The debate, launched in the United States, could broaden to other countries of the globe where electric bicycles now abound. On the other side of the Atlantic, one wonders if using cycle lanes remains reasonable.
Almost everywhere in the world and year after year, cycle paths abound and tend to democratize the use of electric bikes, sales of which increased by 240% in 2021 on the planet, if we are to believe the data. from the research firm NDP Group, thus exceeding those of traditional bicycles. The Covid-19 pandemic has been there and has contributed to accelerating the adoption of the electric bicycle, which for many is considered a real alternative means of transport to the car for example, making it possible to better fight against global warming. But some wonder if the place of electrically assisted bicycles, equipped with a motor, is on cycle paths.
The speed of electric bikes questioned
On the side of Nashville (Tennesse, USA), where the self-service bicycle company BCycle resumed its activities in July 2021 after stopping -Covid obliges- in the spring of 2020, the green paths reserved for cyclists have gained ground . And this is gradually bringing out the debate around the circulation of electrically assisted bicycles. From a regulatory standpoint, Tennessee state law allows e-bikes traveling at less than 45 km/h to ride wherever they please. But there are exceptions.
Motorized vehicles, and electrically assisted bicycles are one of them, have long been prohibited on green runs. In Nashville, there is a certain trauma, after accidents having been caused by electric scooters on these famous green slopes. And last summer, the city commissioned a report on the possibility of establishing new rules on the matter.
Since the car is particularly popular in Nashville, banning e-bikes from green trails would deprive e-bike owners of a lane they feel safe on, thus exposing them to more traffic hazards, on the land of country music.
Divergent positions, new infrastructures to put an end to the debate?
According to one of the members of the metropolitan council of Nashville, pedestrians are concerned about the speed of electric bicycles, coupled with their relative silence, which make them even more dangerous. “They are faster and heavier, that really worries people”, she adds. And this position clashes with that of soft mobility activists, who consider that greenways must definitely be open to owners of electric bikes.
Further east, in New York and again in the United States, we are also having this debate. On site, electric bikes have been legal since 2020. But the city considers them to be motorized vehicles that are not allowed to ride on trails or in city parks. Big Apple.
But what the various cities that are wondering about the future regulation of e-bike traffic are still lacking is data related to injuries caused by e-bikes. Chris Cherry, an engineer and university professor in Knoxville, explains that some injuries from e-bikes are directly categorized as motorcycle accidents. The two versions clash, with some believing that the arrival of electric bikes in certain areas increases the number of accidents, others claiming the opposite. The creation of new infrastructures more adapted to the circulation of electric bicycles, in the USA, in France and elsewhere, would undoubtedly help to bring everyone to agreement. But that is obviously harder said than done.
Source: Wired
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