e-Bikes - The new silent killer!

[Black Grouse]

5 minutes ago, Borussia 1900 said:

There aren’t many that e-bike nutters in the UK yet, here in Germany and especially in Holland they are everywhere, an absolute army of clueless menaces causing no end of dramas. Once my knee is better I’m having cricket bats taped to my handlebars so I can bat the lunatics off as I’m going.

You’ve lost me 

 

It used to be a requirement under UK law that any cycle sold in the UK required an audible device, eg bell, but that requirement somehow disappeared in the '70s when we joined the Common Market (EEC)

[svimes]

6 hours ago, Babstreefern said:

That's the trouble today, no one is teaching youngsters the highway code, to stop, look, listen and looking both ways before crossing, and keep looking.   She would have been ok if she had done this, which I doubt, though she is old enough to know the "green cross code".  The amount of times I see mothers especially, walking with their kids whether in prams or walking with them, and they are on their phones chatting away to whoever, and just crossing roads and not teaching their children.   No doubt this pedestrian will not be the first to die by a bicycle, whether e-bike or not, nor the last.

 

Yes they are teaching them about road safety 'these days'

[Borussia 1900]

30 minutes ago, Black Grouse said:

 

It used to be a requirement under UK law that any cycle sold in the UK required an audible device, eg bell, but that requirement somehow disappeared in the '70s when we joined the Common Market (EEC)

You still need lights and a bell here, so that must be a British thing, nothing to do with the EU

[Legal Eagle]

50 minutes ago, Black Grouse said:

 

It used to be a requirement under UK law that any cycle sold in the UK required an audible device, eg bell, but that requirement somehow disappeared in the '70s when we joined the Common Market (EEC)

There has never been a UK legal requirement for pedal cycles to be fitted with lights or an audible warning device at the point of sale. The only legal requirement is the need for lights and reflectors at night.

Pedal Cycle (Construction & Use) Regulations 1983.

Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989.

Edited September 21, 2018 by Legal Eagle

[svimes]

1 hour ago, Borussia 1900 said:

They do here

Think they are supposed to here too.

I do. But you get some dirty looks if you use it sometimes

[Paul_B]

14 minutes ago, Borussia 1900 said:

You still need lights and a bell here, so that must be a British thing, nothing to do with the EU

 

Lights on a night (if you're lucky), but the sellers look at you gone out if you ask for a bell.

I have a bell and the kids did, now our kids have fitted a bell to their kids bikes, as well as teaching them that they must wear a helmet if they want to go on the bike.

I thought that I'd done something right but it turned out that my nephew had showed them the blue scars on his face from falling off on the pit tips bike track, Pennine way if you're posh

 

Which reminds me, I have to dig my favour bike out from the shed an old GT triple triangle to give to my grand daughter, I don't want t part with it but, it really would suit her as she does endurance and will be doing triathlons with her mother soon.

 

 

[Borussia 1900]

Lights front and back, a bell, a saddle bag with tools, spares, pump, tubes etc, a phone, water, Cash, gel packst, high vis clothing. I have been up to 50 miles away from home (100 mile round trip) on my bike, the safer and better prepared the better in my opinion.

I‘m 2 weeks post Knee Op now, I tried a short cycle today (1 mile), it felt ok, I’ll try 2 miles tomorrow see how it goes 

I’m fitter than I look 

Edited September 21, 2018 by Borussia 1900

[svimes]

27 minutes ago, Paul_B said:

 

Lights on a night (if you're lucky), but the sellers look at you gone out if you ask for a bell.

I have a bell and the kids did, now our kids have fitted a bell to their kids bikes, as well as teaching them that they must wear a helmet if they want to go on the bike.

I thought that I'd done something right but it turned out that my nephew had showed them the blue scars on his face from falling off on the pit tips bike track, Pennine way if you're posh

 

Which reminds me, I have to dig my favour bike out from the shed an old GT triple triangle to give to my grand daughter, I don't want t part with it but, it really would suit her as she does endurance and will be doing triathlons with her mother soon.

 

 

I have a GT. Great bikes

[Borussia 1900]

1 minute ago, svimes said:

I have a GT. Great bikes

But are you as good looking as me? 

 

lol

[svimes]

1 minute ago, Borussia 1900 said:

But are you as good looking as me? 

 

lol

Not possible, surely? Daniel Craig, remember? (Just to a different scale)

[Borussia 1900]

Daniel Craig ??? He’s a lightweight, I’m a proper bloke.  

[Steamdrivenandy]

Didn't I read that Renault had built in a noise into the Zoe, so that people could hear it coming.

 

The other day I was caught out by an Outlander PHEV coming out of a n entry by our village church. It happened to be playtime at the nearby school and I was putting the dog poo bags in a wastebin and didn't notice or hear it coming up behind me. I stepped back from the bin and almost fell back over it's front wing. If the background noise of kids playing hadn't been there I probably would have heard it, and if it had been a diesel I certainly would have.   

[mprcomp]

8 hours ago, springtime said:

I thought electric cars were also silent 

 They make noise below 20. Above 20 noise form movement and tyres.

[Durbanite]

20 hours ago, springtime said:

I thought electric cars were also silent 

That was my question originally but seems to have been lost with every one defending e-bikes.  

[Joeblogs]

17 minutes ago, Durbanite said:

That was my question originally but seems to have been lost with every one defending e-bikes.  

As I said earlier; The Renault Twizy has a funky audible noise when in traction mode, however the driver has the option to switch it off and when traveling at low speeds (no tyre slap) it's absolutely silent. It should not be possible to switch off the audible noise unless you are traveling over 20kph.

 

Nice article in the Guardian from May this year (link below)

https://www. theguardian. com/environment/2018/may/06/new-law-combats-silent-menace-electric-cars

[JTQ]

My wife has a legal e-bike, for sound medical reasons, and I use it frequently, so we have a declared interest here.
Without doubt any "problem" with them is not the legal ones used sensibly. It is the idiots that use them in stupid ways, just as similar idiots use ordinary  bikes, skateboards, roller blades and mobility scooters, plus other things in stupid ways.
It is quite wrong to belt along populated shared routes oblivious or uncaring of other users, whatever one is using, even feet and jogging, with or without audio headsets and the thoughtless dog walkers using extended leads and those with multiple dogs. All viable if done considerately.
I am convinced they are here to stay and am very grateful they enable us to continue our lifelong activity together, now health makes that otherwise not possible.
I would like to see some really swinging fining of those who are the real prats using these and all other means in stupid, anti social, and or dangerous ways. I feel that would be quite "educational" in getting better practices.

I have no bell on my road bike, but a hooter that “quacks”; this I find is accepted in very much better humour than the previous bell.

[Griff]

Think I am going to get a couple of these for our eBikes.

 

Maybe they will shut the moaners up.

 

https://youtu. be/CDafMzo4HO8

 

Edited September 22, 2018 by Griff
Better link.

[JTQ]

5 minutes ago, Griff said:

Think I am going to get a couple of these for our eBikes.

 

Maybe they will shut the moaners up.

 

https://youtu. be/CDafMzo4HO8

 

 

You could do our old trick from the nineteen forties of clamping a bent up fag packet to interfere with the wheel to flap with the spokes?

 

[Townie]

5 minutes ago, JTQ said:

I would like to see some really swinging fining of those who are the real prats.

With todays "judges", that's highly unlikely. A case reported today regarding an imbecile who objected to a newly introduced "drop off" fee at an airport who then drove at an airport employee and carried him on the bonnet of his car for several hundred yards before being stopped by the police. He was spared prison by the "judge" who totally agreed with the mans anger at the fees because he, the judge, had also recently been caught by the fee at the same airport.(He DID ban him from driving for 12 months).

(Remember to quote this judge next time you're presented with a parking fee demand and feel like driving off with the employee on your bonnet.)

Mike

[Paul_B]

47 minutes ago, JTQ said:

 

You could do our old trick from the nineteen forties of clamping a bent up fag packet to interfere with the wheel to flap with the spokes?

 

 

I can see a marketing idea here, a cable tie sold as a electric bike safety enhancer, at £10 each, buy one get one free with free delivery for a limited period only.

[Gordon]

20 hours ago, Rodders53 said:

https://www. gov. uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-users-of-powered-wheelchairs-and-mobility-scooters-36-to-46

says they should NOT face oncoming traffic! especially at night where their lights could confuse.

I think we may be talking at cross-purposes here. I am thinking primarily of what is effectively an electric wheelchair, not the mobility scooters that can currently be legally registered for road use. I agree that lighting could be an issue at night if facing the traffic, in much the same way as a pedestrian on a country road would be hard to see unless carrying a torch or wearing reflective clothing but slow moving scooters when used in the middle of the road surely are a greater hazard.

Don't misunderstand me; I am not against the legitimate use of these scooters where there is an illness or similar restriction, and I realise that they are a great benefit to those that seriously need them but I do believe that they are not essential for all who currently use them. 

[stevew1]

I am thinking of converting my bike, a Dawes Mojave to e bike spec, mainly so I can get back up to the top of the hill to my house after riding on the Sustrans trail at the bottom .

[Black Grouse]

21 hours ago, Gordon said:

Similarly the use of mobility scooters by people who use them as if they are in a car, causing chaos and endangering both themselves and other road users. Personally, while I know that some can have road lights, travel faster (8mph) and be used on the road, I firmly believe these scooters should all be restricted to walking pace and used only where pedestrians would normally go. That is to say, slowly and on a footway at no more than 4mph, or if there is no footway then close to the road edge and facing the oncoming traffic - not up the middle of the road as I have seen many times near my house.

 

And get overtaken frequently by cyclists, e-bike or "manual", using footpaths at way more than 4mph - like cyclists, it's impossible to drive/ride some vehicles close to the kerb, a function of poor road quality.

 

There is a cost difference for mobility scooters between those who medically need one and others who find them convenient - no VAT is charged for those of us with chronic, ie long-term, conditions

Edited September 22, 2018 by Black Grouse

[Durbanite]

21 hours ago, Gordon said:

Don't misunderstand me; I am not against the legitimate use of these scooters where there is an illness or similar restriction, and I realise that they are a great benefit to those that seriously need them but I do believe that they are not essential for all who currently use them.  

How would you know unless you saw their medical records?

[springtime]

21 hours ago, stevew1 said:

 

I am thinking of converting my bike, a Dawes Mojave to e bike spec, mainly so I can get back up to the top of the hill to my house after riding on the Sustrans trail at the bottom .

 

Go for it, it’s not difficult taking an afternoon or less to fit as said you’re legally restricted to a 250 watt motor with pas.

Edited September 23, 2018 by springtime