OK, it’s been WAAAY too long since I posted anything. What can I say? Life.
Yeah, that’s not a good excuse. But I have been doing some serious thinking about this whole biking/”alternative transportationa’ thing. Partially because I’ve been forced to do so.
In my work with police agencies in the last few years, they’ve asked me to expand the scope in small ways. OK, individually, they were small ways, but the changes really added up. First, it was pedestrians. Then e-bikes. Then, as other newer “micro mobility conveyances” came out, I had to add those, too.
Why? Because laws and lawmakers haven’t kept up with all the new ways people are getting around: hoverboards, one-wheel skateboards, e-bikes, motorized bikes, electric personal assisted mobility devices, electric unicycles…the list goes on. Can they use the bike lanes? What’s their maximum speed supposed to be? Can they be used on sidewalks? Do I need a license? Do I have to wear a helmet? Do they follow the same rules as motorists? Again, the list goes on…With each new conveyance, the questions start again.
New devices, new laws
What are the laws? ARE there laws for their use?
Adding to the confusion is the fact that states, as they craft statutes to deal with these new devices, create DIFFERENT sets of laws, sometimes for seemingly identical devices: this one follows the same laws as that one, but type A has a max speed of 20mph, and type B has a max speed of 28mph.
Great. Let’s make safe use, and equitable enforcement impossible. Oh, let’s not tell motorists anything about any of this. We’ll just let them go on their way, with no understanding or appreciation that everyone on every one of those conveyances is a mother, a father, a sister, a brother…a PERSON, and is just trying to get from work to home, or to go the grocery store, or gym.
Consistency? Nah
I’ve done work this year in two states, and while the questions are often the same, the answers are widely divergent, due to the lack of standard treatment of all the new devices. I was asked yesterday to put together a proposal for another state; I took a quick glance at some of the key statutes, and guess what? The answers will all be different from the answers in the other two!
Well, I guess that’ll keep me busy, but it really leads to problems for everyone. Users don’t know what they’re supposed to do. Law enforcement officers don’t know how they’re supposed to react. Lawmakers may not even be aware of the latest new device that should have some structure around its use!
And in all that, it’s fantastic that we’ve come up with myriad ways to get around without using a motor vehicle. we’ll just have to deal with this period of growth and realize that it’ll all work out in the end.
