Originally Posted by
ossie
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Why would local authority or country be so short sighted as to ban an E bike.....they are restricted to 15 mph as a rule yet open up a massive leisure activity for people who couldn't ordinarily cycle for whatever reason.
I do not think any state in USA bans them, I think they are allowed on roads in any state.
On trails, the ban is for safety. The trails were designed for low speed muscle powered bicyclists or pedestrians and the trails are quite narrow, narrower than a single traffic lane on a street.
I do not think any e-bikes sold in my state are restricted to 15 mph, I think that they are all restricted at 20 or 30 mph. But as mentioned above, many such bikes have the restricting device disabled so they can go as fast as the 750 watt motor can take them.
The state considered a rule that allowed e-bikes on the bike trails as long as they never went over 15 mph. The lobbyists for the manufacturers and retailers pushed hard for this rule, but since few if any of the e-bikes that were sold here were fitted with a speedometer, nobody would know if they are going slow enough or not. I think that is one reason that the state did not allow them.
Some of the bike trails here are not rail to trail type trails, thus they do not always go in straight lines, some trails here are through forests and have curves where you can't see more than 20 to 30 feet ahead at times.