Originally Posted by
Ogsarg
I never said speed didn't matter. What I said was the longer you can maintain that speed is irrelevant. If the 200 pound guy on the 16 pound bike happens to hit a pedestrian during the 30 seconds he is traveling at 30MPH, it's going to do just as much or more damage as the 160 pound guy on the 40 pound e-bike doing the same speed. The fact he can't sustain that for a long time isn't going to make it hurt any less.
If people want to say no bikes of any kind should go 30MPH on the street or MUP, I'm fine with that. But if you say it's fine for me to go as fast as I want but not the person on the e-bike, then I have to disagree.
Yes, and I answered that duration question--the longer you maintain 30 mph, the more likely you are to hit something or someone. So, from a probability of crash standpoint, it's very important. If the 200 pound guy is only going 30 mph for 30 seconds, he's much less likely to do the speed-enhanced damage than the 160 pound guy doing it for an hour.
And just to get real world about it, I'm pretty sure people who can maintain 30 mph under their own power will, on average, be lighter than people who do it on a powered bike.
As to the distinction, the line between motor vehicles and ebikes has to be drawn somewhere. Human-power peaks out at about 30 mph, motor power can go much higher. The real question isn't whether ebikes can be allowed to go more than 30 mph, it's whether someone should be allowed to operate a motorized vehicle at that speed without a license.
And, just as an aside, what percentage of bicyclists can actually maintain 30 mph on the flat under their own power? The potential number of ebikers who could do so would only be limited by the availability of the ebikes. Requiring someone get a license to ride under their own power at 30+ mph is a regulatory nightmare to regulate an incredibly small number of people.