electric trike banned from national parks

I ride an e bike on the bike path/walking trail here. It is called the greenway. I am glad to see this story, since the feds are taking a look at the ebike differently than the gasoline bike. I can't find any laws in NC defining the Ebike as a motor vehicle so it's up in the air for be until they catch me and then I might have this same issue.

Now as to this particular trike. The only real problem I see is that it is wider than a bike and might cause a little problem passing people on the trail. My trailer is like that too. I am very, very aware of that and often slip off the trail on one side or stop completely and let them pass me. Of course you know that in a year or two the problem will be that some jerk will get one of these and fly over the trail at twenty miles an hour and hit some kid or dog. Then they will be all over me as well as the jerk. They might require that a bike be a certain width to ride the trail but who would enforce that.
 
I'd say it's obviuos that you shouldn't ride an electric bike (especially trike) on a path made for pedestrians...

A motorized wheelchair does prolly 8mph max, while most electric bikes can do 20+
 
According to the news reporter, you had to pedal the bike in order to actually get it to go "fast". I bet it has a cruising speed of 8 mph on electric power. It really looked like 5mph in the video
 
I think they should give the old guy a break. They never said how busy the trail was. It couldn't be that busy?
 
The biggest thing is the guy is disabled and according to the disability act it is illegal to ask what his disability is. So to really take advantage of the law just get a Dr. to write a letter stating you are disabled, you need your electric bicycle to get around and you're set.
 
...I know this is off-topic a bit, but is it jus' me or did that poor guy's rear wheels seem a lil wobbly/bent? o_O

I hope not... but I suppose at that (lack of) speed it'd not matter anyway *shrug*


I'm glad the ol' guy managed to get a permit/exception... stuff like this fills me w/fury...
 
ASPEN — Pedal-style bicycles that offer a battery-powered boost are blurring the definition of a motorized vehicle and generating renewed debate about what should and should not be permitted on Aspen-area bike trails.

Helping drive the discussion was the opening earlier this summer of Pete's Electric, renting electric bikes, or e-bikes, from an outlet off Puppy Smith Street, near the Aspen entrance to the Rio Grande Trail.

Read More...

Electric bikes drive trail use debate in Aspen, Pitkin County | AspenTimes.com


Photo...

Matt Monaghan breezes up the street on an electric bicycle Thursday. He helps run Pete's Electric, renting the bikes from a business on Puppy Smith Street, also home to his laundry and dry-cleaning business.
Janet Urquhart/The Aspen Times
 

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I am looking at purchasing a bike called a smoothie by lightfoot. It is a recumbent two wheeler They have a motor option. They use the subaru 35cc motor. It is hooked into the drive train so it will use the gears of the bicycle. I intend on going up the coast from central CA to Portland OR. I am hoping that with all this attitude about motors they do not try to tell me I can not use camping spots in state parks.
 
It's highly unlikely as those same camping spots are often used by other motor vehicles. Should you go further than that, to restricted areas where no motor vehicles are allowed to be used - simply shut down and pedal.

Such is the advantage of a motor assisted bicycle lol :D
 
Kevlarr said:
The biggest thing is the guy is disabled and according to the disability act it is illegal to ask what his disability is. So to really take advantage of the law just get a Dr. to write a letter stating you are disabled, you need your electric bicycle to get around and you're set.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is a blatant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. You shouldn't need a doctor's excuse, either. Can you imagine them stopping a power chair and harassing the person that needs it or a person on a standard wheelchair???

Somebody's going to get into a lot of trouble over this one...
 
They should allow people like that disabled man to use the state park. It is obvious that they are not worried about him being a danger to the public. They are worried about other users who would endanger people by being reckless. I have seen a woman killed and another injured by a group of idiots on mountain bikes who would not obey the rules. I have ridden motorcycles and bicycles and drove tractor trailers most of my adult life and never hit anybody or anything. My wife was on a public path and some idiot runs into the back of her. He had non functional brakes. There were no cables hooked up to the calipers. It is stupid people like this that make it difficult on the rest of us. Many restrictive laws are based upon idiots who cause these kind of problems.
 
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