[RajT88]

I see kids blasting around at high speeds without helmets.

Kids treat them like fast bikes you do not have to pedal. Wiping out on a bike at 13mph is a very different proposition to wiping out on a bike at higher speeds.

I saw just a couple nights ago some kid doing what appeared to be about 40mph on an eBike. Wind in his hair, not pedaling, just blasting it. I am sure new regulations will come to speed limit them, but at the cost of dead and disabled young people.

ETA: I went to go look up laws requiring speed limiters on bikes, and the top hit was about how you can disable them:

https://goebikelife.com/how-to-remove-ebike-speed-limiter/

Article states typical eBike speed limiters are 20-28mph. That is the kind of sustained speed Olympic cyclists can maintain for some period of time, and much faster than kid's toys need to be capable of. And these are the mandated limiters!

[jacquesm]

A kid died right in front of my door on one of those. They call them fatbikes around here and they're super dangerous to operate. Way too much torque and speed for kids (and, fairly, most adults) to handle responsibly.

[RajT88]

See - you nailed it. I did plenty of dumb shit when I was a kid, but like the specific number I quoted - 13mph - wiping out at that speed, which I have numerous times even as an adult - is a totally different level of bodily harm compared to the speeds I see kids doing on eBikes.

Would I have as a kid blasted around at 40mph if I could have? Goddamn right. That's actually my point - I'm not dead or permanently damaged, just the recipient of quite a lot of road rash. Worst injury I ever had on a bike was a broken trapezium, as an adult, for something totally not speed related (~13mph, yes), when a tree fell in front of me and I braked and flew across the handlebars. Game that out doing even 20mph and that's a different outcome.

Classic case of, "I've been there, done that, and this situation is nuts".

[jacquesm]

It's a real pity because not only did a kid die, he died on a piece of cycling infrastructure that is now much less safe than before because it gets used by kids moving at a speed higher than the cars will ever go in the same street.

And never mind the 45 kph scooters (that regularly do half as much) using the same bike path.

[bhhaskin]

And here is the problem. They are already supposed to be speed limited if it's an e-bike. It's easy to tell the difference between a bicycle and a motorcycle, but the difference between an e-bike and electric motorcycle is far more subtle. And most electric motorcycles lie and market themselves as e-bikes.

[RajT88]

> And most electric motorcycles lie and market themselves as e-bikes.

Because they have pedals which nobody uses. In theory, it's pedal assist, but kids aren't really pedaling eBikes, they are using them like electric motorcycles.

You might think: Hey, how can you tell the difference between somebody using an eBike with pedal assist if so many of them look just like regular bikes?

I don't really see young people pedaling bikes at all of any kind. It's adults who don't have cars, or adults who are exercising pedaling bikes.

[gambiting]

>>I don't really see young people pedaling bikes at all of any kind. It's adults who don't have cars, or adults who are exercising pedaling bikes.

Where do you live - over here(North of England) most kids ride bikes, especially to school. And not ebikes either - actual regular pedal bikes.

[RajT88]

Chicago suburbs. Cultural difference, mayhap.

[eikenberry]

On a decent hill you can get a regular bike going >60mph. A dirt bike will let you ride off road at nice speeds over random terrain (no licensing required when not on public roads). In the realm of bikes, these are not an outlier. Limiters are easily overcome and speed limits are barely enforced on cars, let alone bikes. When you get a bike like this you deal with the danger and wear protective gear just like you would with any other bike (motorized or not).

[ghostpepper]

> On a decent hill you can get a regular bike going >60mph.

This is not the same as being able to go > 60 mph anywhere, at any time, simply by pressing a button.

> When you get a bike like this you deal with the danger and wear protective gear just like you would with any other bike (motorized or not).

This only deals with the danger to the rider - it doesn't address the danger to pedestrians.

[eikenberry]

Pedestrian danger is the real issue but is already covered as it is illegal to ride bikes on the sidewalk in most cities (and this probably needs to be expanded).

Bicycles have long needed a dedicated infrastructure as they are neither cars nor pedestrians.

[gambiting]

>>On a decent hill you can get a regular bike going >60mph.

Yes, I've done this before by riding all the way up a local mountain on a road bike, clad in lycra, then on the way down I went over 60mph. It was terrifying and the physical fitness required to get up there in the first place required months of riding to actually do it. Meanwhile literal kids ride these on pavements, in between people, in cities where pedestrians walk - it's simply not acceptable. And I do own and ride an ebike(limited to 15.5mph) legally.

[umanwizard]

Sure, there exist hills where some reckless people who refuse to brake can hit 60mph/100kph on a classical (non-motorized) bicycle. Unfortunately it’s difficult to prevent such stupid behavior, but thankfully, the places where it can happen are severely limited.

Therefore, we should count our blessings that it’s not more common, rather than allowing devices that enable it.

[Animats]

> I saw just a couple nights ago some kid doing what appeared to be about 40mph on an eBike. Wind in his hair, not pedaling, just blasting it.

Saw an ebike zip past me at about 40 MPH in a wheelie, little motor screaming, splitting a lane in traffic. (El Camino Real, Silicon Valley). If anything happens ahead of them, they're toast. Can't stop and can't evade.

[cwmoore]

Electric bikes offer new opportunities for built-in cigarette lighters in the space. These kids...

[CamperBob2]

Kids these days