This is basically true for anything that is not a car – preferably a humungous personal tank type SUV.
One of the big issues is that these things get wider and wider in the name of added safety… for the driver. And said drivers buy cars for 50k€+, but try to haggle for their license on the flea market. I know so many people involved in accidents with cars, I’ve been, for a lack of a better word, attacked twice now. Riding a bike in Berlin is best done on the sidewalk, slowly of course, to not endanger pedestrians. But that is probably still going to be detrimental to your ZÜP.
Brave new world.
It seems that the opinion of the public is, that general aviation is inherently dangerous and planes are falling from the sky. We as pilots know the risks, know how to mitigate them and enjoy our 3D activity.
Similar to it is EUC riding. The non-riders tend to overestimate the dangers. The riders train themselves and know what to do to be safe. In my learning period I experienced (often at the beginning and less and less as time passed by) during slow speed maneuvers something that I can call accelerated step out. But no falls, no crashes whatsoever.
Cobalt, you are right, it makes sense to protect oneself, it is part of the risk mitigation. I wear motobike jacket and trousers with joint and back protectors, full face helmet and wrist guards. When I zoom to work, I look like the Jedi Knight. The old ladies walking their dogs in the forest parks laugh at me, and that is good.
Inkognito, I ride a bike, too, and know how tough is to mix with traffic. With EUC of my category it is much easier. In the cities, the EUC can run at the same speed as the cars and that makes it actually safer. Outside of cities, I anyway prefer offroad trails over roads, it is more fun. Well, and I share your opinion about personal tanks :-)
Well, the issue is – bikes are traffic, too. It’s just not apparent to the average car driver that you shouldn’t overtake them with a few centimetres and a tingling feeling in their left hand (right hand where applicable) to spare.
To not derail this any further, I wonder about the legality of these unicycles, especially the fast ones on roads. Any road infringements come with a züp relevancy attached, so I’d rather not… and surfing one of these things at 50km/h through the city will surely attract the interest of any bored police officer.
The second thing I wonder – this cool little Honda scooter, is there anything like it rated for two persons?
dublinpilot wrote:
Mine is a reasonable and well known brand. Xiaomi.
Is it this one?
https://mi-store.ch/p/Xiaomi-Mi-Smart-E-Bike-zum-Klappen-6934177711145
Looks really neat and as a Xiaomi “fan” I’d love to look into it.
They appear also to have pretty neat and cheap scooters.
Edit: just seen, none of the Xiaomi products work for me as they are limited to 100kg total driving weight. So anyone over 80 kgs approx can’t use them. Shame.
Anyone tried these? Lightweight, good range and fast!
@Inkognito, absolutely. We, bikers, are at the mercy of us, car drivers. In my country we have a fresh new law, that cars can pass bikes only with 1.5m or more lateral distance. This made the drivers more aware of bikers and most drivers really do obey this law. Good.
As to legality of EUC, that differs country to country. In Germany or Netherlands EUCs are banned and the ban is strongly enforced (as far as I heard). In my country EUCs are probably still below the radar of our legal machinery, and if something is not illegal, then it is allowed. Thus, as there is nothing to enforce, our police does what it is supposed to do, to help and to support (my personal experience).
Can you actually drive one of those things, e-bikes, scooters, without a licence anywhere?
And how can you actually use e-scooters legally? They are motorized, so they are illegal in pedestrian zones and sidewalks, but I can’t see how they are legal to drive on public roads?
I also keep seing Americans who order chinese cars and bikes e.t.c by Amazon or Ali and drive around in the US? That is unthinkable in Europe, without MOT/TÜF/MFK e.t.c. so how is this in the US? Can you simply drive any contraption you can think of?
In Europe, an e-bike (Pedelec 25: motor assistance up to 25 km/h, motor power maximum 250W, etc) is covered by the same regulations as a purely muscle-powered pedal bike; I think that’s an EU regulation. So it is legal where a muscle-powered bike is, possibly with the exception of very local regulations (like a city can make an ordinance that forbids e-Bikes on a particular street or so).
A Pedelec 40 (motor assistance up to 40 km/h, more powerful motor) is regulated as a moped.
EUCs, e-scooters, etc are regulated by national rules, so the rules differ by country.. There is an overview for e-scooters at https://www.evz.de/en/reisen-verkehr/e-mobilitaet/zweiraeder/e-scooter-regulations-in-europe.html
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I can’t see how they are legal to drive on public roads?
Well, they are, the laws have been adapted.
lionel wrote:
I can’t see how they are legal to drive on public roads?Well, they are, the laws have been adapted.
Not in the UK, I think, unless it is power-assisted bike up to 25km/h.
