Watched a woman fly through a stop sign on a bike, almost get hit by a car, ditch the bike, and the car drove off. Me and Peja (in her bike trailer) stopped, and I got the lady and her bike off the road. Alright, so flying through a stop-sign is a pretty fucking (sorry mom) stupid thing to do on a bike (who's in this car that doesn't stop?), but it got worse. Now, first, it was an Ebike, which pissed me off, and second, she had a cast on her right foot. A walking cast, but not a riding cast - since those don't exist. I asked her how far she was from home, to see how big of a situation it was (she was claiming to be in great pain), and she responded "I'm not going home right now", got on her Ebike, and rode off.
The other Ebike I've seen around town is riding up and down the sidewalks (I believe it's a geared motor, they have more torque), which is pretty insane considering the weight and speed an Ebike can reach. Would you let someone drive a dirt-bike or a vespa down the sidewalk? An Ebike is lighter than a gas bike, but it's also nearly silent, so you don't hear it coming. The extra weight of the battery and motor (35lbs) also makes it a lot harder to maneuver. There's really no reason for anyone to be riding a bike on the sidewalk, but when you can do 40 km/h, and you're a 180lb man on a 50 lb bike, it's pretty insane.
New dangers seem so much worse than old ones.
I breathe the smog, dodge the cars, but this entry complains about people using a fantastic new form of transportation that I strongly support.
2 comments:
but was she wearing a helmet???
I ride my Human Powered (tm) bike on the sidewalk. It is just too dangerous as a majority of roads in Waterloo don't have bike lanes.
Oh ya and did I mention I don't wear a helmet or have a bell? Just listen for my yell: "Out of the way!!".
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