Quote:
Originally Posted by stien
I've got a horse in this race. Calm down. This is being sensationalized for no reason.
Pedal assist (legal ones) top out at 20mph. If you're within the law, it's safe. If not, then it's the wild west. You can have an unregistered/uninsured motor scooter that tops out at 20mph* and nobody is up in arms about it. They use bike lanes, split traffic, the shoulder, etc. I typically commute faster on a solo bike than I do with my e-bike anyway (I also have a more upright position and am carrying two dogs + gear on the e-bike as well). Other roadies crush the bike path (that I avoid BTW) much faster.
*As long as you don't rev it too much! The cops don't care if you have the ability to go faster.
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It think the issue is more nuanced. As SoCalSteve pointed out, they can scare the **** out of you on a bike path. I see the issue more as safety than ethics. Yes, they top out at 20--and they can do that for long stretches
up hill when even the Cat 2's are out of the saddle at 12 mph. On a crowded five-foot wide bike path, an e-bike weaving at 20 mph is not safe, either for the rider (who, in NYC, is nearly always helmetless) or for the walkers/runners/dog-walkers/rollerbladers/cyclists and other inhabitants of the path.