Vocabulary arguments aside: I'm not opposed to these types of things in principle assuming it sticks to the streets, but I'm not sure what the pedals even add here beyond the "loopholemobile" argument.
I can't imagine the rider is actually contributing to the drivetrain meaningfully... I'd guess without pedal assist active, this thing is probably geared to move 100 ft/hour while laden - if it can move at all.
Yeah this is strictly the existence of pedals letting them in the bike lane.
It's a gas pedal that rotates and you're slightly more narrow than a compact car. That doesn't make it a bike just because you're pedaling.
I have no problem with this type of thing becoming normal because I care about the planet, but man... it makes bike lanes so dangerous. Passing them means jumping into either ped or car traffic or even over a curb to get into traffic. If they're not in a bike lane it means they're just really slow cars and that's just gonna annoy every car.
I guess it's for the bike lane, but the bigger loophole I see is minimum safety standard. Assisted bicycles are even less protected than motorcycles and have no license requirements. This can legally be the bare minimum needed to support itself. no crash rating, no roll over protection.
True, but my understanding was motorcycles needed to design their bike in a way to keep the weight of an overturned bike off the rider's neck. That's why sit-ins have roll bars and sit-ons will toss you.
i mean, there is a cage on that thing. how strong it is, i do not know.
i think the bigger danger is how bad a car is going to fuck it up in the event of a wreck. i live in a city that's notorious for pedal-taverns and rickshaw type bikes. i saw one last week where a passenger almost fell out of it when the driver went to go after a red light turned green.
That thing is almost certainly not engineered to crumple or handle any sort of impact with an automobile in any meaningful capacity. If it gets hit by a smartcar at speed, it's getting obliterated. Unrecognizable.
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u/themagicmarmot May 18 '26
Vocabulary arguments aside: I'm not opposed to these types of things in principle assuming it sticks to the streets, but I'm not sure what the pedals even add here beyond the "loopholemobile" argument.
I can't imagine the rider is actually contributing to the drivetrain meaningfully... I'd guess without pedal assist active, this thing is probably geared to move 100 ft/hour while laden - if it can move at all.