Some time ago I was surprised how fast these e-bikes are compared to my motorcycle. In Belgium we have plenty of roads where bikes can go but not cars & motorcycles.
One morning I overtook a colleague on an e-bike (max 45km/h) with my motorcycle. A few streets later I overtook him again, since he took a shortcut that I was not allowed to take.
A bit later I overtook him again, since I had a red light and he again took a shortcut.
Are you sure your friend was actually allowed to take that shortcut with an e-bike going 45 km/h?
AFAIK, these are considered "light motorbikes" (or something) and require the same paperwork (aside from an "easier" license) and gear as regular motorbikes.
More importantly, they are specifically not bikes and aren't allowed to ride on bike lanes any more than a fat liter+ bike is.
You are correct, but for those shortcuts it was allowed.
There is however a grey zone when going on bicycle lanes next to the rivers, because you can go max 30km/h there. But when nobody is there, I'm sure most e-bikes just go max speed.
Are you sure your friend was actually allowed to take that shortcut with an e-bike going 45 km/h?
If it looks like a bike and you ride it like a bike, you're not going to have any problems riding it where bikes are allowed. It sounds like you envision this person riding at absolutely maximum possible speed at all times.
How many times have you hit someone while riding a bicycle? I never have.
How much harm do you suppose it would do, leading to "massive legal trouble"?
Incidentally, 45kmh is 28mph, which I was just barely able to maintain on level ground on my road bicycle when I was fit. The "speed pedelecs" laws seem a bit silly rather than simply enforcing speed limits and penalizing reckless behavior.
>>How many times have you hit someone while riding a bicycle? I never have.
I suppose I should stop paying for car insurance then, since I never had an accident either. Or maybe more accurate example is that I shouldn't worry about the safety of my car, since I never actually hit anyone with it.
>>How much harm do you suppose it would do, leading to "massive legal trouble"?
There was a cyclist in london recently who ran into a woman on his modified bicycle, she tripped, hit her head on the pavement and died - he was subsequently found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to prison for many years.
You could run into someone at 5mph, they could hit their head on something and die. There is another case exactly like this going on where a person hit their head on a bollard and left him permanently disabled for life.
The entire point is that if you are on a path specifically forbidden for cycles, and an accident happens while you are cycling, you will be found guilty and will have to face consequences, most likely much harsher than if you weren't doing something forbidden.
I suppose I should stop paying for car insurance then, since I never had an accident either.
Ah, yes, because cars and bikes represent totally comparable risks to others.
Now you can go cite some more wildly improbable anecdotes, notable entirely because of how exceptional they are, as a response. I'll be over here looking at the 1.3 million people who die in car accidents around the world and not caring about e-bikes at all.
>>Ah, yes, because cars and bikes represent totally comparable risks to others.
The point is that "I don't see a point in doing X because X has never happened to me" is not a good argument.
Let's try a better comparison then - maybe I should cancel my cycling liability insurance, because I never hit anyone with my bike then?
>>I'll be over here looking at the 1.3 million people who die in car accidents around the world and not caring about e-bikes at all.
I don't see how that's relevant to what I said - you will be punished more harshly if you cycle where you shouldn't. The number of people who die in car accidents bears no relation.
I've seen someone on one of those e-scooters going like 40km/h. It looked terrifying. I'd be worried doing that much on bicycle but on tiny scooter wheels anything bad and you're catapulted into pavement.
I have some experience with these and 40km/h (just under 25mph) is roughly half what some will do [0][1] and with full-suspension you wouldn't necessary be catapulted with a small bump.
But when going above bicycle speeds, I do tend to wear increased safety gear. My biggest concern is always being t-boned by a car.
One morning I overtook a colleague on an e-bike (max 45km/h) with my motorcycle. A few streets later I overtook him again, since he took a shortcut that I was not allowed to take.
A bit later I overtook him again, since I had a red light and he again took a shortcut.
We arrived at the same time at work. Impressive!