{"id":1478,"date":"2018-12-30T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-30T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1478"},"modified":"2018-12-27T09:41:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T14:41:39","slug":"a-reader-asks-is-it-illegal-to-ride-an-electric-bike-on-a-bike-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/30\/a-reader-asks-is-it-illegal-to-ride-an-electric-bike-on-a-bike-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"A reader asks: “Is it illegal to ride an electric bike on a bike trail?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Local ordinances vary, but you usually can use common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the e-bike is designed to behave like a regular, muscle-powered bike, there\u2019s usually no problem. For example, if it\u2019s an electric assist<\/em> bike \u2014 ie one where you still pedal some or most of the time \u2014 and if the bike is ridden at normal speeds (typically around 19-25kph\/12\u201316mph), the e-bike will blend in with regular bikes and pose no special danger to other cyclists or pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why many e-bikes are governed so their top speed on level ground is about the same as that of expert, physically-fit cyclists on level ground: around 45kph\/28mph. Although that\u2019s faster than normal riding by average cyclists, it keeps the e-bikes within the range of muscle-powered speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustained bike speeds above 45kph\/28mph are simply beyond human muscle ability, and thus logically (if not legally) move speedy ungoverned or high-governed e-bikes into the class of “motorized vehicle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an electric bike is fully motorized or set to go much faster than normal muscle-powered biking speeds, it may pose a danger to standard cyclists and pedestrians, and thus shouldn\u2019t be used on bikeways \u2014 regardless of local ordinances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1478<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
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Local ordinances vary, but you usually can use common sense. If the e-bike is designed to behave like a regular, muscle-powered bike, there\u2019s usually no problem. For example, if it\u2019s an electric assist bike \u2014 ie one where you still pedal some or most of the time \u2014 and if the bike is ridden at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-e-bikes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-nQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3289,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/31\/where-are-some-good-places-to-cycle-around-boston\/","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":0},"title":"“Where are some good places to cycle around Boston?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-08-31","format":false,"excerpt":"( Answer requested by\u00a0Elynn Quirk.) This works almost anywhere \u2014 not just Boston: Open Google Maps. Click the three-line Menu icon in the corner. Select Bicyling from the left-hand menu. That\u2019s all it takes. Google will then superimpose a color-coded layer atop the normal road map showing you the area\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/bikelanes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/bikelanes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/bikelanes.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/bikelanes.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/bikelanes.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1599,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/12\/a-reader-asks-can-you-take-your-electric-assisted-bicycle-with-you-on-a-train-or-a-plane-in-the-united-states\/","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: “Can you take your electric assisted bicycle with you on a train or a plane in the United States?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-12","format":false,"excerpt":"If you can remove the batteries, then an e-bike is just like any other bike, and is subject to the same rules. A battery-less, totally inert e-bike can be shipped by almost any means. Li-ion batteries, if damaged or defective, can cause a very serious, very energetic chemical fire. That's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":823,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/27\/a-reader-asks-you-still-ride-motorcycles\/","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: You still ride motorcycles?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-10-27","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Geoff Komeya asks (via the Contact link): Hi Fred: Just wanted to ask whether you still ride motorcycles? I can't tell you how many times I've read and re-read your blog about your 10,000-mile ride on the ADVrider site. Such a great piece of travel writing. Thanks, Geoff Komeya\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/10kridefullmap.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":232,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/03\/a-reader-asks-what-e-bike-do-you-have\/","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: \u201cWhat e-bike do you have?\u201d","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-03","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader John Negley asks: \u201cFred, What e-bike do you have? \"I know of your love of bike riding, I've seen your videos. I am also like you, approaching geezer age. So I'm thinking of getting a bike too. Just curious, what type of bike to you have? I plan on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bikedeerisland.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bikedeerisland.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bikedeerisland.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":262,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/04\/nice-day-for-a-bike-ride\/","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":4},"title":"Nice day for a bike ride","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-04","format":false,"excerpt":"Warm and breezy, but very light traffic (for urban riding, anyway) due to the Labor Day holiday. A pleasant ride along the Mystic, Alewife, and Malden Rivers; through Malden, Medford, Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville, and Everett. Also liking my new front tire, which I replaced after a flat last week; the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Around Boston..."","block_context":{"text":"Around Boston...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/around-boston\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screenshot_20180903-125134_Samsung-Health-498x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1167,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/25\/a-reader-asks-what-is-the-best-way-to-get-around-boston\/","url_meta":{"origin":1478,"position":5},"title":"A reader asks: What is the best way to get around Boston?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-25","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: What is the best way to get around Boston? (via Quora) A: Here's my list, in ascending order, best to worst; I adjust as needed to account for weather issues, distance being travelled, schedule pressures, whether or not I need to carry bulky items, etc.: Walk Bike T (subway\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1478"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}