Quote:
Originally Posted by mrnyc
^ a major new problem is the steep rise in the use of e-bikes. i’m not against them, except because that completely asleep at the wheel moron diblasio legalized them without requiring them to make some of low clicking sound or noise. instead they come flying around corners at you completely silently and its dangerous as hell. i have seen people yelp and groceries literally flying in the air like a cartoon because of those dam things tootling around. not to mention the bootleg batteries starting apt fires.
|
I think that regulation, registration, and insurance should be required for bigger & faster e-bikes and e-scooters. Some of these things are ridiculously large and fast. The more powerful ones can weigh over 100 lbs and go as fast as 40-60 mph. To class the lighter and less-powerful ones with these monsters is dumb.
The big issue is that we all need to be aware and defensive of one another. This goes for car/bus/truck drivers, e-scooter and e-bike riders, normal bike riders, and pedestrians. I've seen pedestrians just walk into a bike lane or against the crossing light. I've seen car drivers make wide sweeping turns without looking for bicyclists or pedestrians. I've seen e-bike and e-scooter riders act as bullies to push pedestrians and slower e-bike/e-scooter/bike riders out of the way because they want to get somewhere faster.
It's dumb that these 100 lb e-bikes and e-scooters get to use the same lane as a slower bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters. But if we push them into the normal traffic lane, then they feel vulnerable to getting run over by multi-ton cars and trucks. Guess what? They make slower bicyclists and e-riders feel the same way when they bully them out of the way.
We are on the path to delegating and designing better road infrastructure for both pedestrians and bike/e-riders, mainly by removing much of the infrastructure currently dedicated to grossly inefficient private cars. We shouldn't make it too onerous for people to own and operate e-vehicles since they are part of this big plan to democratize mobility. But we also need to define their weight & speed limits to properly legislate them and plan out our roads.
PS - the battery fire issue is due to bad quality batteries & chargers, mainly from cut-cost Chinese manufacturers. It's also due to civilians not understanding electrical limits of outlets and wiring, and charging near flammable objects. Most outlets are designed around 15 amp outlets (except in the kitchen and bathroom, which use 20 amp outlets, often with GFCI trippers). Higher amp charging = higher temperatures. The battery often acts as the spark, tinder, & fuel in fires, but the rest of an apartment or house also contains plenty of tinder and fuel to sustain a fire. Besides, we also have many other lithium-ion battery devices around the house, including in smartphones. Remember the Samsung fires?
The main issue is the Li-Ion fires are much harder to control, which is why getting high quality batteries and chargers that are UL-certified is important. And we also need to discourage people from continuing to use damaged batteries or chargers, or buying cheap replacement batteries from sketchy dealers.