r/Anticonsumption • u/Exotic-Cook-7740 • Jul 28 '26
Satire Apparently 28 mph is still “just a bike” when there’s money to be made
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u/renMilestone Jul 28 '26
I think the real problem is these rentals never have helmets and people arent just going to walk around with one.
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u/pegothejerk Jul 28 '26
Every one of the people I've heard about and known that have ended up in the hospital from these things have been dudes and women my age, being drunk idiots. I'm almost 50.
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u/Soft_Swing9772 Jul 29 '26
There is another issue that this meme may be referencing, but I'm an avid biker, and in the last two years there has been a huge rise in people riding these class 4 e-bikes that are marketed and look like regular bikes.
These things can go up to 60pmh and kids ride then on the bike and pedestrian paths all the time.
It is illegal in my city, but enforcement is low and difficult because the bikes are made to look like a regular bike, so if they see a cop they just slow down.
Also the marketing makes it seem like this is the thing to do.
It is this weird new problem and different from these scooters you unlock with an app that top out at 8pmh.
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u/MilesBeforeSmiles Jul 28 '26
This subreddit has it's fair share of CAVEs (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) that will complain about anything they don't personally use or have a use for.
I do think eBikes that are being ridden without registration and insurance should be more limited in speed though. Where I live they are limited to 32kph (20mph), anything faster requires registration and insurance. I think it's a happy medium that puts eBikes at the higher end of the pace of most cyclists.
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u/Yorick257 Jul 28 '26
Chances are, they are limited. In the EU, for example, it's only an e-bicycle if it's up to 25kmph and 250W motor.
But companies love making money, and the fines are just a cost of doing business
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u/SSilent-Cartographer Jul 28 '26
Same where I'm from, only the limit is 15mph. I have one and it's scary as hell, but I also know teenage me would have booked it way faster that 15 on a normal bike, so it seems like a good medium. Fast enough to get you from point a to point b, but not insane... Then there's the dumbass up the road that lets his 10 year old ride a 4 wheeler without a helmet alone, screaming down the road at easily 30mph.
People are calling it an epidemic and blaming everything except the parents. It's not the bike's fault, not the kid who's just doing what their parents are encouraging, it's the parents. The only difference now is that they're easy to get ahold of and because of that more and more uneducated and negligent parents get them for their children because they think it's cool. Even in public places, they let their children ride them all over because "oh they're just a kid having fun." It pisses me off, the fuck happened to teaching your kids about safety?
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u/PollutionFinancial71 Jul 28 '26
I don’t know why this is a hard concept for people to understand.
In most of the U.S., anything under 50cc is considered a scooter/moped, and therefore doesn’t need registration, licensing, and insurance. Anything 50cc or above is a motorcycle which needs a class-M license, registration, and insurance.
Just apply the same concept to electrically-propelled 2-wheelers and call it a day.
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u/thinkB4WeSpeak Jul 28 '26
Bikes, even electric, are significantly better for the environment than everyone having a combustion engine car.
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u/gittenlucky Jul 28 '26
Proper PPE and speed for the conditions, just like everything else we drive/ride.
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u/Kurt805 Jul 28 '26
This sub regularly engages in "everything new is bad". More bikes in society is a good thing. Maybe we'll also be forced to build the infrastructure for them.
And the kids? I'm happy that they're going around with their little bike gangs and getting up to stuff rather than sitting on their computers.
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u/annafrida Jul 28 '26
I mean regular bikes sure, I think the issue is the trend of buying middle schoolers powered bikes (and even things that qualify as e motorcycles) and sending them out to do whatever without a helmet. I’ve got a friend who works in the ER at the children’s hospital in our city and they’ve seen an insane increase in kids coming in with major trauma from crashing on these.
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u/PartyPorpoise Jul 28 '26
Yeah a lot of these kids aren’t responsible enough to ride something like that.
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u/Rubes2525 Jul 28 '26
I'm happy that they're going around with their little bike gangs and getting up to stuff rather than sitting on their computers.
You'll change your tune when they splatter their brains on the street since they don't wear helmets. Also, ffs, they can go out on a regular bike, helps with childhood obesity too. You don't need to buy them an unregulated motorcycle.
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u/Im_Balto Jul 28 '26
this post also makes zero sense in the context of my E-bike with 400W of motor power that enables me to move at up to 32mph when its assisting my legs.
What OP is really talking about are electric dirt bikes, which have the exact same issues as normal dirtbikes while also being quiet enough that they're tolerated in HOA neighborhoods
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u/Lobster_porn Jul 28 '26
i don't disagree, but the marketing model is insane consumerism. flood the streets with the cheepest vehicles because whoever has most out dominates the market. no regulation from the company's side, they don't care if you dump it in the woods, river, tear it apart, steal the batteries and leave it in a ditch. they just place a thousand new ones on the street because a couple hours of rental pays for a new one.
its on cities to regulate otherwise companies make money dumping e-waste on the streets. its not sustainable just because its electric. They're literally disposable. and then there's the safety aspect, bikes are a lot more steady with larger wheels, but I cant deny scooters are more fun to ride
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u/Potential_Fishing942 Jul 28 '26
This is my big gripe. Our system is so reactive- it takes literally children dying for regulations to finally catch up to items on the market. I think anyone with half a brain knew ebikes/scooters going as fast as they do and being heavily marketed to kids and teens was a disaster waiting to happen. But the shelves get flooded so fast...
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u/Malfor_ium Jul 28 '26
Its bc theyve recently gotten more popular and in the US cities are more designed for cars over bikes/scooters so drivers get pissy if they have to share the road. Pedestrians get upset if you use the sidewalks but thats more understandable bc the ebike or scooter is going to go 10-15+ mph which is fast for a sidewalk
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u/isuredolovetitties Jul 28 '26
I can hit 28mph on a normal bike anyways..
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u/Red_Dawn24 Aug 05 '26
You're a criminal, please report to jail, so the NIMBY's here can berate you while ignoring all other traffic deaths.
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u/julianradish Jul 28 '26
Theres a difference between an ebike with pedal assist (motor only runs when actively pedaling) vs one with a throttle up to 20 mph vs up to 28 mph. If it doesnt have operable pedals then its just an e-moto and requires turn signals and mirrors and lights to be street legal.
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u/Dotcaprachiappa Jul 28 '26
They are dangerous not only to themselves, but to other bikes on the road, to cars, and to pedestrians. If they don't get banned they should be regulated far better.
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u/jakejanobs Jul 28 '26
Pedestrians being killed by cyclists is so exceedingly rare in the US that NHTSA doesn’t even track it as a category, but it’s probably around 1-10 people per year. By comparison, drivers rack up a kill count of around 8,000 pedestrians per year. These dangers are not the same.
This is a moral panic
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u/Iwanttolive87 Jul 28 '26
Should people wear gear absolutely, should there be limits to the speed yes. But realistically this is a way for people to get around while doing less harm than cars and cheaper. Just at my work place there are 3 while users, my old workplace there were 4 including me. All underprivileged people who either can't afford cars or can't afford to use them consistently. There is definitely ebike slop where you are getting the least quality garbo but in a average this is a valid mode of transportation that unintentionally is anticonsumption
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u/psych0fish Jul 28 '26
Gee I wonder why society doesn’t make a fuss over things that are exponentially more deadly for children like automobiles and guns. 🤷 a mystery that can never be solved.
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u/times_zero Jul 28 '26
Yup.
Like, I'm all for going after illegal emotos, but otherwise, I don't want to hear about how "dangerous" ebikes are when we center our global society around 2+ ton machines that go 80+ MPH, which annually results in 1M+ deaths, 20M+ injuries/disablities, and they're terrible for the environment (including EV cars). To me, it's obvious private cars are one of the lynch pins of consumerism, but clearly, auto defaultism is one helluva drug (including for many in this sub).
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u/avanross Jul 28 '26
Sales are always a greater priority than public safety
If those dead kids wanted the government to prioritize their safety, they should have paid for lobbying groups and funded some political campaigns!
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u/pellyenjoyer Jul 28 '26
New scary thing vs old thing that has its claws in every fabric of society.
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u/ToothSquare4106 Jul 28 '26
Unlocked / modified e-bikes aside, this is a stupid take. Peds injuries are up because kids are actually using bikes and scooters to get around again after a major drop-off from the 1970s through early 2000s.
Also, normal bikes can easily hit 28+ downhill or at a sprint for a fit teenager. And you still need 150 - 300w (quite a bit) of human power to maintain 28 on a class 3 e-bike.
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u/horsegal301 Jul 28 '26
I live in a super sub-rural small subdivision. The kids (not even teens, barely even tweens) zoom around these bikes faster than cars drive down the road. No helmets. I guess I should be happy it's these and not the 4 wheelers that one already shattered their lower leg on earlier this year. It's a slight step down in danger, but they did have regular bikes and non-powered scooters before this...
That being said, I'm just happy they're outside, and wish they were safer and parents would parent.
As far as actual teenagers go, if you live in an area that supports biking, this seems way better for them than access to a car. However I am all too aware that especially in the US, most areas are not bike friendly and most morons on the road can barely handle driving with other cars.
I want to see this energy, but with companies marketing giant trucks to men who will never use them as intended that actually ARE killing machines.
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u/FoxCitiesRando Jul 28 '26
Your comments strike the right balance for me. Happy to see young people/kids outside but these have to be better regulated. Like mandatory helmets, at least if you are under 18, or mandatory speed limits, probably also if you are under 18. That's for kid's safety. Wouldn't mind further regulation for adults, too. No freaking way I should be sharing a bike path with someone going over 25 mph on an electric vehicle.
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u/Den_of_Sin Jul 28 '26
The companies making those giant killing machines are the same ones astroturfing the conversation against ebikes because an increase in alternatives would hurt their sales
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u/mackattacknj83 Jul 28 '26
They don't drink, they don't smoke, they don't date. Let them have something fun. Parents who let them go with no helmets is fucking insane though.
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u/Legrandloup2 Jul 28 '26
I don’t live in a big city and I find it crazy to see middle school aged kids zipping around on ebikes without helmets without any sort of regard for traffic rules. Even saw a kid ride an ebike into the cart area of a grocery store at a good speed
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u/gilbertbenjamington Jul 28 '26
Saw some genius riding in slides with airpods and no helmet through a parking lot. I know I skipped wearing a helmet here and there when I rode my bike as a teen, but this is a lot dumber and more dangerous than what I was doing
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u/innkeeper_77 Jul 28 '26
There are rules and laws... In the USA class 3 ebikes (the 28mph ones) are pedal assist ONLY (NO throttle) and are limited to 16+ years old. Plus they are more limited in terms of where they are allowed.
Tons of these articles are conflating ebikes with already illegal unregistered e-motorcycles. If you see someone zipping around on an ebike with no pedals... Thats already illegal. Above 20mph using a throttle and not pedals? Illegal.
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u/7Cosmicowls7 Jul 28 '26
Places outside of the states may not have laws that cover escooters, and even then it actually takes police enforcement for something to be done
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u/disneylovesme Jul 28 '26
There needs to be regulation everywhere. Regular motorbikes are going down the highway with no helmet where I’m from. It’s so stupid “freedom” to die or have sever TBI.
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u/Main-Bed-1087 Jul 28 '26
Fast E-bikes aren't threatening to kill me when I am in the pedestrian crossing and the signal says I can walk nor are they veering into the bike lane and forcing me to use my bike on the sidewalk.
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u/mikeymop Jul 28 '26
EBikes are the scape goat. It's car oriented stroads that are real root cause of most of these accidents.
I can hit 28-30mph on my normal bicycle.
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u/StoneTown Jul 28 '26
We should literally just throw moped laws onto these. Just because it's electric that doesn't mean it should skip past traffic laws. Max speed 15 then register as a moped. Max speed 30 then register as motorcycle. All helmet laws apply. We already have these laws in the books, just apply them to ebikes. Not a hard solution. Moped registration in Michigan lasts 3 years and it's like $15.
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u/jakejanobs Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Mopeds (actual mopeds that go 28mph and have pedals) are classed as bicycles where I live, and don’t require any registration. That’s where the 28mph limit for pedal-assist electric bicycles comes from.
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Jul 28 '26
If it's registered as a motorcycle, why does it need a maximum speed?
Also, it varies in different places, but back before electric bikes, it used to be measured by power, not speed. 200 watts comes to mind. That's much easier to measure. And it reflects the fact that a moped, like a bicycle, should be able to roll down a hill faster than that.
But I agree, we already had rules for this. Pretending we didn't, feels like a bit of a scam.
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u/StoneTown Jul 28 '26
Reread my comment. I said a maximum speed up to 30 as a moped, as current laws state. Anything over 30 on a flat surface is considered a motorcycle. Mopeds are restricted based on speed mainly. You can get a 50cc moped that goes 35 but they're classified as motorcycles. We already have motor size in the books.
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u/nikkidickie Jul 28 '26
The problem is less the bike, and more of having 0 bike infrastructure in our cities, and combine that with car driving mentality… I’m sure the 2 ton vehicle is doing a lot more damage then the 120 pound teen realistically going 25pmh (at most)
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u/Hell-Yes-Revolution Jul 28 '26
I bought my then-12 year old an electric scooter a year and a half ago, and I couldn’t stay on it, it went so fast, so I returned it.
The streets are crawling with kids on these bikes that are tantamount to little motorcycles.
I was driving behind one earlier this year, down a major road that bisects a residential area, and the probably 10 or 11 year old riding it (right down the middle of the lane, forcing me to follow a good distance behind, driving at 15 MPH with my headlights on) turned around and angrily flipped me off.
This happened later on a wintry evening, in the pitch black night.
These things are a menace.
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u/IndicationFickle7214 Jul 28 '26
Here in Chicago on busy streets I've seen up to 3 teenagers with no equipment on 1 rentable scooter in busy traffic. Blows my mind how much they're willing to risk.
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u/T-Wrox Jul 28 '26
Never mind pediatric, how about anyone walking down a sidewalk or multi-use path with what is essentially motorcycles zooming past them at road speeds?
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u/x_626 Jul 28 '26
i was hit by a tree-trimming truck while cycling to class on my e-bike 2 yrs ago. i had right of way too :/ i think cars are the real problem
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u/polishatomek Jul 28 '26
I still don't understand how a petrol assisted bike needs a license plate, while an electric assisted bike is fine, how does that work?
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u/polishatomek Jul 28 '26
My mom said she almost got hit by an electric scooter going like really fast, and those things are HEAVY
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u/AntiqueGhost13 Jul 28 '26
Idk to be fair, the number of horrible and disabling electronic bike/scooter accidents we see at our hospital is staggering
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u/Negative-Fisherman44 Jul 28 '26
I live in a medium EU city and people (specifically delivery drivers, teens and tourists) will zoom around on the sidewalk. The amount of times I or my dog have almost gotten hit by someone who was not paying attention bc it’s just a scooter/bike.
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u/Proof_Duck9754 Jul 28 '26
Further, most of the cheap e-bikes have proprietary parts. The companies are going out of business every day now, so the bikes are not repairable. And decent bicycle can be ridden indefinitely with maintenance, compared to a few short years with these nasty lithium battery bombs.
They are also marketing e-bikes for younger kids, not just teens. Terrifying.
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u/serpentear Jul 28 '26
There are several kids in my neighborhood, which I walk a lot in, that drive those things on the sidewalks. They’re going to severely injure someone.
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u/veracity8_ Jul 28 '26
If you think e motos are dangerous, wait until you hear about these things called “cars”
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u/Objective_Jeweler166 Jul 28 '26
People who are hating on you have never seen an 12 year old on a ebike/esooter with no helmet overtake your car going 50kmh and it shows. This shit is dangerous and it's sick that any child can ride this. Last month in my hole of an Eastern European town two girls died from injuries from crashing on an electric scooter. Many more are in a hospital. Most people using it are riding this on the sidewalks and slaloming between regular people which is so dangerous. And no one is going only 15/20kmh because taking off the speed limiter is stupidly easy and takes less than 15min
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u/Ok_Kangaroo_5404 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
E bikes are anti consumption because they replace cars which are the biggest consumption that just about anyone does.
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u/FREE_HINDI_MOVIES_HD Jul 28 '26
As someone who's been a bike mechanic since ebikes enterted the market: not even a little.
In the last decade i've seen less than 10 cases where an ebike has replaced a car even partially. The biggest complaints I get with ebikes? they're too heavy to lift in a car. This is how they're used: people drive their car to go ride their electric bike.
99% of the time they're replacing a bike, and relative to traditional bikes they're incredibly disposable, easy to break, and so difficult to fix most shops refuse to touch them. (my shop recently started refusing to even do flat fixes on them). I've seen bikes so poorly made the break pads can't be changed, meaning it's a motorized vehicle with a giant proprietary lithium battery TOTALED by wearing through the brake pads. I'd estimate about 90% of ebikes on the road today are not designed to last more than 5 years.
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u/Ok_Kangaroo_5404 Jul 28 '26
That is so interesting that that's the case in presumably the USA, but over here in Europe with our superior infrastructure I personally know 6 people for whom an E bike or E Cargo bike has completely eliminated the need for a car.
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u/FREE_HINDI_MOVIES_HD Jul 28 '26
Yeah unsurprisingly, usa. cycling infrastructure in my city specifically barely exists, the small amount that does are unsafe enough that most people here tend recommend avoiding them in favor of taking regular lanes of the road, because it's that much safer than trying to ride in our bike lanes.
Culturally. bikes are also just seen and treated more as 'recreational toys' here more than practical transportation compared to Europe, and both those problems feed into eachother. It's a very frustrating catch 22
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u/Nightshiftnoble Jul 28 '26
I keep telling people they're young, give them something manual. A bike, scooter or skateboard. Give them an outlet to burn out that energy.
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u/CamelotBurns Jul 28 '26
A teenager(I dont remember his exact age) in one of the suburbs near me recently died due to a e-bike accident.
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u/East-Specialist-4847 Jul 28 '26
E bike etiquette is definitely not great but accessible transportation isn't something to be mad about. Get mad about the lack of safety precautions
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u/NombreCurioso1337 Jul 28 '26
Bike path parallel the highway, near me. I know for a fact these things go 55mph. I paced them.
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u/Insanely_Mclean Jul 28 '26
Pretty sure I can pedal a normal bike 28mph on flat ground.
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u/gakl887 Jul 28 '26
Trained cyclists top off at 28 mph on flat, if you can do that you elite af lol
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u/a_slay_nub Jul 28 '26
I mean, I could do that for a minute and I'm hardly pro. It is stupidly fast to do around other people though which is what I hate most about these things. They're going fast without helmets or the bike handling skills to handle these
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u/No_Mouse_4010 Jul 28 '26
For maybe a minute or two. Not the length of a whole battery
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u/ksigley Jul 28 '26
It's wild how people conceptualize the difference between 10 and 20 mph. One can be a funny ha ha little bumperoo and the other can literally disfigure you.
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u/Stalwart_Vanguard Jul 28 '26
The discrepancy between motorcycles and e-bikes does bother me to be honest.
To ride a motorbike legally law in the UK) you must wear a motorbike helmet (very different to a bicycle helmet), have done some form of training, and the bike needs to be roadworthy - I.E it has adequate breaks, headlights, and break lights. Now you can argue that motorbikes go much faster than e-bikes, and while that's usually true, in a city it's kind of a moot point because of speed limits and traffic. Also, 50cc mopeds can go about the same speed e-bikes can but still have the same rules as motorbikes.
I'm not saying I want e-bikes to be made illegal or to suddenly throw a bunch of requirements at teenagers who just want a convenient and fun mode of transport, but I DO think the law hasn't really caught up yet, and something needs to be done for everyone's safety.
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u/pho3befree_VV Jul 28 '26
Maybe they shouldn’t make the city so you’re fucking required to buy one idiots
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u/Spudnic16 Jul 28 '26
In my city, if it’s capable of going over 28mph, it’s legally considered a motorcycle
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u/Livid_Note_2170 Jul 28 '26
As the cost of owning a car continues to rise, you're going to see more of these.
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u/ShamScience Jul 28 '26
I had to convert it to real numbers, but they're talking a bike at 45km/h. A lot of teens can manage that without any motor. Easily on a downhill.
And there can be some danger to them at that speed, but it's not my biggest worry. It's not really speed that kills, but kinetic energy, and a car going twice as fast with ten times the mass is obviously, clearly, undeniably the real danger. Get rid of the cars, switch people to bikes and scooters, and watch the deaths and injuries plummet.
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u/ViolentPurpleSquash Jul 28 '26
Anticonsumption, famously against a cheap way to get around a city that doesn't cost much to use
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u/scooterm32a3 Jul 29 '26
Just a bicycle helmet too. These people don’t realize the pavement doesn’t care what you fell off of.
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u/i_was_axiom Jul 29 '26
I get whats being said here, but my old 3x7 mountain bike (the acoustic kind) could easily do 30mph under my spry 13 year old frame in top gear. I feel like the weight is more pressing, even at legal speeds those hurt.
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u/ConscientSubjector Jul 29 '26
I run a handyman business off of an electric bike and small trailer. It's been amazing to ditch the truck, no insurance, no gas, no registration. It helps me keep my costs low I change it on solar. Please leave me alone.
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u/FirefighterTrick6476 Jul 28 '26
Don't take this too seriously, but my little gay heart jumps every time I see two obvious wannabe gangsters share e-scooters. It may be dangerous as fuck, but every time, My Heart Will Go On starts playing in my head when I see how the one dude gently holds the other's hips as they are driving through the warm summer night, wind in their hair, dreams in their hearts.
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u/Rhona_Redtail Jul 28 '26
Can someone run the stats of childhood injuries in the 80's vs the current decade?
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u/Tonsilith_Salsa Jul 28 '26
My parents were like, "here are some lawn darts, they are banned now because they are extremely dangerous. Don't let them pierce anyone's skull."
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u/stevengreen11 Jul 28 '26
My Ebike tops out at 49 mph. 😬
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u/swans183 Jul 28 '26
Which is the real problem. People aren’t saying dont ride e-bikes, but something with that much power that consistently gets ridden on the sidewalk is a problem
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u/unhappyrelationsh1p Jul 28 '26
i hate rental escooters, they're engineered to make everything less safe. I have to stop to move these heavy bastards off the bike lane *constantly*
Then i have to share lanes witht hese dumbass scooter kids who think they can be on their phones. I want kids to bike normally again, it feels like a waste of lithium.
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u/niberungvalesti Jul 28 '26
I laugh whenever i hear this. It's totally fine to put a teen behind the wheel of a motor vehicle but an electric bike is a bridge too far and is dangerous think of the children.
They're both incredible responsibilities but since America is currently in full retrograde lets go after the electric transportation.
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u/GornoUmaethiVrurzu Jul 28 '26
Oh yeah, cause all the 12yo I see driving their ebikes like idiots in my city are just totally allowed in a car.
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u/No_Mouse_4010 Jul 28 '26
Yea realize “teen” encompasses years before legal driving age right??
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u/motion_lotion Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I wasn't aware that the 13 year old in my neighborhood who blows through stop signs at 25 mph without looking was able to get behind the wheel of an automobile. Or his equally reckless buddjes. Nobody wants to "go after" electric transportation. I'm completely fine with it, but there needs to be some way to regulate and keep it safe for them and society. As a 13 year old boy, if myself or friends had access to that, I can't even imagine how many of us wouldve been organ donors. Preteens boys don't have the best judgement at times.The amount of oblivious kids zipping around on those things completely unaware of surroundings and filled with the reckless invincible feeling of youth is pretty damn high.
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u/flaming_monocle Jul 28 '26
I'd rather that than the 40 mph motorcycles I was on at 18. Or the full size SUV for the 16 year old on my street.
I do think bikes like that are falsely marketed, but I think the fact they don't burn gas is the only reason they're being critiqued this hard.
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u/Dependent-Law7316 Jul 28 '26
I think the issue is two fold.
First, most streets are not designed for bikes of any kind. Drivers tend not to give bikers enough room, and that leads to collisions. Likewise, because bikers often don’t feel like they are a part of traffic the same way a car is, they tend to ignore traffic signals and signage which again, leads to collisions. This is a problem for all bikes, not just ebikes.
Second, kids are not educated on the rules of the road. Ebikes exacerbate this issue by allowing them to travel much greater distances and at higher speeds than they could achieve if they were physically propelling the bike. This allows them to be more present in non-residential areas than they might otherwise have been, which puts them in the dangers described above. Add into that the poor decision making and inexperience of youth, and you have still more unnecessary collisions.
The obvious solution is to add protected bike lines to all new roads and retro fit all existing roads during regular maintenance, as well as adding bike-only paths between high traffic areas to encourage cyclists to avoid the roads all together (for example, a walking/biking path connecting a residential neighborhood to a near by commercial center could provide a “shortcut” vs the regular roads, and make a safer route for non-car traffic). This is of course expensive and slow to implement.
The other obvious but unpopular solution is to require a license to operate a bike on public roads for anyone not accompanied by a licensed adult. For adults, a standard driving license would probably suffice, and for children under 16, free certification courses could be offered either as part of school (maybe during physical education?) or at school after hours, at a community center, etc.
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u/jupchurch97 Jul 28 '26
I started driving when I was 16. My first car was a RAM 2500 with a 5.7L V8 engine. It weighed roughly 6,000 pounds empty with a top speed of 100 mph. But yeah, it's e-bikes that go about as fast as you could pedal a bike on the road that are the problem
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u/Fun-Mud3861 Jul 28 '26
No those things automatically make a person a cyclist a pedestrian and a vehicle.
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u/silly_scoundrel Jul 28 '26
I live in a small broke ass town and nobody here can relate, never seen an electric anything here and kids walk everywhere... but drive 20 miles away to the city I go to school in and it's hell. Kids on these damn electric bites drive like they have a suicide mission! They fill the street and drive erratically near the schools, it's like they are trying to get hit! They usually grow out of it by high school I guess or maybe they get a real vehicle by then.
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u/marutiyog108 Jul 28 '26
I can do 25-28 on my regular bike usually cruise around 15-20 I've hit 45 nearly 50 in a long down hill. That got a bit scary.
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u/Baskreiger Jul 28 '26
Cigarettes did not cause addiction according to all tobaco ceo's in 1995. Letting companies self regulate is an absolute farce
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u/Wallabunga657 Jul 28 '26
I'm proud to use my old fully person powered bicycle. I mean at worst I get hit by car.
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u/Remcin Jul 28 '26
I don’t think this fits the sub, even if I agree that kids shouldn’t be driving motorcycles without a motorcycle license. Anything with a motor that can cruise faster than a bicycle is too fast for a kid without a license or permit.
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u/Dysthymiccrusader91 Jul 28 '26
Bro we went from cigarettes in movies, to warning labels, to hiding the warnings under bubblegum vape layers, to straight up selling tins of nicotine in zyn.
The US is another republican and 2 moderates away from re-introducing child labor, because laws prevent innovation and economic growth
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u/Dear_Document_5461 Jul 28 '26
Is this one of those "Legally it is but culturally it not" things? I remember learning that a specific type of three-wheels car is legally considered "a motorcycle" or something that was not a "four-wheeled car", so it has cheaper insurance because "it legally not a car" or something like that.
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u/turtle_king Jul 28 '26
Are accidents on the rise because more people are increasingly using them instead of cars? Who is dying, the bike riders because they’re getting hit by cars? Or pedestrians?
Is this car propaganda or a genuine health concern?
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u/TheRoadBehind Jul 28 '26
To piggy back off of this, local towns have been completely outlawing class 3s
So now, my class 3 cargo bike is illegal. My ebike that's powered off 3-10 cents of electricity and a banana I ate that morning is now illegal
That grocery store trip that I really enjoy taking, is now REQUIRED to take a gasoline powered car... Or I guess I can push a cart 5 miles home
No, I don't follow this law, but this is 100 percent a law right now
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u/Weariervaris Jul 28 '26
I disagree. I’m generally against government regulation that requires people who are already in a vulnerable financial position to pay more money out of pocket. I see people who get up and have to go to work everyday that have E-bikes and it is their only saving grace. Some people cannot afford a car, tax, tag, registration, and paying the insurance every month. Some areas don’t have adequate bussing. Uber and Lyft are expensive if you have to use it to go to work every day. Saying that people riding E-bikes, that need it to get to work need a license, tag, or insurance is grossly unfair. I get that the kids are playing, using the E-dirt bikes in the street. Doing take overs, but they do that in cars all the time, and car regulations do not prevent them from impeding traffic or doing any of that. For e-bikes I think the most sensible thing is for them to make bike lanes more available so that people can use them on public roadways and it would be easier for Cops to enforce the laws that are already on the books. It always feels like the minute public safety becomes a concern, or something happens that military intervention cannot solve, people immediately jump to “how can we get individuals and poor people to pay more money.” This country is so weird.
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u/spinda69 Jul 28 '26
I rode an ebikes for a year or so and I basically never set it to max speed, these kids are crazy and too many are helmet less
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u/Cultural_Iron2372 Jul 28 '26
In my neighborhood kids as young as 8 ride these without helmets, in the streets and on unpredictable sidewalks where you can suddenly come up on someone else walking/low trees/sidewalk ending. It’s a nightmare and 2 have already died in my county.
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u/noellerosehayden Jul 28 '26
10 year olds are driving fatbikes here in the Netherlands and we don't wear helmets on bikes 🙃🙃
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u/David_temper44 Jul 28 '26
people getting arrested at City Halls cause of disliking data centers in USA and you worry about electric bikes
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u/ohmygowon Jul 28 '26
My friend just got an e-scooter and I thought it would be nice to ride with her. We fell in the middle of the street and I almost got my head crushed by an oblivious truck behind us
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u/Zromaus Jul 28 '26
They are just bikes. Your average human powered bike maxes out at around 15mph. This isn't much worse.
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u/Blacksad9999 Jul 28 '26
I hate these so, SO much as someone who's a pedestrian and walks everywhere. lol
These kids just fly down the sidewalks with them in little packs, almost knocking over old people constantly.
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u/LuminaNumina Jul 28 '26
My dogs and I have been almost flattened numerous times by kids on these things while we were walking on quiet trails.
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u/GromOfDoom Jul 28 '26
Why aren't parents doing anything about it? and this is why a few states ban children 16 and under from riding electric bikes entirely.
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u/irishitaliancroat Jul 28 '26
16 year old with a 28 mpg bike is dangerous to society. Get them a 2 ton truck that can do 120 mph