New California bill would illegalize passengers on many ebikes with narrow seating language
Posted by Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 39 comments
DJKaito@reddit
...I am to European or this... This is banned in my country since 1937.
chrispark70@reddit
Good. Bicycles are not meant for multiple people.
RichTrifle1785@reddit
So? Doesn’t mean we should ban it. I see a bunch of kids, teens and college students carrying their friends with their macfoxes or whatever. That’s a good thing, it gives them more opportunities to socialize in my city where everything is at least a mile away from each other.
BuildBreakFix@reddit
lol…. There are many that are purpose built for more than one person 😂
chrispark70@reddit
No. There generally are not. Bolting an extra seat to the back of a standard bicycle is not purpose built.
There are some cargo bikes specifically built for having children in or on them. But multiple adults, not really.
BuildBreakFix@reddit
Wow, do you use two hands to put on Chapstick? I literally said there are many that are purpose built to carry more than one person, then you disagree with me and follow up with making my point for me.
chrispark70@reddit
No, I said "No. There generally are not. Bolting an extra seat to the back of a standard bicycle is not purpose built."
I know about Tandems. This law does not affect tandems. The whole reason I put "generally" in there is because there is ALWAYS some smart-boi who says "askshually..."
Tandem bicycles are built from the ground up to be multi-rider bicycles. The wheels are much stronger, the frames are much stronger, there are additional handlebars the 2nd person can hold and usually a second drive train. There was no reason to address the obvious and the law doesn't affect tandems in any way.
What I object to is putting a second seat or even just a longer single seat on a single person bicycle. In most cases, the bicycle is not modified in any way other than the seating.
BuildBreakFix@reddit
That’s a whole lot of words to just simply say I miss the point completely. Where in any of my posts that I mentioned tandems?
chrispark70@reddit
You are right, it was someone else who brought up the tandem.
My logic holds true.
In Europe, e-bikes are limited to 250 watts, a power level many human riders can achieve. I totally oppose extreme e-bikes for largely the same reason, which is that the bike itself is simply not designed for the forces generated.
BuildBreakFix@reddit
lol…. What does that have at all to do with the topic being discussed?
chrispark70@reddit
Everything.
BuildBreakFix@reddit
I don’t have the time, nor the crayons to explain this to you….
demon_twink_gockie@reddit
you're incredibly wrong
chrispark70@reddit
Tandems prove my point. They are purpose built for 2 people and look nothing like regular bicycles. They are designed for the extra weight of a second adult. These random e-bikes are not. They have a second seat bolted on to a regular bicycle.
Visit the site YOU linked. Look at the tandem bikes in the picture. Look at all the extra tubes! They are not there for decoration.
JohnWittieless@reddit
A city council member braved the Minnesota cold as her partner pedaled her and her newborn from hospital in the Minnesota cold. A standard "Safety bicycle" is not built for passengers but many ebike are built for 450+ pounds and allows for a lot to be done.
chrispark70@reddit
I have no problem with a bicycle pulling a trailer, even if it is towing a Kayak. I also have no problem with a purpose built multiperson bike. It doesn't even have to be a tandem. I'm sure there are some models strong enough to handle the additional weight (though the driver is another story. Adding all that weight dramatically alters the handling of the bike), but most of the cheap e-bikes with a long seat or second seat simply are not.
.
Inciteful_Analysis@reddit
Lazy, illogical legislation to streamline enforcement. Because anyone can count the number of discrete seats. Harder to determine if a single seat can accommodate more than one person.
Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)
It even fails at that, because motorcycles are allowed contiguous seating for passengers. This would require police to enforce different seating requirements based on whether something's a legal ebike or an emoto. There's literally legal ebikes that turn into an emoto if you cut a wire under the seat and press a few buttons, so police would need fucking x-ray vision to enforce this correctly.
Inciteful_Analysis@reddit
So dramatic. But wrong.
rewt127@reddit
No they don't lol.
If 2 people are on the same seat. Then, because the only legal way to do that is with a motorcycle. It has to have a plate. And the state of California has restrictions on what can even get a plate. So if they see 2 up on a single seat and no plate. Roll the cherries and berries.
derping1234@reddit
Does it require each passenger to have a separate seat? If so, this could also affect bench style seating in long John cargobikes.
Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)
Yes.
TheFlightlessDragon@reddit
Good 👍
Unless a bike is purpose built to carry extra people, it’s dangerous.
Inciteful_Analysis@reddit
A bike with a single long seat could in fact have been purpose built to carry a passenger. That's the problem.
JohnWittieless@reddit
It's also purpose built to rely on a throttle only as you can't adjust the pedals into an optimal position.
True_NY_Lobster_@reddit
So stupid. Just let people ride bikes
JohnWittieless@reddit
Okay I actually like this one because it's targeting a feature that just about every reasonable (Even cheap brands) would already pass. Seriously the bike in the pick here shows a bike with questionable safety due to the bar seat.
coop_stain@reddit
Except this law is very specifically targeting e motos…
thephotoman@reddit
A part of me would love to live in California, but realistically, I own several things that are incompatible with Californian law already, but that are totally legal in Texas.
The fact that I'm talking about ebikes here seems silly, but here we are.
defiantcross@reddit
Lotta toddlers bout to go to prison
user954321@reddit
Boomers and Xers making riding on handlebars a crime.
SadisticPawz@reddit
It's an individual seat. So no.
ElBRGarcia@reddit
So manufacturers are just gonna put a seam with a gap on the same long seat. No matter how hard lawmakers try and come up with ways to improve safety as technology changes, we still live in a capitalist circus.
Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)
It'd require passengers be only on a separate seat, which would mean that you couldn't have a passenger on the same seat as you, even if that seat is designed for multiple people.
outdatedboat@reddit
So... This doesn't affect the vast majority of bikes. Mostly just those weird ebikes that try to look kinda like a motorcycle, and have a longer seat, and no option to change the height to actually fit you.
My cargo bike with a seat on the back, and running boards for the passenger's feet would be just fine.
Also... It's California. They're notorious for junk like this. They're the only state where basically every single food is required by law to say there's some chance it could be linked to cancer.
screaminporch@reddit
They will require seat to be narrow?
Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)
The language is narrow.
screaminporch@reddit
Thank your for taking me seriously, I was afraid someone might thing I was just kidding.
terminashunator@reddit
Good.