Grey beard
100 W
I'm an old hotrodder, that still enjoys going fast, although many things I've done I won't be doing again in all probability. I've probably paid enough in fines and increased cost of insurance to buy a Tesla, as I got my first ticket 56 years ago.
I believe that any regulation should be free of any technical requirements as to power. What I foresee as a result of getting stopped by LE personnel is they aren't equipped to ascertain what power you have, or might have. That would require a lab setting, probably run by the state,(they would be State laws) and the confiscation of the bike or a summons to bring your bike to the lab, and possible permanent loss if it didn't meet the law. We sure as heII don't want that. Any LEO that got up on the wrong side of the bed might have your bike confiscated just because he could. Leave weight out for the same reason.
That leaves speed limits. Here in the States, as well as the EU, 20mph or 30 kph seem to satisfy the safety nazis and there is good reasoning behind it. Kinetic energy. We can sprint about 15mph on foot. Imagine running face first into a brick wall at that speed. That would probably bust your nose and at least loosen teeth. If you hit it at 20mph, you hit twice as hard, and you'd have more than a broken nose. Speed up again to 25mph and you hit with 3Xs the energy.
As many want all the benefits of bike paths and trails, you've got to limit the speed. There are many cars on our highways that can near 200mph, yet they have the same speed limit that a clapped out Geo Metro has. Have only a speed limit, and if you've got something that will go twice as fast and want to let it out, pay the ticket if you get caught.
My opinion is that helmets should be required. Most anything you run into is going to be face/head first, and stats are that 82% of bicycle deaths are people not wearing one.
Keep it simple. Below is my State's law. Another RCW deals with age(16 no license required) and helmets.
RCW 46.04.169
Electric-assisted bicycle.
"Electric-assisted bicycle" means a bicycle with two or three wheels, a saddle, fully operative pedals for human propulsion, and an electric motor. The electric-assisted bicycle's electric motor must have a power output of no more than one thousand watts, be incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than twenty miles per hour on level ground, and be incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power alone is used to propel the device beyond twenty miles per hour.
I believe that any regulation should be free of any technical requirements as to power. What I foresee as a result of getting stopped by LE personnel is they aren't equipped to ascertain what power you have, or might have. That would require a lab setting, probably run by the state,(they would be State laws) and the confiscation of the bike or a summons to bring your bike to the lab, and possible permanent loss if it didn't meet the law. We sure as heII don't want that. Any LEO that got up on the wrong side of the bed might have your bike confiscated just because he could. Leave weight out for the same reason.
That leaves speed limits. Here in the States, as well as the EU, 20mph or 30 kph seem to satisfy the safety nazis and there is good reasoning behind it. Kinetic energy. We can sprint about 15mph on foot. Imagine running face first into a brick wall at that speed. That would probably bust your nose and at least loosen teeth. If you hit it at 20mph, you hit twice as hard, and you'd have more than a broken nose. Speed up again to 25mph and you hit with 3Xs the energy.
As many want all the benefits of bike paths and trails, you've got to limit the speed. There are many cars on our highways that can near 200mph, yet they have the same speed limit that a clapped out Geo Metro has. Have only a speed limit, and if you've got something that will go twice as fast and want to let it out, pay the ticket if you get caught.
My opinion is that helmets should be required. Most anything you run into is going to be face/head first, and stats are that 82% of bicycle deaths are people not wearing one.
Keep it simple. Below is my State's law. Another RCW deals with age(16 no license required) and helmets.
RCW 46.04.169
Electric-assisted bicycle.
"Electric-assisted bicycle" means a bicycle with two or three wheels, a saddle, fully operative pedals for human propulsion, and an electric motor. The electric-assisted bicycle's electric motor must have a power output of no more than one thousand watts, be incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than twenty miles per hour on level ground, and be incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power alone is used to propel the device beyond twenty miles per hour.