Via is a public services scam and should be a scandal. “ride with via” yeah how about you fucking pay your workers a living wage, stop playing ‘contractor status’ games with your fucking employees and better yet, stop existing and give the money back to actual public transit solutions, because uber-run-by-the-city doesn’t fucking count and if you’ve ever actually used the service you know why, and I feel like the “fuck cars” comm might have exercised a bit more discretion in throwing their implicit endorsement here. Also, now that I have reason to look at this guy’s stats, what stat is he quoting? Did he select recent data from the pandemic? How would we know? He doesn’t cite a source or give a start or end year for the 80% comparison, so actually, what the fuck is he talking about? Furthermore, half or more of people in a major american city don’t own a car? Maybe, but, doesn’t that smell fishy? Has new jersey actually done such an amazing job of otherwise revitalizing their public infrastructure, or is this guy doing what so many other "smarter-than-the-average-politician"s do with statistics? Anyway, where’s his information supposed to be coming from? Not for nothing, my experience of installing bike lanes is that people ride bikes first, get upset at the number of incidents and demand change at a local level; demand first, then supply. Not saying it cant happen the other way around, but that simply hasn’t been my personal anecdotal experience of american bicycle infrastructure. Also, am I crazy? Doesn’t this post give AI once you’re looking for it? the emojis? “here’s the reality?” What is this bandwagon you have all just jumped aboard?
tl;dr this post is sus and y’all need to practice some fuckin media literacy.
They just couldn’t resist that last point… tells you everything
Different shit, same stink. These people are usually no different than the racists from the 60s–70s that helped to create the shitty urban landscape these efforts are trying to fix.
yeah the redlining and blasting highways through neighborhoods of color… what the fuck…
Ebikes that do 30mph? That’s a special category called speedpedelec here. Need a license to ride, mandatory helmet, mandatory insurance and mandatory license plate on the “bike”. All other electrified bicycles are called ebikes, no license, plates or helmet required (but I insist you wear one anyway), they’re limited to 25kph (what is that, like 14mph?) assisted and the motor can’t exceed 250W.
Are regular cyclists allowed to ride faster than 30MPH?
If the posted speed is >30mph and you juiced your legs like Armstrong, then I guess, at least here, it’s fair game.
Large groups of cyclists can go between 40 and 50kph on a level road, so if they go downhill then sure.
I routinely break 30MPH on my regular unjuiced legs. I do understand how the fact that ebikes can readily and easily break that speed in any conditions leads to them doing it regularly thus making them a greater risk to themselves and bystanders. But it still always strikes me as a little funny or ironic how they need a license in many places to do that while I do it all the time for free, and how the conversation over safe streets often revolves around how to manage them, while meanwhile cars in my country continue to kill 125+ people every day.
Ebikes don’t need licenses, pedelecs do.
However, your ebike (max 25kph pedal assistance) can be tested by police and if it fails the test (altered pedal assistance, motor >250W, …) they are taken and later destroyed. People generally don’t go over the pedal assisted speed because the bikes are rather heavy.
I converted my bike to an ebike. I could set it to 60kph but I don’t because I don’t want it taken away and 25kph is plenty okay imo. The first time I tested the bike i managed to go 40kph I think and that’s when my legs couldn’t move fast enough to drive the pedal assistance. It’s only a 7 speed and at that time I still only had caliper brakes 😅. It just one of the first test rides checking the configuration.
Also, neither pedelec nor ebike are allowed to use/have a throttle. That would make them electric scooterbikes, which is a different category of vehicle with more/other regulation. My kit came with a throttle, but I didn’t mount it.
Can confirm on the “unjuiced legs”
I live in a super hilly town and often hit 30-33 downhill.
Where is that out of curiosity? I don’t know the laws everywhere of course not even in different states, but I was able to get a 500W(advertised at 1000 peak) off of Amazon here in GA, US for fairly cheap and ride it without any issues.
Looking at the GA state laws, it would count as a class 3 ebike (under 750W pedal assist higher than 20 mph but lower than 29 mph)(also has a mode that works as class 2, full motor up to 20mph but I never use it), which just means I have to be above 15 and wear a helmet. Technically, I should always ride it on the road instead of on the sidewalk, but the sidewalks around here hardly ever have people on them, so I mix between.
I do generally prefer lower pedal assist since I use it for exercise as well, and I don’t feel comfortable going above 20 anyway so I only hit max 25 going down hills because I’m already trying to brake if I’m going above 23 or so
Central EU, Belgium
Idk who this Brad Davis guy is, but he is pretty obviously garbage with trash opinions
The only point that was even remotely valid was the “over 30” bit, and that’s already covered by laws on e-bike classifications.
If your e-bike doesn’t cut pedal assist at 28, or throttle only at 20, it is now a motorcycle and must be licensed and registered as such.
I get mad at this stuff. A motorcycle license is not that hard to get; just take MSF. Add turn signals and a license plate holder, and remove the vestigial pedals, and you’re basically there.
Just from an engineering perspective, bike parts are not meant for that kind of speed and torque. The frames can’t handle it, the tires can’t handle it, the chains can’t handle it, and the brakes can’t handle it. If you want motorcycle speeds, get motorcycle parts.
just take MSF
Honestly everyone should be taking a class like MSF just to drive. They would certainly understand aggressive road behavior, peoples driving patterns, etc so much better.
I briefly rode a motorcycle back in the day and I can say that taking a motorcycle safety course absolutely improved my driving. It helped me become more aware of cyclists and bikers on the road and made me more aware of how my actions impacted how the bike (or car) moved. It was incredibly helpful and I would recommend it to anyone even if you’re not interested in riding a motorcycle.
Its a great course. I’ve taken a lot of different driving courses (friend taught them, I used to jump into his classes for fun and learning) so I’ve learned all kinds of defensive driving methods…
And hands down MSF is my favorite. Well aside from driving large emergency vehicles safely through cities, but that one was just a fun obstacle course.
When I got my motorcycle license, plenty of people in the class failed. I think I only passed because the weekend before my buddy said let’s rent scooters and ride around. Got me used to it.
An e-bike that provides petal assist up to 28 MPH is a class 3 Motorized Bicycle and requires license and registration. Also can’t take it on bicycle paths. https://thecyclistchoice.com/resources/new-jersey-ebike-laws/
You can only go up to 20MPH for class 1 (petal assist only) and 2 (has a throttle) e-bikes and those you can take anywhere a regular bike can go.
So if the bike is doing ~30, they’re supposed to have license and registration just like any other vehicle on the road.
Oh. Right.
I forgot that varies between states. Mine allows class 3 without a license.This is fucking insane to me. 30 kilometres (18mph) is the speed limit where I live. People pass me (on a scooter going about 15-18mph) all the time but I’m pretty sure nobody goes quite as fast as 30MPH. That’s crazy that’s like 50km which is the legal car speed limit on most residential streets.
Also, a fraction of cyclists riding non-electric bikes have a habit of moving faster than 18 mph, by the looks of it maybe even 30 mph
But since I’m barely capable of passing 18 mph limit myself, and usually prefer to ride even slower, I am not quite sure how fast are they
… and most importantly, operated as one–including all the same ‘rules of the road’ as other ‘motorized vehicles’.
I love the not so subtle end point for our asshole comment.
Good USians know to drive wrecklessly down our streets. It’s those damn illegals riding electric bikes wrecklessly that’s the problem!
Their true crime is “existing while brown”.
No, they drive quite wreckfully due to how reckless they are.
Complaining about non-white people in Jersey City is like complaining about water near the ocean. If it’s a problem for you, it’s your own fault for being there.
Ohh no, 30mph! That was way quicker than a Ford Mustang!
Gosh, that’s like about 50 kmph, that is really too quick for people that usually lack any protection. Person riding a bike even with helmet can get quite an injury if gets into an accident…
Pedestrians typically don’t wear any protection regardless.
While i agree, i’m pretty sure it happened once or twice to them and they amplify it as a crisis. Not to mention the emphasise on racial.
Of course it is, in todays traffic
Funny. A lot of the people I see riding scooters are white. They must be illegals from Canada or Germany.
The only people I see on ebikes are those dang nabbit youths.
My biggest fear is they don’t know the rules of the road or have any practical experience in a car to have defensive driving/riding skills. They don’t know when they are in someone’s blind spot or what it is like to be a driver in a familiar area while agitated (such as local Walmart parking lot or that on ramp that always has idiots and confusing signs or the stoplight that always has congestion… etc)
They have no clue how dumb I can be or what I’ve witnessed. Stop at the stop signs at least and don’t drive so close to parked cars going 20mph
This is a very, very good point. Giving moderately high speed vehicles to youth, without bodily protection like at least a helmet, is very dangerous. It should at least be against the law not to have a helmet.
But yes, young people are very bad at assessing the situation at any given moment in traffic. This comes after a few years of spending time in traffic. Not even after you have your license. Way after that fact.
With all that said, building for people rather than cars is a good move any day, IMO.
Helmet laws are tricky. They discourage people (especially low income) from riding bikes at all, and disproportionately give that same group extra legal or financial trouble.
The only good argument I saw against seat belt laws was this, that it gives cops more excuses to stop folks “driving while black” and blame it on something else.
There was a study in Australia where they found helmet laws didn’t increase rider safety. What they found was visually appearing safer (I’ve experienced this personally with helmet and hivis vest) drivers would get closer to riders. Some kind of perceived safety margin effect.
Funny enough, ebike users I see around here in GA (Panthersville/Decatur, few miles outside Atlanta) are all adults, generally above 30s. Younger people seem to use electric scooters. My bother and I both are in our 40s with ebikes, and even perusing an expensive bike store to see what they had(money I could afford) it was older couple I saw asking questions. Obviously anecdotal.
Lemmy too local. Going to Dragon Con?
Most likely yea. I usually go evey year, but haven’t bought tickets yet, so depends on if I can afford it(should be fine unless something bad happens).
There is at least one more of us here, they posted on a cosplay community (I don’t remember the name of it, maybe !cosplay@lemmy.world).
Thank you for coming to this grandpa‘s ted talk
Brad “Why yes, I am a complete fuckwit! How did you know!” Davis unintentionally demonstrating how many pedestrians and cyclists likely feel in the vicinity of cars and trucks is irony on a cosmological fucking scale, jfc
No way Brad is a real person. @USCasual? “His” tweets and replies are designed to stir up trouble (although apparently he’s had an account for a while).
Kudos to Mayor Fulop on his points and not getting sidetracked by this.
He’s the heel! Booooooooo!
Brad Davis giving us a working example of how cars and racism are interlinked in society.
Hoping that percolates to the rest of NJ.
Maybe eventually…
NJ. Is the most densely populated state, we should have state wide mass transit. A huge portion of the state commutes to NYC or Philly regularly.
I agree by far! Give me public transport that doesn’t take a fucking hour to get where I need to go! If I want to take the bus to my mother’s place it takes two and a half hours! How long does it take to drive? THIRTY MINUTES.
I want Jitneys everywhere though, cause I love them. I should not be in charge of the actual implementation of this.
Could someone explain what is meant by microtransit?
I first thought it’d be like those electric scooter hire, or maybe bike hire schemes.
But looking on line it looks like it might be just a city run version of uber.
Isn’t that just taxis? Or is there something I’m missing?
Certainly very taxi-like, but closer to an Uber pool, and owned/run by the city. Via just provides the software and apps and probably a routing algorithm.
Not sure about the jersey area but my area uses short buses for the paratransit, even though they don’t have microtransit at all
I used to live in a rural county that had regular bus routes which worked as one would expect and shorter busses you could schedule for a window the day prior or earlier. They would figure out allocation ahead of time show up and pick up and drop off a bunch of folks and drive everywhere in the boondocks.
This served as a connection between areas too rural to be Worth serving with regular routes and the more traveled parts.
Wasn’t he the guy that wanted to get to the bottom of the UFO drone thing?
