Modern Vespa

Yesterday about 3 blocks from my place someone on an "electric scooter" which looks like an electric motorcycle was hit. The rider survived but because these things are not classed as restricted speed mopeds or scooters people go around without the need for insurance or having a license. They are becoming more common and as they continue to share the road with cars I am afraid more of these accidents are going to happen. There is also the concern that some people look at them more as a bike and can be found whipping down bike lanes and sidewalks.

here is a link to the article. Please excuse the shoddy journalism, you can clearly see it i an electric motorcycle. https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/news/motorcycle-crash-closes-56th-avenue-in-langley/?fbclid=IwAR0J-OXfxK6QjPQ6N9FbZfxrFexRVV1SmRDboC52J6-iG4NVpNynbSW1mqg

I am wondering what others thoughts are on this and what other places are doing about this.

Powered Razor scooters, one track scooters, crazy e-bikes etc.....in traffic makes no more sense than mopeds did years ago. Not enough acceleration, poor brakes and no signals are a recipe for disaster.

While I think there should be enforcement of basic traffic rules, I don't see that happening around me.

Therefore, yes, riding in bike lanes and on sidewalks has become something you can see every day. Not only with electric mopeds and the like, but big motorcycles too. I also often see people going against traffic on one-way streets and red lights are widely disregarded, especially at nighttime. Not only by two wheelers, but by just about everyone else as well.

I don't think the electric bikes and scooters are the problem. The lack of any sensible approach to managing street traffic is the main issue here.
Very lax enforcement and a culture that prioritizes cars over everything else, is a sometimes deadly mix.

Replace all three and four-way stops and most traffic lights with roundabouts and you get:
More free-flowing traffic,
Quicker journey times,
A 60-70% reduction in collisions, and the collisions that do occur result in far fewer injuries, leading to over 90% reduction in KSIs.

(KSI - Killed or Seriously Injured).

e.g. https://www.carmel.in.gov/government/departments-services/engineering/roundabouts

They can always put it on a battery charger and destroy the evidence.

Paris just banned a lot of electric scooters, primarily because they keep hitting pedestrians. I suspect many of the companies that sell them are a lawsuit or two away from closing shop.

There were some towns on the last cannonball route that had a lot of roundabouts. I like them but I think the biggest danger here in the US is the driver in front of you slamming on their brakes to give it a think and try to figure out how roundabouts work, right as they enter one.
Have you encountered a DDI yet? Those are confusing, but supposedly safer than regular intersections.

Not yet - but a roundabout would accomplish the same thing with no traffic lights required. Very common for motorway intersections with other major roads in the UK and EU. See below.


A motorway to motorway intersection takes a bit more construction though:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_Interchange

That's just confusing to me.
All the arrows are pointing the wrong way....

The roundabouts would not make a difference where I live (for e-bikes). The e-bikes, especially those that do not require pedal assist, would ride right up and over the center island. Their bike helmet either unbuckled, flapping in the breeze at 25+mph, or hanging from their handlebars... often with a passenger sidesaddle on the back rack, or rocking a big set of Beats headphones and texting..

I have love and respect for both cyclists and motorcyclists, but the local e-bike 'culture' is the Wild Wild West. A firefighter buddy says the amount of calls they respond to for either accidents or battery fires has been steadily on the rise.

I see a moderate amount of youth hooliganism on E-bikes and tons of inexperienced bike handlers of all ages with no sense of rules of the road and common courtesies cyclists should be doing for pedestrians.
E-bikes add different, speeds and different maneuvers to look out for when driving an auto compared to usual cars, trucks, motorbikes, cyclists and pedestrians.

That said there is a lot of good that comes with electric bikes, it's incredible to see kids are riding to school, sports and their functions at a very high rate compared to a few years ago.

And the economics, you can get a 35mph (top speed) E-bike with a giant battery for 2k, no license, registration, insurance required.
For me, soon it will not be worth buying any 150cc and below ICE motorbikes.
These E-bikes, (after purchase) are almost free to operate, can be used for a large percentage of car trips and can go where our vespas, off road ICE dirt bikes and other registered motorbikes can't, like city bike trails, mountain bike trails, sidewalks, over curbs, through dells, and parked in your living room if no garage.

There in lies the rub. I'll be pulling our kiddo trailer with my single-speed and need to be aware of a tween negotiating a curve on our 8' wide local path while bombing at me or trying to overtake at 30mph... on a bike that weighs 75lbs.

I won't even get into how they never return 'they wave.' Aren't e-bikes below scooters in the pecking order? Aren't we the Harley in this instance and should be doing the snubbing?!