Brian Mink said: "I've noticed that most west coast cities that allow electric
bikes do have rules that include behaving in regard to maximum speed, passing,
remaining non aggressive and the like. Should Madison have such rules and post
them? Probably."
Madison already has rules, and does post them. They are on all the wayfinding
signs along bike paths all around town, and among those rules is this one:
"Faster {path] users yield to slower users"
Which gets to the crux of the issue - how someone operates their vehicle is
often as important (or more important) to the safety of others than exactly
what kind of vehicle it is.
Chuck Strawser
Pedestrian & Bicycle Transportation Planner
Commuter Solutions
UW-Madison Transportation Services
Please note that my email address has changed. My new email is
charles.straw...@wisc.edu<mailto:charles.straw...@wisc.edu>
Visit our University Bicycle Resource Center at Helen C White:
http://transportation.wisc.edu/transportation/bike_annex.aspx
How are we doing? Take our customer satisfaction survey at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CommSol_CSSurvey
From: Bikies [mailto:bikies-boun...@lists.danenet.org] On Behalf Of Brian Mink
via Bikies
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2016 9:59 AM
To: rpaol...@execpc.com
Cc: Scott Morris Rose; Bikies
Subject: Re: [Bikies] NYTimes/Gretchen Reynolds: The Surprising Health Benefits
of an Electric Bike
I happen to know folks who due to one arthritic malady or less than optimal
joint replacement surgery have opted for electric assist bikes or wheels with
hub motors.
I also have taken note of many more cyclists of larger habitus using electric
assist bikes. Then there are a whole bunch or cargo/kid hauler electric assist
bikes on trails around town.
I think they are a good thing. Most of us able bodied, hard core enthusiasts
will put off or scorn the thought of using electric assist. Let's assume that
most folks who use electric assist do so based on some need that we probably
don't know about. Many work places don't have showers. Electric assist one
could image, can keep one below the gushing sweat threshold on the morning
commute.
I've noticed that most west coast cities that allow electric bikes do have
rules that include behaving in regard to maximum speed, passing, remaining non
aggressive and the like. Should Madison have such rules and post them? Probably.
Bottom line is: even the heartiest of urban cyclists might age into the need
for an electric assist bicycle at some point and then we'll look back on our
years of scorn and finally come to the conclusion that we were not being
understanding, nice or fair.
Brian Mink
Monona
via Bikies<mailto:bikies@lists.danenet.org>
July 8, 2016 at 9:45 AM
If that what it takes to get these sedentary brutes onto a bike, then let
them ride their electric bikes on roads and not on bike paths.
....
Admittedly, my n is pretty small, but I resent these lazy assholes being
on the bike paths. And it's bogus to say these are for sedentary folks.
> By far, the most people who use them will be former bicyclists.
I personally could not see myself wanting one. (Years ago I tried one when
someone from MGE was demo-ing one at some event and I wasn't impressed.)
But I also don't get all the hostility about them. I don't see how
discourteous/unsafe passing is any more or less obnoxious by someone on an
electric-assist bike than it is by someone on a traditional bike who
thinks he's doing Tour de France. A moron on an electric-assist bike is
not inherently worse or more dangerous than a moron in Spandex<tm>.
As for the opinion that most people using them will be former bicyclists,
so what? If it helps keep on a bike someone who has diminished physical
capability, what's wrong with that?
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