Today is a big day for the future of e-bikes in New York City. A hearing starts at 10 a.m. You can file a written comment until 5 p.m. You can also send an email to rules@dot.nyc.gov until 5 p.m
16mph is the limitation in germany. If your bike is faster, you have to register it an pay tax, and cant use dedicated bicycle infratructure anymore.
16mph is exactly the speed where I’m fast enough but dont feel like I would die in a crash.
Everything above would require protective clothing like on motorcycles Imo, and that kind of defeats the purpose for ebikes for me. I want to ride my bike but don’t want to have to fight against wind and going up the hill.
If an ebike is as fast as a motorcycle, it should get treated as one.
Yeah but blinking bike lights are also illegal to sell in Germany because you realized that drunk drivers target fixate on them and you apparently found that ban to be a better solution than aggressively cracking down on drunks. So I don’t give much credence to the rational integrity of German vehicular law. I go faster than 16 MPH literally every time I get on my bike. A regular non-motorized bike, powered only by me.
It’s the exact same in the Netherlands. The pedal assist is capped at that speed, but nothing stops you from powering though that and going faster. Not that it makes any sense to do so for the average daily office commuter.
Right, I think most of these delivery ebikes are throttle-operated. And they’re trying to get to their destinations quickly, because a lot of people tip their delivery guys based on expediency. I wish we had curb-separated cyclepaths like in the Netherlands because it would make this debate so much more straightforward and speed-capping would be a simple yes, but in NYC delivery cyclists are usually rolling down 3-4 lane wide avenues among cars going 25-35 MPH (~40-55 km/h). Like almost all other bike problems, the issue is actually the cars.
You have hands
I dont think I follow. What’s your point?
As in like, “Damn, infinitesunrise got hands…”? :P
16mph is the limitation in germany.
In my experience, a typical bike-friendly city in Germany will have 30 km/h limit for cars anyway (18 mph). NYC “official” speed limit is 25mph.
This feels like it’s purposefully designed to kneecap the adoption of e-bikes by rendering all class 1 and 2 e-bikes illegal and making it harder/more expensive to buy new ones because they have to have bespoke detuning for the NYC market.
This is a widely supported issue where I am, mostly because bike lanes are for self propelled vehicles and ebikes are sharing the roads with far heavier and faster vehicles that require licensing and insurance.
They fall between two stools though I am for licensing and insurance of them.
IMO, it should be 20mph, but it’s a software limit. It’s nothing to “tune” it.
If you want to go faster, get a motorcycle license. The higher end ebikes are getting ridiculous. Their frames, tires, and brakes are not designed for the power and speed they can put down.
IMO, it should be 20mph, but it’s a software limit. It’s nothing to “tune” it.
You’re talking about vehicles that typically aren’t open source and don’t have a firmware update mechanism. There is no reason to expect they’re even possible to change without swapping out the entire controller.
People really need to stop buying those. The companies are parasites for reasons that go far beyond this.
The people who ride these ebikes are usually immigrant delivery guys who have little to no cash and not many alternatives.
Do you live or work there? I see ebikes being used on sidewalks by delivery guys all the time. Limiting speeds makes sense for NYC IMO
Limiting e-bike speeds is a great idea in NYC given how frequently they are used on sidewalks and pedestrian walkways on bridges.
Okay so where are the hardware caps on car speed, given that they are used around pedestrian crossings, and several orders of magnitude more lethal?
Not a new Yorker, but it’s my understanding most modern cars do have a govener kick in and limit the speed. Usually somewhere around 110, so not practically useful, but the cap does exist
That is in europe
And 110 is about an order of magnitude higher than they ever need to go.
Why not just add speed limits to areas where higher speeds are an issue? That’s been the approach to cars – no car is limited to 140 kmh despite speeds above that are illegal pretty much everywhere…
Regular bikes can easily go above 15 mph as well, so why should this only affect e-bikes?
ebikes are frequently heavier and are frequently ridden on sidewalks in NYC.
Maybe put in some proper bike lanes so riders don’t feel they need to ride on the sidewalk? 🤔
