I become dismayed at this constant carping on about shared footpaths. Not because I want to see e-bikes (or just bikes) able to go down them at 20-25mph but because It seems glaringly obvious that such footway use by any bicycles at all is a big mistake. Bicycles are far better served by roads - as are pedestrians who would like to be able to walk about a path without some cyclist hooligans buzzing them or running over their children and dogs.Chris Jeggo wrote: ↑14 Nov 2022, 11:25amHmm, yes, but my personal observation is that such cyclists nearly always choose to do soon on carriageways rather than footpaths or footways.
The issue isn't e-bikes on paths, it's inconsiderate cyclist-hooligans on shared paths, motorised or not. Putting a motor in a bike doesn't automatically make the rider ride at unsafe speeds for the environment. The cause of such behaviour is a certain kind of human attitude, not a motor.
Moreover, if we as cyclists support separate paths for cyclists and walkers, this will a) cost far to much to ever be implement beyond a tiny number of places and b) give the motorist lobby the excuse they're always looking for to ban bikes from far more roads than just the motorways; perhaps from all roads. The answer is to police dangerous motorists, not to try to separate cars from bikes. 99.99% of cyclist road journeys are safe and only become unsafe because of motorist hooliganism.
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If e-bikes were allowed to be used just like ordinary bikes - i.e. to be ridden as fast as the particular cyclist can manage where it's safe to do so - then allowing assistance from a motor is better served by a motor power limit than by a speed limit. Cyclists who could go as fast (or nearly) as traffic in a town, for example, would be in far less danger than those who are constantly close-passed by impatient motorists. So would the motorists, especially those coming the other way faced head-on by an impatient overtaker.
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I detect a strange anti e-bike prejudice still operating within those who think of themselves as more "pure" because they're unassisted. Another exhibition of the British tendency to form classes and then have associated class prejudices, I feel.
Cugel