Regarding Bob Mittlestaedt’s opinion piece on Feb. 18: What a great piece! I wish that in the first paragraph he would have clearly stated that the problem is illegal e-motorcycles and not e-bikes, and that we already have the tools to deal with this. We need to enforce the existing law, especially on manufacturers. The existing law is however too complicated. It perhaps can be difficult for law enforcement and schools to know if a vehicle is an e-bike. The law can and should be made simpler. The Mineta and other studies show the harm comes from speed, not whether there is a throttle or not, and too many throttle e-bikes can’t really be peddled. There is also confusion about what makes and models are legal. And so:
• All e-bikes must have functioning pedals, may have throttles, are restricted to 750 watts peak power, cannot have switches to subvert their power or speed limits and must have anti-hacking protection to stop the same.
• Class 1 e-bikes are limited to 20 mph and may be used anywhere non-e-bikes can be used, including trails, schools, on buses, trains, etc.
• Class 2 e-bikes are limited to 30 mph and may be restricted on trails, schools, buses, trains, etc.
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• Manufacturers must register the make, model and class of their e-bikes. The state will keep an up-to-date list that can easily be used by law enforcement and schools.
• Significant penalties must exist where manufacturers do not follow the law.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.