E-bikes, similar devices spark concerns. Backers want rules, not bans.
More Madison-area residents are riding electric bikes, scooters and similar devices – and being blamed for an increasing number of injuries and frustrations – but bicyclists and local planners hope to avoid bans that could create confusion and limit mobility.
They don’t want to see the kind of policies emerging in the Chicago suburbs, for example, where Glenview recently joined a list of communities limiting the so-called 'micromobility' devices, often over safety concerns. The village’s ban prohibits e-bikes and e-scooters from any public property, including sidewalks, streets and mixed-use paths.
In other parts of the country, the towns of Palm Beach and Key Biscayne in Florida now prohibit the devices, as do some Southern California communities, and the New Jersey Legislature passed legislation this week that requires a license, registration and insurance for all e-bikes.
E-bike sales rose nationally from fewer than 300,000 in 2018 to over 1 million annually by 2021. By the end of 2022, Americans had taken half a billion e-bike and e-scooter trips on rideshare systems alone, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
A sudden growth in “e-motos” — electric devices more similar to motorcycles in terms of speed but often marketed as e-bikes — and “jailbroken” e-bikes whose speed regulators have been removed after market, has also intensified public complaints and calls for greater regulation. Often, these devices can reach speeds of 40 mph, and, in some cases, up to 65.
https://captimes.com/news/government/e-bikes-similar-devices-spark-concerns-backers-want-rules-not-bans/article_fa327b41-1c31-4664-ad32-c668e0d9460a.html
I am personally in favor of e-bikes on the street IF riders wear helmets. Scooters, I don't like, having about been run over by them several times in downtown Harrisonburg on the sidewalk. I don't know where they belong but riders should wear helmets and look out for pedestrians.
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