this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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Fuck Cars

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Today is a big day for the future of e-bikes in New York City. A hearing starts at 10 a.m. You can file a written comment until 5 p.m. You can also send an email to rules@dot.nyc.gov until 5 p.m

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[–] vxx@lemmy.world 72 points 1 week ago (28 children)

16mph is the limitation in germany. If your bike is faster, you have to register it an pay tax, and cant use dedicated bicycle infratructure anymore.

16mph is exactly the speed where I'm fast enough but dont feel like I would die in a crash.

Everything above would require protective clothing like on motorcycles Imo, and that kind of defeats the purpose for ebikes for me. I want to ride my bike but don't want to have to fight against wind and going up the hill.

If an ebike is as fast as a motorcycle, it should get treated as one.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Yeah but blinking bike lights are also illegal to sell in Germany because you realized that drunk drivers target fixate on them and you apparently found that ban to be a better solution than aggressively cracking down on drunks. So I don't give much credence to the rational integrity of German vehicular law. I go faster than 16 MPH literally every time I get on my bike. A regular non-motorized bike, powered only by me.

[–] inktvip@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It’s the exact same in the Netherlands. The pedal assist is capped at that speed, but nothing stops you from powering though that and going faster. Not that it makes any sense to do so for the average daily office commuter.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Right, I think most of these delivery ebikes are throttle-operated. And they're trying to get to their destinations quickly, because a lot of people tip their delivery guys based on expediency. I wish we had curb-separated cyclepaths like in the Netherlands because it would make this debate so much more straightforward and speed-capping would be a simple yes, but in NYC delivery cyclists are usually rolling down 3-4 lane wide avenues among cars going 25-35 MPH (~40-55 km/h). Like almost all other bike problems, the issue is actually the cars.

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