My views on electric bikes

Like everywhere else, electric bikes have been taking us by storm. 

Was it inevitable? Presumably, as our local governments were woefully unprepared in imagining the mess it would create. 

For me, an E-bike, except for its lack of emissions, is a motorized bike and very close in the way it behaves, to mopeds or scooters such as Vespa. 

The problem is that very young kids are let to ride them without preparation, education and abilities to reign in their power and significant mass. 

Further, while I see multi use paths shareable by pedestrians, pet owners, baby-carriages, and reasonably-behaved cyclists, adding E-bikes into the mix is inviting unpleasant experiences, frightening close-calls. and very bad accidents. 

This is why I’m not of the opinion that they should be allowed on paths that were designed and built for much slower traffic, with blind curves and bottlenecks, and also significantly lighter and slower two-wheeler. 

I believe they’re incompatible with the concept of quietness and immersion into nature these paths were designed for in the first place, and for many, are ruining the experience. 

E-bikes should only be used on roadways and trails built to be accessed by motorized vehicles.