How is driving your kids in traffic on an electric bike any different than having them on a motorcycle?

[Anonymous]

There are 2 kids in my neighborhood- I would guess they’re 8 to 10 years old – whipping around going 30 mph. How do I know they’re going that fast? Because the speed limit is 25 mph and that’s what I’m doing and they’re passing me.
I think it’s unsafe.
My kids were on bikes at that age and they definitely were not passing up cars.
I’ve thought about putting it on the neighborhood Facebook page, but I don’t want to be a Karen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not any different if a motorcycle is traveling at 20 mph and a fat tire bike is traveling 20 mph

- trauma nurse. Not a pediatric one, thankfully

Or a road bike traveling 30-50 MPH downhill? How about the idiots who ride on narrow shoulders when there is a perfectly good bike path next to them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering lately, as I have witnessed so many parents with their toddlers on their electric bikes driving in rush hour how it is any different than having them on a motorcycle? At least on a motorcycle, people wear more than a bike helmet?

It drives me nuts that parents will -
not drink coffee while pregnant
or eat cold cuts
or sushi
or drink
and make sure their breastmilk is filter from forever plastics
will get the uber expensive crib that monitors breathing
But have no problem with their toddler being on an ebike

There's a simple explanation. It's performative, not safety, behaviors.

Yes. What all the thinks PP lists have in common with riding around with your kids on an cargo e-bike is that they are all things UMC people can do to project that they are educated, left leaning, urban, and cosmopolitan.

I say this as an educated, left-leaning, city person. There are also other reasons to do all of those things, but there is an inherent hypocrisy that a lot of my peers ignore because living a certain lifestyle/projecting a certain images matters more to them than adhering to any actual values system or even logic.

I don't know. I was annoyed by the look of these until I tried one and then realized how easy they make life. I'm truly not trying to signal anything. I do use it to take my son to school, on very slow city streets, averaging 12 mph. It's much faster than driving -- when driving i regularly get caught in a line at a red light and sometimes have to wait for a few light cycles, but ebikes can always go to the front of the block so you never get stuck. And you can park anywhere. and it feels much safer than my child biking himself, though we do that, too.

the commute is 1.5 miles

ebike commute: 7 minutes
car commute: 15 minutes
him biking himself: 20 minutes.

This person is the perfect example. Let me risk my child's life so I can save myself a few minutes (while cutting in front of all the other cars).

Im the PP. I don't cut in front of cars because I only bike on streets with designated bike lanes. But I can get to the end of every block on my bike (but in a car, I'm stuck behind other cars because it's a one-lane street). I'm lucky to live in a part of the city where the entire round trip ride can happen in bike lanes.

I really don't know what to tell people. I'm a very very experienced biker (as in a lived in a small town and had the kind of 1980s childhood depicted in Stranger Things where I biked everywhere), I biked to class in college, and Ive biked all over DC for the alst 20 years. bike lanes have made biking MUCH safer and easier. I'm truly, truly not signaling anything. It's just the easier, fastest way to get around the city.

I would not bike on an ebike if I lived somewhere where people drove more than 25 mph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering lately, as I have witnessed so many parents with their toddlers on their electric bikes driving in rush hour how it is any different than having them on a motorcycle? At least on a motorcycle, people wear more than a bike helmet?

It drives me nuts that parents will -
not drink coffee while pregnant
or eat cold cuts
or sushi
or drink
and make sure their breastmilk is filter from forever plastics
will get the uber expensive crib that monitors breathing
But have no problem with their toddler being on an ebike

There's a simple explanation. It's performative, not safety, behaviors.

Yes. What all the thinks PP lists have in common with riding around with your kids on an cargo e-bike is that they are all things UMC people can do to project that they are educated, left leaning, urban, and cosmopolitan.

I say this as an educated, left-leaning, city person. There are also other reasons to do all of those things, but there is an inherent hypocrisy that a lot of my peers ignore because living a certain lifestyle/projecting a certain images matters more to them than adhering to any actual values system or even logic.

I don't know. I was annoyed by the look of these until I tried one and then realized how easy they make life. I'm truly not trying to signal anything. I do use it to take my son to school, on very slow city streets, averaging 12 mph. It's much faster than driving -- when driving i regularly get caught in a line at a red light and sometimes have to wait for a few light cycles, but ebikes can always go to the front of the block so you never get stuck. And you can park anywhere. and it feels much safer than my child biking himself, though we do that, too.

the commute is 1.5 miles

ebike commute: 7 minutes
car commute: 15 minutes
him biking himself: 20 minutes.

This person is the perfect example. Let me risk my child's life so I can save myself a few minutes (while cutting in front of all the other cars).

Im the PP. I don't cut in front of cars because I only bike on streets with designated bike lanes. But I can get to the end of every block on my bike (but in a car, I'm stuck behind other cars because it's a one-lane street). I'm lucky to live in a part of the city where the entire round trip ride can happen in bike lanes.

I really don't know what to tell people. I'm a very very experienced biker (as in a lived in a small town and had the kind of 1980s childhood depicted in Stranger Things where I biked everywhere), I biked to class in college, and Ive biked all over DC for the alst 20 years. bike lanes have made biking MUCH safer and easier. I'm truly, truly not signaling anything. It's just the easier, fastest way to get around the city.

I would not bike on an ebike if I lived somewhere where people drove more than 25 mph.

None of that makes the people around you better drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not any different if a motorcycle is traveling at 20 mph and a fat tire bike is traveling 20 mph

- trauma nurse. Not a pediatric one, thankfully

Or a road bike traveling 30-50 MPH downhill? How about the idiots who ride on narrow shoulders when there is a perfectly good bike path next to them?

That is so obnoxious when they do that! You can't help but think of how stupid they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speed:

The rate at which an object covers distance, defined as the distance traveled divided by the time it took to travel that distance

The speed of the motorcycle vs electric bike is basically irrelevant in a crash situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not. I hope someone in this city runs on banning those things. They are nothing but a nuisance and a public safety hazard.

The number of middle school kids zipping around on ebikes on busy roads not obeying traffic rules is pretty terrifying.

Under 16 needs to be banned from riding ebikes, and 16+ needs to have some dort of road rules training course, test and licensing requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 2 kids in my neighborhood- I would guess they’re 8 to 10 years old – whipping around going 30 mph. How do I know they’re going that fast? Because the speed limit is 25 mph and that’s what I’m doing and they’re passing me.
I think it’s unsafe.
My kids were on bikes at that age and they definitely were not passing up cars.
I’ve thought about putting it on the neighborhood Facebook page, but I don’t want to be a Karen.

If you know who the kids belong to, text or call the mom directly.

That is how I handled it.

It was really awkward, but after I saw the kid whip around a corner right behind a reversing truck, without even looking, I felt like someone needed to speak up. Neighbors had been complaining about the middle school kid's ebike recklessness for weeks, ever since they got it.

It felt so uncomfortable to be that neighbor, but guess what? The kid on the ebike immediately stopped and has not been out around it since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not any different if a motorcycle is traveling at 20 mph and a fat tire bike is traveling 20 mph

- trauma nurse. Not a pediatric one, thankfully

I’ve never gone above 13 mph or so on my e-bike. I agree that biking is more dangerous the faster you go.

Your ki could be going 5 mp on their ebike, and if they cut into traffic and get hit by a car the ebike speed matters not one iota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imagine if we had a decent biking infrastructure like most developed countries (but yes that's another topic). Kids should absolutely not be riding either of these on public roads especially without helmets as I often see.

Fcps put in a ton of bike lanes a couple years ago, taking away car lanes everywhere in an attempt to encourage biking.

Guess what? No one, literally no one, ever rides on these new bike paths. The only thing taking away car lanes to create bike paths did was create more congestion and more auto polution from cars sitting longer in traffic because their 2 lane road is now one car lane plus a completely empty bike path.

FCPS has extensive bike infastructure. It is a waste of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not any different if a motorcycle is traveling at 20 mph and a fat tire bike is traveling 20 mph

- trauma nurse. Not a pediatric one, thankfully

This is the right answer. People who put these kids on these things are nuts.

It was safe for me to get him to preschool in our hilly bethesda neighborhood. But I wasn’t crossing river road or Wisconsin Ave….

Safe until someone comes around a blind curve or iver a hil and plows into your precious cargo.

Don't drlude yourself that you are doing anything but putting your kid at extreme risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering lately, as I have witnessed so many parents with their toddlers on their electric bikes driving in rush hour how it is any different than having them on a motorcycle? At least on a motorcycle, people wear more than a bike helmet?

It drives me nuts that parents will -
not drink coffee while pregnant
or eat cold cuts
or sushi
or drink
and make sure their breastmilk is filter from forever plastics
will get the uber expensive crib that monitors breathing
But have no problem with their toddler being on an ebike

There's a simple explanation. It's performative, not safety, behaviors.

Yes. What all the thinks PP lists have in common with riding around with your kids on an cargo e-bike is that they are all things UMC people can do to project that they are educated, left leaning, urban, and cosmopolitan.

I say this as an educated, left-leaning, city person. There are also other reasons to do all of those things, but there is an inherent hypocrisy that a lot of my peers ignore because living a certain lifestyle/projecting a certain images matters more to them than adhering to any actual values system or even logic.

I don't know. I was annoyed by the look of these until I tried one and then realized how easy they make life. I'm truly not trying to signal anything. I do use it to take my son to school, on very slow city streets, averaging 12 mph. It's much faster than driving -- when driving i regularly get caught in a line at a red light and sometimes have to wait for a few light cycles, but ebikes can always go to the front of the block so you never get stuck. And you can park anywhere. and it feels much safer than my child biking himself, though we do that, too.

the commute is 1.5 miles

ebike commute: 7 minutes
car commute: 15 minutes
him biking himself: 20 minutes.

This person is the perfect example. Let me risk my child's life so I can save myself a few minutes (while cutting in front of all the other cars).

+1 This is so crazy. Cutting in front of all the cars to get ahead on the road by bike is the exact thing that will put you and your child in danger. Wait until a driver doesn’t notice that you creeped up in front of them last minute as they slam their pedal when the light turns green. This is exactly why all bikers need some sort of safety training and testing if they are going to be riding on the street. I had biker yell at me that I had a stop sign as they zoomed toward my car. Never mind that it was a 4-way stop and I, in fact, did stop, and waited my turn to go, while the biker did not stop at all and came out of nowhere - as if the rules of the road do not apply to bikers. Crazy behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering lately, as I have witnessed so many parents with their toddlers on their electric bikes driving in rush hour how it is any different than having them on a motorcycle? At least on a motorcycle, people wear more than a bike helmet?

It drives me nuts that parents will -
not drink coffee while pregnant
or eat cold cuts
or sushi
or drink
and make sure their breastmilk is filter from forever plastics
will get the uber expensive crib that monitors breathing
But have no problem with their toddler being on an ebike

There's a simple explanation. It's performative, not safety, behaviors.

Yes. What all the thinks PP lists have in common with riding around with your kids on an cargo e-bike is that they are all things UMC people can do to project that they are educated, left leaning, urban, and cosmopolitan.

I say this as an educated, left-leaning, city person. There are also other reasons to do all of those things, but there is an inherent hypocrisy that a lot of my peers ignore because living a certain lifestyle/projecting a certain images matters more to them than adhering to any actual values system or even logic.

I don't know. I was annoyed by the look of these until I tried one and then realized how easy they make life. I'm truly not trying to signal anything. I do use it to take my son to school, on very slow city streets, averaging 12 mph. It's much faster than driving -- when driving i regularly get caught in a line at a red light and sometimes have to wait for a few light cycles, but ebikes can always go to the front of the block so you never get stuck. And you can park anywhere. and it feels much safer than my child biking himself, though we do that, too.

the commute is 1.5 miles

ebike commute: 7 minutes
car commute: 15 minutes
him biking himself: 20 minutes.

This person is the perfect example. Let me risk my child's life so I can save myself a few minutes (while cutting in front of all the other cars).

Risking the life of my child? The facts are that driving on the beltway is much, much more dangerous than any time riding a bike. Period. WTF is wrong with you? Mind your own business because you don't have the facts right from the very beginning. You can save your ignorant judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not any different if a motorcycle is traveling at 20 mph and a fat tire bike is traveling 20 mph

- trauma nurse. Not a pediatric one, thankfully

This is the right answer. People who put these kids on these things are nuts.

It was safe for me to get him to preschool in our hilly bethesda neighborhood. But I wasn’t crossing river road or Wisconsin Ave….

Safe until someone comes around a blind curve or iver a hil and plows into your precious cargo.

Don't drlude yourself that you are doing anything but putting your kid at extreme risk.

That can happen waling down the sidewalk or riding in a car. A dump truck could plow right through your car. WTF is your point? Statistics don't lie and biking is safer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering lately, as I have witnessed so many parents with their toddlers on their electric bikes driving in rush hour how it is any different than having them on a motorcycle? At least on a motorcycle, people wear more than a bike helmet?

It drives me nuts that parents will -
not drink coffee while pregnant
or eat cold cuts
or sushi
or drink
and make sure their breastmilk is filter from forever plastics
will get the uber expensive crib that monitors breathing
But have no problem with their toddler being on an ebike

There's a simple explanation. It's performative, not safety, behaviors.

Yes. What all the thinks PP lists have in common with riding around with your kids on an cargo e-bike is that they are all things UMC people can do to project that they are educated, left leaning, urban, and cosmopolitan.

I say this as an educated, left-leaning, city person. There are also other reasons to do all of those things, but there is an inherent hypocrisy that a lot of my peers ignore because living a certain lifestyle/projecting a certain images matters more to them than adhering to any actual values system or even logic.

I don't know. I was annoyed by the look of these until I tried one and then realized how easy they make life. I'm truly not trying to signal anything. I do use it to take my son to school, on very slow city streets, averaging 12 mph. It's much faster than driving -- when driving i regularly get caught in a line at a red light and sometimes have to wait for a few light cycles, but ebikes can always go to the front of the block so you never get stuck. And you can park anywhere. and it feels much safer than my child biking himself, though we do that, too.

the commute is 1.5 miles

ebike commute: 7 minutes
car commute: 15 minutes
him biking himself: 20 minutes.

This person is the perfect example. Let me risk my child's life so I can save myself a few minutes (while cutting in front of all the other cars).

Risking the life of my child? The facts are that driving on the beltway is much, much more dangerous than any time riding a bike. Period. WTF is wrong with you? Mind your own business because you don't have the facts right from the very beginning. You can save your ignorant judgment.

Apples to oranges. Riding in a rocket would be even more dangerous, but you don't commute to school on the ISS.