Idk, I rode my bike to work for 3-ish years almost every day (up until COVID, more or less), and most of the cyclists on my route were pretty good about following the law, and this was along the main segregated cycle path in the area (connects about 5 cities and flows through residential and office space areas). A few would blow through intersections without slowing, but by and large, most followed the law. This was before ebikes were commonplace, and most of the people were out there getting exercise.
These days, however, I see a bunch of cyclists (mostly on ebikes) disregarding the law. I don’t commute by bike anymore (new job is way too far away), so this is more around the recreational part of the day (usually 5-7AM or 6-8PM), so maybe things are still decent during commute hours. And almost every time I see someone breaking the law, it’s someone on an ebike, not pedaling and instead cranking the throttle, and usually in the afternoon. On my commute, the handful of cyclists I see that aren’t pedal assisted are generally doing a great job following the law.
I think the issue here is just how accessible cycling has become with ebikes completely removing the physical ability part.
enforce licensing for cyclists
If they do, it should only be for ebikes IMO, and perhaps only those capable of acceleration w/o pedaling. And perhaps bike shops should be required to provide details of the local laws, maybe even a competency test, even for unpowered bicycles.
What we need is enough cyclists to understand and follow the law for the others to also fall in line. Maybe pair that with some law enforcement presence ticketing during the start of cycling season or something, and first offenses could be resolved by taking a cycling safety test or something.
Idk, I rode my bike to work for 3-ish years almost every day (up until COVID, more or less), and most of the cyclists on my route were pretty good about following the law, and this was along the main segregated cycle path in the area (connects about 5 cities and flows through residential and office space areas). A few would blow through intersections without slowing, but by and large, most followed the law. This was before ebikes were commonplace, and most of the people were out there getting exercise.
These days, however, I see a bunch of cyclists (mostly on ebikes) disregarding the law. I don’t commute by bike anymore (new job is way too far away), so this is more around the recreational part of the day (usually 5-7AM or 6-8PM), so maybe things are still decent during commute hours. And almost every time I see someone breaking the law, it’s someone on an ebike, not pedaling and instead cranking the throttle, and usually in the afternoon. On my commute, the handful of cyclists I see that aren’t pedal assisted are generally doing a great job following the law.
I think the issue here is just how accessible cycling has become with ebikes completely removing the physical ability part.
If they do, it should only be for ebikes IMO, and perhaps only those capable of acceleration w/o pedaling. And perhaps bike shops should be required to provide details of the local laws, maybe even a competency test, even for unpowered bicycles.
What we need is enough cyclists to understand and follow the law for the others to also fall in line. Maybe pair that with some law enforcement presence ticketing during the start of cycling season or something, and first offenses could be resolved by taking a cycling safety test or something.