Near miss with ebike has left me a bit shaken and down.

Druss_The_Legend

Druss_The_Legend

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I was turning right on this junction during school run rush, it's all traffic light controlled but gets very busy. As I was turning right to enter my lane I noticed an ebike out of the corner of my eye which I can only assume had jumped the red lights on the left of me. I obviously slammed my brakes on and didn't hit the bloke but it was close, he waved and apologized and was on his way. Since then I have really been beating myself up about it about not noticing him sooner and it's put me on a bit of a downer and triggered my anxiety. I'm normally a careful driver and pay extra attention at this junction as it's also near a college and students normally just step out in the road. Nothing bad really happened but I can't shake this feeling that this shouldn't of happened and I sort of failed as a driver not anticipating this.
I don't normally post this type of thing but I just needed to get it off my chest a bit.
 
I know how you feel as I was almost wiped out last week on the A66 Eaglescliffe turn off. I was turning onto the A66 and he just kept coming if I hadn’t have sped up he would have wiped me out.

It’s a scary feeling but you can’t dwell on it.
 
What’s going on in particular on western roads is crazy with too many young adults and maybe kids believing they own the roads on these new forms of transportation. Moreover I see it spilling over into regular bikes who seem to be duplicating the so called “e-bike no rules” Philosophy.

Car drivers not only have to be doubly aware of other distracted (texting) car drivers they now have to be on their guard from the silent /blind spot /rogue driver namely the e-bike.

I guess it’s just a matter of time before new regulation comes into force in regards to e-bike misuse but I’m not too sure if it’ll help solve the problem.

However if you’re a car driver I’d recommend buying a dash-cam to protect yourself should an incident occur and you need to prove your innocence.
 
An electric car is the same in law as a motor car, why is an electric bike not the same as a motorbike. Been wondering this the last month here in Lanza, they seem to have a new type of e-bike that looks a lot more like motor than push and I ride both (Non electric) And as for the electric scooters here, jeez, path, road, zebra crossing, anyway round a roundabout, one up, two up, never a helmet.
 
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Thanks everyone. Since the highway code changed a year or so ago in regards to road priority I have seen on several occasions teenagers stepping straight out Infront of a car so the car slams it's brakes on and then the driver gets a mouthful as the pedestrian had right of way. With regards to the incident I had today the lad/bloke was probably late teens early 20s with a black/dark coat on a dark ebike with no lights of reflectors.
I am definitely going to get a dash cam this week!
 
You've presumably spent years conditioning yourself as a driver, so your brain won't naturally think about a cyclist doing that as they wouldn't normally be going at the speeds which ebikes can.

I witnessed a guy on an electric unicycle last week pull out of a T junction into a 40mph road. This thing was tiny and it's no wonder a van driver beeped him, as he just looked like a pedestrian until you saw this contraption between his feet.
 
Ingleby_Flash said:
An electric car is the same in law as a motor car, why is an electric bike not the same as a motorbike. Been wondering this the last month here in Lanza, they seem to have a new type of e-bike that looks a lot more like motor than push and I ride both (Non electric) And as for the electric scooters here, jeez, path, road, zebra crossing, anyway round a roundabout, one up, two up, never a helmet.
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I don’t know about Spain but in England e-bikes you still have to peddle and they go maybe 20/25mph tops. They can be “hacked” and go faster, have a throttle etc, but I don’t believe they are legal on the roads?

So I suppose the main difference is about 100mph 😁
 
Doesn’t sound like you did anything but prevent an accident. It’s natural to be a bit shaken.

Ebikes seemed like a good idea but there is no control of their user‘s driving standards. Hope something changes before someone else is seriously hurt or killed.
 
Hap said:
Doesn’t sound like you did anything but prevent an accident. It’s natural to be a bit shaken.

Ebikes seemed like a good idea but there is no control of their user‘s driving standards. Hope something changes before someone else is seriously hurt or killed.
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They are regulated in the sense that they don’t travel any faster than someone pegging it on a push bike. It’s just that people break the law by modifying them.
 
atypical_boro said:
They are regulated in the sense that they don’t travel any faster than someone pegging it on a push bike. It’s just that people break the law by modifying them.
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Yes, I‘m sure you’re right there.

But unregulated in that there is no effective policing or consequence for anti social, or dangerous use.
 
Hap said:
Yes, I‘m sure you’re right there.

But unregulated in that there is no effective policing or consequence for anti social, or dangerous use.
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Well I assume people can be arrested for modifying them, or for riding them dangerously, in the same way a driver can? But yes it is a difficult thing to police, as is dangerous driving or making illegal modifications to cars.

It’s a tough one to solve because in principle we shouldn’t discourage people from getting out of their cars onto bikes.
 
atypical_boro said:
Well I assume people can be arrested for modifying them, or for riding them dangerously, in the same way a driver can? But yes it is a difficult thing to police, as is dangerous driving or making illegal modifications to cars.

It’s a tough one to solve because in principle we shouldn’t discourage people from getting out of their cars onto bikes.
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I totally agree, the more people finding car alternatives the better.

It’s almost impossible to bring charges against reckless e-bike users, though. They can’t be identified by those being affected by their actions. How can anyone report them?
 
Hap said:
I totally agree, the more people finding car alternatives the better.

It’s almost impossible to bring charges against reckless e-bike users, though. They can’t be identified by those being affected by their actions. How can anyone report them?
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Well it’s the same with push bikes though, and that’s a tale as old as time. Even if they had registration numbers you’d never see them on a dark rainy night.

But we can’t say everyone has to drive a car. What we need is more dedicated cycle paths that don’t touch traffic. But lots of people are up in arms when money gets spent on cycle paths.
 
atypical_boro said:
I don’t know about Spain but in England e-bikes you still have to peddle and they go maybe 20/25mph tops. They can be “hacked” and go faster, have a throttle etc, but I don’t believe they are legal on the roads?

So I suppose the main difference is about 100mph 😁
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20/25 Tops doesn’t sound a lot, but when it’s coming at you the wrong way on the road that’s a hell of an impact. It’s sad that in the UK and here people will be killed before there’s any regulation.

Back in the UK tomorrow, probably too cold for scooters 😜
 
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Ingleby_Flash said:
20/25 Tops doesn’t sound a lot, but when it’s coming at you the wrong way on the road that’s a hell of an impact. It’s sad that in the UK and here people will be killed before there’s any regulation.

Back in the UK tomorrow, probably too cold for scooters 😜
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Boiling and balmy tonight! I was sweating on my push bike. Got up to 25mph more than once. Scared a few pedestrians 😉
 
atypical_boro said:
Well it’s the same with push bikes though, and that’s a tale as old as time. Even if they had registration numbers you’d never see them on a dark rainy night.

But we can’t say everyone has to drive a car. What we need is more dedicated cycle paths that don’t touch traffic. But lots of people are up in arms when money gets spent on cycle paths.
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We definitely need more cycle paths. I’ve tried cycling in to work lots of times, but never really found a route that was safe enough, or unlikely to end in a puncture. I usually last a couple of weeks then gravitate back into the car.

I was buzzed by someone at speed on an ebike recently and it was just another reason not to put myself though a daily 40 minute cycle ride.
 
Hap said:
We definitely need more cycle paths. I’ve tried cycling in to work lots of times, but never really found a route that was safe enough, or unlikely to end in a puncture. I usually last a couple of weeks then gravitate back into the car.

I was buzzed by someone at speed on an ebike recently and it was just another reason not to put myself though a daily 40 minute cycle ride.
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Yeah I can understand that. I’m lucky as I have a few dedicated lanes that are totally off road, then once I get to Old Trafford I can go past the stadiums where it’s all pedestrianised. If I had to travel through Manchester city centre or any other route that was in heavy traffic or on fast roads I probably wouldn’t bother.
 
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