E-bikers around the country are freaking out over California’s attempt to regulate e-bike use. Senator Catherine Blakespear (D-SD) introduced Senate Bill 1167, legislation that is aimed at “tightening California’s oversight of electric mopeds and other higher-speed electrically powered two-wheelers that fall into gray areas of existing law.” “Gray areas” is putting it lightly. Electric motor bikes (not necessarily bicycles) almost immediately became the insane wild west of US transportation. The crowd who are promoting these electric scooters and motorcycles are about as technically adept and unskilled as the average US motorist, but they imagine themselves to be “special.” Senate Bill 1167 bill hopes to “create a clearer regulatory framework for vehicles marketed as e-bikes but capable of speeds and performance more akin to mopeds or lightweight motorcycles.”
Since this is the United States, where we can’t even manage to keep high-capacity, military-grade automatic weapons out of the hands of kids, morons, and lunatics, I can only wish California “good luck.” The law’s intention is not just rational, but worthwhile, “Faster and more powerful electric motorcycles are being marketed as e-bikes, which is dangerous to children and adults,” Blakespear said. “SB 1167 makes clear to consumers whether they are buying an e-bike, which has defined limits for power and speed, or something else.” The problem is that the same people who happily elected a convicted felon to the Presidency are the ones buying electric motorcycles and whining “but it has pedals” when the fact is that they are incompetent riders, aggressive traffic hazards, and low-level criminals.
Yeah, “low level-criminals.”
Like exhaust noise and pollution, most every state has laws defining bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles. The definitions are based on horsepower and max speed under power and they are defined at the national level by DOT. E-bikes, for example:
“Electric-assisted bicycle” means a bicycle with two or three wheels that:
- has a saddle and fully operable pedals for human propulsion
- meets the requirements of a class 1, class 2, or class 3 electric-assisted bicycle.
In Minnesota, a moped (motorized bicycle) is defined as having:
- Pedals or a seat,
- 50cc, engine max 30 mph.
- Requirements: Must be registered ($6 annually). Operators need a driver's license or a Moped Permit.
- Operation: Cannot operate on sidewalks or interstates.
And motorcycles:
- Seat/saddle,
- 2 or 3 wheels, >50cc. Includes motor scooters (e.g., Vespa).
- Requirements: Valid driver’s license with a 2-wheeled endorsement. Must be registered, titled, and insured.
- Operation: Must use lanes, not sidewalks. Passengers allowed only if designed for them.
See how easy that would be to regulate? Probably not. If vehicle noise is beyond the capabilities of “law enforcement,” everything else is Crazyville. Minnesota’s 325E.0951 Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Systems rule provides police with clear guidance, even defining “motor vehicles,” “people,” and the parts of a vehicle’s “air pollution control systems” for the totally clueless characters in uniform:
- Motor vehicle. "Motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine and designed for use on the public highways, such as automobiles, trucks, and buses.
- Person. "Person" means an individual, firm, partnership, incorporated and unincorporated association, or any other legal or commercial entity.
- Air pollution control system. "Air pollution control system" means any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in order to comply with pollutant emission restrictions established for the motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine by federal statute or regulation.
Minnesota’s law is clear about “prohibited acts” and the penalties, too:
- A person may not knowingly tamper with, adjust, alter, change, or disconnect any air pollution control system on a motor vehicle or on a motor vehicle engine.
- A person may not manufacture, advertise, offer for sale, sell, use, or install a device that causes any air pollution control system not to be functional as designed.
- A person may not sell or transfer a motor vehicle with knowledge that any air pollution control system is either not in place or is not functional.
- Subd. 4.Penalty: A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Spend a few moments on any major traffic route in the state and you won’t have a moment of trouble identifying misdemeanor criminals, but local and state cops are totally incapable of this simple task. If there were ever a job that could be immediately performed better than humans, it would be “traffic cop.” Put a decibel meter, a CO-sniffer, and a photon-cannon on a robot and advertise the “new rules” on YouTube (where all of the idiots get their “information”): “If your vehicle is stopped for noise or emissions violations, you will be given five minutes to remove your possessions from the vehicle before it is vaporized.”
Likewise, if a Robocop sees a “bicyclist” cruising along at 21+mph on level ground without pedaling, the bike is obviously a moped (under 30mph) or a motorcycle and becomes the property of the city or state to sell at auction, or to crush for the recycling value. Or provides roadside entertainment with the photon-cannon.
Obviously, in every respect, e-bikes are the least of our problems today. Our Constitution is so poorly conceived and written that it doesn’t prevent convicted felons from becoming President, although that same person probably couldn’t get a job at McDonalds flipping burgers. That wad of slavery-protecting tissue paper doesn’t prevent Supreme Court judges from taking bribes or even require the Chief Justice to recuse himself for having direct financial interest in a case. Thanks to the deadly blow to democracy from the Citizens United stupidity, every Russian oligarch, tech bro billionaire, and foreign interest can buy any political office needed to rape and pillage the nation’s credit and national security.
The inability to competently regulate something as simple as electric bicycles vs. motorcycles is just a symptom of a nation that has spiraled into lawlessness and chaos. At least from where I sit, it’s hard to see a path to anything resembling an organized, rational, law-abiding society. Canada is looking better every day: and I hate winter.
