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e-bikes, cars, and bicycles

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Electric bicycles have joined the traffic on Toronto's streets, and I'm not a fan.

The main problem for me is that these motorized vehicles are being used in the cycle lanes. They're far heavier and bulkier than bikes, they don't require pedal power, and they're driven at higher speeds than most cyclists can attain (myself included). What's more, you'll see their riders attempting to sidle through the tiny cracks in traffic that a bicycle can manage but that a cladded, motorized scooter just can't manage. And then they'll hop up onto the sidewalk, etc etc.

This morning I saw a motorist hit one of these e-bikes, and for me the difference between bicycles and e-bikes was clear. The e-bike was in the cycle lane and a car made a right turn without checking if the cycle lane was clear (no turn signal, either). Clearly the driver made a stupid error. But when they collided, the e-bike was bounced to the side a bit but otherwise carried on. The two vehicles owners then compared notes for a bit. I gave one of my cards to the e-bike rider telling her that I'd witnessed the collision, and left.

As I cycled away, I could only think how different things would be if the e-bike had instead been a bicycle: a cyclist on the road! E-bikes aren't bikes, and they don't belong in the cycle lane.