My perception is that electric bikes are not bicycles if pedaling is optional. If that threshold is crossed, then they are mopeds and should be treated as such and disallowed on infrastructure that bans motorized vehicles. However, I don't care whether they need to be registered and titled, but it seems a bit like overkill to do that.
I have little problem with pedal assist bicycles which require pedaling to operate the motor and are limited to a max speed of 15mph, which is the max speed on most shared use paths I've used.
I think the big danger of these is that they can create a dangerous speed differential between pedestrians and e-bike riders or even e-bike riders and casual cyclists which can cause injuries and paint perceptions of cyclists in a negative way.
2014-11-07 15:15:13