David,
This too, is a coming storm in the UK.
There has been intense pressure from Segway to be allowed to use pavements and cycle tracks. Currently Segways aren’t permitted anywhere other than private land (it was on his own private land that the owner of Segway, Jimi Heselden, fell to his death into the River Wharfe a couple of years ago).
The Department for Transport conducted a consultation on this 2 years ago, but, like so many public consultations, nothing has subsequently emerged.
CTC’s views on this matter can be found here: http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5388
In brief, electric bikes are permitted anywhere that human powered (+/-EPO, extra blood) bikes can go. Remember, though, that electric bikes in Europe are regulated to lower speeds and power outputs than in the US. Currently sales of e-bikes in the UK are very low, only around 30k units a year, with far lower market penetration than in the Netherlands or Germany.
Electric wheelchairs are regulated under a different system and are permitted to travel on any surface, but at different speeds (4 mph on footways, 8 mph anywhere else).
Our argument is that the public health benefits are the main justification for cycling and walking. If you remove the public health benefits by encouraging people (perhaps also those who would benefit the most from active travel) to use fully electrified vehicles, you would undermine the case for investing in better facilities.
Chris
Christopher Peck
Policy Coordinator
CTC, the national cycling charity
Direct Line: 01483 238 313
Mobile: 07951 213 554
Twitter: @ctc_cyclists
From: Cycling and Society Research Group discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Patton
Sent: 18 October 2012 15:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sustrans & NCN
Are electrified vehicles (e-bikes and motorized wheelchairs and carts) allowed on the NCN and the dedicated cycle tracks of (mostly northern) Europe?
I see a coming storm here in the States ...
David Patton
Sent from my iPhone
Dear all, dear Peter,
Thanks for the question - after emotion, the following may be of help?
.... In the Netherlands we have the ambiguous reputation of being a cycle-friendly country
with nice infrastructure, well-trained car-drivers, and a multitude of instruments / conditions
facilitating cycling for all. This may be so vis-à-vis some other (European) countries, but
it does not automatically mean that we are a cyclists’ paradise. Increasingly, a multitude
of use/s, infrastructure and regulations show how we should abandon the idea of ‘cycling
culture’ as a singular notion. Indeed, cycles come in many forms, for different uses, and
by different users. At the same time, this quality invites further investigation of use, habits
and values concerning cycling. Has cycling increased over the last couple of decades? Has
infrastructure adapted to the different users? Have politicians developed policies serving
cycling as an instrument of sustainable mobility and transport?......
This is a section from an abstract for the VeloCity Conference in Vienna next year... cycling cultures is the main theme.... would love to have an exchange on your question. In sum: there is not ONE answer...
Dr. Ida Sabelis - FSW - Organizational Sciences
De Boelelaan 1081 / Metropolitan - room N-318
1081 HV - Amsterdam.
+ 31 20 5987611
Gender, Work and Organization - Joint EIC
Time & Society : book review section (international books)
My understanding is that cyclists are subject to offences of being inconsiderate, careless and dangerous, whereas pedestrians are only subject to the basic laws about assault and threatening behaviour, and they can wander as they please.
So basically it is behoven on the cyclists to behave. No it's not a _cycle_ network.
{It is possible to create a cycle network - you do it by making bike-only roads with separate pavements - but it's rarely done in the UK}
On Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 8:54 AM, Peter Cox <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi folks
A quick question on NCN and priorities of users, having just witnessed (and failed to pacify) yet another ‘incident’? (Tho’ I was not part of it).
Probably just my ignorance, but once in place is there anything to stop a local authority redesignating an off-road section of the NCN as a shared use path with pedestrian priority as our LA seems to have done? It does mean that cyclists are even more at risk on these than the roads , since dog owners now have impunity to say that a cyclist knocked off by their dog should have stopped, and all conflicts, accidents & incidents now implicitly become the fault of the cyclist.
If not, is it cynical to ask whether it is legitimate to call it a cycle network?
Peter
Peter Cox
Senior Lecturer
Department of Social Studies and Counselling
University of Chester
Parkgate Road, Chester
CH1 4BJ, United Kingdom
+44 (0)1244 512039
Recent publications
Peter Cox (2012) “A Denial of our Boasted Civilisation”: cyclists’ view on conflicts over road use in Britain, 1926-1935 Transfers, 2 (3) 4-30
Peter Cox (2012) Strategies Promoting Cycle Tourism in Belgium: Practices and Implications, Tourism Planning & Development, 9 (1) 25-39 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2012.658167
Peter Cox (2010) Moving People: Sustainable Transport Development (London: Zed Books/Cape Town: UCT Press; Banglore: Books for Change 2011) also as In Bewegung: Ist nachhaltiger Personentransport möglich? (Darmstadt: WBG 2012)
