E-bikes/ eScooters ...is this the wild west?

[MacDoc]

This may have been covered elsewhere.

So my understanding is that e-Bikes/eScooters which seem to cover a wide range of vehicle choice are now legal today as far as the province is concerned.

The article seems to concentrate on the small stand-on scooters but what about eBicycles and larger eScooters within the weight and power limits.

Absent any bylaw legislation say in Mississauga - what is preventing me from getting an e-Something under 24 kph on the road to grocery shop etc.
If Ontario makes them legal but Mississauga has no bylaw ........????

Ontario to allow e-scooters on streets, but cities get final say

By David RiderCity Hall Bureau Chief
Wed., Nov. 27, 2019timer4 min. read

Ontario to allow e-scooters on streets, but cities get final say

Under the provincial rules, e-scooter drivers will have to be at least 16 years old and wear a helmet, and their vehicles will need to have a horn or bell and a front and rear light.

www.thestar.com

 

[TK4]

The rules are there, they just need to be enforced. Its a wild west show.

 

[Soulcatcher668]

.

 

[robertv19]

The stand-on scooters (battery powered or non) aren't what concerns me. I'm more worried about the motorcycle look alike e-scooters that have no lights and riders with skateboarding helmets for protection that are being ridden on city streets/roads and creating traffic mayhem.

Full disclosure: I live just outside the west end of the GTA and this is my experience in my large-ish city - no idea what it's like in the downtown core of Toronto or the larger burbs.

Rob

 

[Trials]

I wonder what they feel the percentage is in having a front and rear light
is not like it will make riding a motorized skateboard with handlebars any safer for anybody.

 

[sburns]

Again our government is behind on policies or infrasturcture to support them. The eScooters (stand style) have been a problem in the States, and parts of Europe have been struggling with them.

Atlanta Bans E-Scooters at Night After Drivers Kill Four Riders — Streetsblog USA

Drivers, however, still may use city streets at all hours — even though motor-vehicle crashes killed 115 people in Fulton County, which encompasses most of Atlanta, in 2017.

usa.streetsblog.org

Paris to restrict electric scooters after dangerous year on French capital’s streets

Paris is cracking down on electric scooters after a dangerous and chaotic year on the City of Light’s roads and pavements as the craze for the “trottinettes” (in French) saw the machines flood the capital.

www.france24.com

 

[xrljoel]

I was in Calgary in the fall where they have the electric scooters available. I mean the skateboard with handlebars type.

The article that I read quoted a fellow from the CNIB addressing his and the organizations concerns about disabled people not hearing these things approaching at speed on the sidewalk and the potential for injuries.

Having seen them and their users in action in a much less congested environment I'd say his concerns are valid. I saw people who were obviously unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the concept (motorized or not) and those who were extremely overconfident. Regardless of which camp the user fell in they didn't belong on the sidewalk with pedestrians and aren't suitable to be in the road either as normal surface irregularities seemed to upset them easily.

They look like a fun toy for a kid to play with in empty parking lots or on lightly used subdivision streets but as a component of urban transportation I think they're a personal injury/liability case waiting to happen.

 

[Wingboy]

When my wife was in HGH 2 years ago with a brain injury, at least 30 percent of the patients there were ebike related. Lots of broken wrists, shoulders and arms and of course head injuries. The popular consensus was that helmets don't work. Every one of them had rash on their head and black eyes.

 

[cycling]

When my wife was in HGH 2 years ago with a brain injury, at least 30 percent of the patients there were ebike related. Lots of broken wrists, shoulders and arms and of course head injuries. The popular consensus was that helmets don't work. Every one of them had rash on their head and black eyes.

Hope the Wife is fully recovered.

Having been in the medical field. Helmets do work. Provided they are placed properly on the head and fastened. The correct type.
I speak from experience.
Some of my Patients would not have survived if they did not have a helmet.

E bike riders. Will fall due to speed or lack of it. Bikers can go airborne. different type of injury.
In a lot of injuries, also consider the experience of the rider. Arms, shoulders and wrists are usually a sign that as they went down it was because of the fall and it is natural instinct is at extend your arm to break the fall. (Mechanism of injury)
Hence the type of injury.

Sorry, i could go on and on. Don`t want you to fall asleep.

 

[crankcall]

ebikers have helmets but scketchy at best. pedal Bike riders are supposed to have helmets, but again zero enforcement, or running reds, or booking it off bike paths through traffic.....

right now there is little beyond pride and self worth to keep you from riding e transit.

 

[unL33T]

Aren't there already a ton of threads hating on these things? lol Guess like anything on GTAM we need a new one every year.

Who's gonna go start the lane splitting discussion, chain lube debate, and oil debate now?

 

[Wingboy]

Hope the Wife is fully recovered.

Having been in the medical field. Helmets do work. Provided they are placed properly on the head and fastened. The correct type.
I speak from experience.
Some of my Patients would not have survived if they did not have a helmet.

E bike riders. Will fall due to speed or lack of it. Bikers can go airborne. different type of injury.
In a lot of injuries, also consider the experience of the rider. Arms, shoulders and wrists are usually a sign that as they went down it was because of the fall and it is natural instinct is at extend your arm to break the fall. (Mechanism of injury)
Hence the type of injury.

Sorry, i could go on and on. Don`t want you to fall asleep.

Thanks. She is still recovering. Long way to go still. She fell off the 30" high step in the garage, one major bleed and two minor bleed on her brain, 3 broken ribs and a broken wrist. The last 2 years we have had physio coming to the house. But that has proven to be worthless. She is going for extended rehab in a hospital very soon.
A lot of the ebike patients were wearing beanies that were not even done up. (So uncomfortable) it's always a cars fault.

 

[Trials]

Speaking of bicycle type helmets,
when there was already all kinds of helmets available when they became law (sort of) why did they have to go out of their way to design bicycle helmets that are completely useless?

... you might as well just duct tape a deflated football on top of your head.

 

[MacDoc]

Aren't there already a ton of threads hating on these things? lol Guess like anything on GTAM we need a new one every year.

THEY WEREN'T LEGAL UNTIL TODAY ... you have anything worthwhile to add beyond the whinging??

••••••

First I ran across them was in Atlanta and in a 1/2 km walk no where near the city core tho not in the burbs there were a half dozen or more - some clearly in use ...others just ....there.. I guess for someone to acquire through their phone.

The skate board type do not appeal but a small eScooter with some ability to carry groceries is of interest


and a ton of accessories

RadRunner™ 2 Electric Utility Bike

The RadRunner 2 made waves as the first moped-style electric bike designed to ride like a utility, cargo, or a traditional bike with just a quick adjustment of the seat. We’ve updated this fan-favorite ride with enhanced handling and a cushier saddle. Plus, you can customize your ride with more...

radpowerbikes.ca

and I'd guess we will see a lot more of the fat tire go anywhere eBikes around.

Client was in Europe and says they out number cars in the city centre( ICE scooters as well )

 

[GreyGhost]

Aren't there already a ton of threads hating on these things? lol Guess like anything on GTAM we need a new one every year.

Who's gonna go start the lane splitting discussion, chain lube debate, and oil debate now?

Those were a different bad idea allowed by the guberment. Previous ebikes were huge, heavy monstrocities that could be mistaken for ICE powered vehicles. The current batch are the skateboard with handlebars that is being pushed as the next boom in urban transportation (take up much less space, nobody is pedaling an ebike anyway so you might as well ditch the pedals, etc.)

 

[unL33T]

Wait, what? Ebikes weren't legal until today? We've been complaining about them for like a decade and all that time they were illegal?

I've seen many that looks similar to the examples posted for all that time. They're just not as common as the trashy huge ones.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

They were fun when we visited Nashville last summer (riding one always seemed like a good idea after day-drinking). Our uber driver down there said there's a bad collision involving one with a vehicle most days.

 

[Wingboy]

Wait, what? Ebikes weren't legal until today? We've been complaining about them for like a decade and all that time they were illegal?

I've seen many that looks similar to the examples posted for all that time. They're just not as common as the trashy huge ones.

I think the op is going on about how the cities are dealing with the e scooters like lime. They have been in Waterloo for a couple of years mostly in and around the universities. They get left all over the place, and are a pia just like the rental bicycles.
Old news.
Nothing to do with motorcycles, moved to romper room.

 

[unL33T]

Oh I've never noticed an issue with the bicycles in Toronto. Only see them in the stands.

 

[Wingboy]

Oh I've never noticed an issue with the bicycles in Toronto. Only see them in the stands.

The city has had to deal with a lot of crap from the students for many years. The rental bikes and scooters just added to the problems already associated with the university ghetto.Google Ezra Ave for look.