road.
... unless your bicycle's wheels are 24" in diameter or smaller, at which point you are permitted to ride on the sidewalk (in Toronto).
