Biking Laws
- We recommend those interested in purchasing an eBike call their local Department of Motor Vehicles office and ask what the guidelines are for riding an electric bicycle, wearing of a helmet, etc. Most eBike manufacturers know that most States have guidelines where an electrical powered bicycle can power itself up to 20mph but not to exceed that speed using a throttle device or other powered device alone and without manually pedaling, any eBike that can power itself without the help of human pedaling over 20mph must register a license for the eBike. Most eBike manufactures are aware of this speed restriction law and automatically build into the eBike's software to cut the power back after the eBike reaches 20mph; however, you can manually pedal after reaching 20mph to go over this speed limit without any violation of the law unless the posted speed limit displays 15 or 20mph, (like within home areas or going through school zones) then you must slow down to 15 or 20mph to obey the law. As you probably already know most non-electric racing bicycles can exceed 20mph pretty easy especially if pedaling down a steep hill in high gear...but they too must obey traffic laws (red lights, posted speed limits, school zones, etc.) Also, most States require bicycle riders under the age of 18 to wear an approved safety helmet; and our recommendation is for everyone to wear a helmet if riding a bicycle or eBike - accidents can and do happen and helmets are proven head protection.
SAFETY RIDING SUGGESTIONS - First and foremost; It's always a good idea that everyone who's considering to begin an exercise program, such as riding a bicycle or eBike, to always first inform and discuss this program with your Doctor, Physician or Health Care Provider beforehand to ensure its safe for a particular medical condition. Secondly, I always recommend folks that ride for pleasure do so in their home community area for safety and when riding outside of familiar areas always have another rider with you for safety sake. If you ride along a street or highway, and there's no painted bike lane, stay or ride within the first 12inches of pavement on the right most part of the road and make sure you have your cell or smart phone with you, wear a helmet, riding gloves and reflective or bright colored shirts, pants and shoes for drivers and pedestrians to easily recognize you biking. Most States have vehicle laws that requires drivers to slow down when passing bicycle riders and to pass with a distance of 3 feet or more from the rider for safety.
If you tend to enjoy riding along roads or highways I recommend purchasing a digital action camera (GoPro or similar action camera like: ActiveOn CX, Vivitar, Tagital from Walmart, eBay, Amazon, to name a few from $49-80 or less) and mount the camera on top of the left side of the front handle bar with the camera lens pointed towards the rider's left side so the camera can record approaching vehicles coming from behind and towards the rider (see photos below). Many of these cameras can record video from 3-6 hours in 1080p or 90 minutes in 4kHD recording modes, and when riding on park trails you can simply turn the camera around pointing it forward to opt to video trail riding fun (see the picture below on the left where the red camera is mounted on the left side of the handle bar where the lens is pointing behind the rider in the street to record approaching vehicles). Or a rider can opt to purchase two video cams and point one forward on the handlebar and one mounted on the rear of the bike pointing to the street behind the rider (see the picture below on the right). Video cams are an added feature to record and watch bike riding fun or races; however, they can also be used to show the Police or other authorities a video of someone trying to swerve at a rider to frighten, intimidate or hurt them known as (Reckless Endangerment), and if someone were to steal the cam most are now linked to the rider's cell phone via "Bluetooth" where all of the videos are automatically stored on the cloud and able to be used as evidence (let's hope that never happens).
When riding during the evening in summer months to avoid the high temperatures make sure your bicycle or eBike has many reflectors on it and the riders helmet and clothes are bright colored or reflective as well, have a red blinking light on or under the rear seat or fender of the bike and blinking bright white light on the front of the bike, and as an additional option install a horn on your bike to warn pedestrians or cars pulled over to the right but not parked that your coming their direction or to scare off bike chasing dogs or other animals. As a last recommendation always carry a small water bottle to stay hydrated and a small can of fix-a-flat as this stuff can inflate most thorn or small nail hole flats instantly and stay inflated for a good amount of time often being able to ride back home or to a location to have the flat properly fixed if not able to be fixed on location). HAPPY TRAILS!
SAFETY RIDING SUGGESTIONS - First and foremost; It's always a good idea that everyone who's considering to begin an exercise program, such as riding a bicycle or eBike, to always first inform and discuss this program with your Doctor, Physician or Health Care Provider beforehand to ensure its safe for a particular medical condition. Secondly, I always recommend folks that ride for pleasure do so in their home community area for safety and when riding outside of familiar areas always have another rider with you for safety sake. If you ride along a street or highway, and there's no painted bike lane, stay or ride within the first 12inches of pavement on the right most part of the road and make sure you have your cell or smart phone with you, wear a helmet, riding gloves and reflective or bright colored shirts, pants and shoes for drivers and pedestrians to easily recognize you biking. Most States have vehicle laws that requires drivers to slow down when passing bicycle riders and to pass with a distance of 3 feet or more from the rider for safety.
If you tend to enjoy riding along roads or highways I recommend purchasing a digital action camera (GoPro or similar action camera like: ActiveOn CX, Vivitar, Tagital from Walmart, eBay, Amazon, to name a few from $49-80 or less) and mount the camera on top of the left side of the front handle bar with the camera lens pointed towards the rider's left side so the camera can record approaching vehicles coming from behind and towards the rider (see photos below). Many of these cameras can record video from 3-6 hours in 1080p or 90 minutes in 4kHD recording modes, and when riding on park trails you can simply turn the camera around pointing it forward to opt to video trail riding fun (see the picture below on the left where the red camera is mounted on the left side of the handle bar where the lens is pointing behind the rider in the street to record approaching vehicles). Or a rider can opt to purchase two video cams and point one forward on the handlebar and one mounted on the rear of the bike pointing to the street behind the rider (see the picture below on the right). Video cams are an added feature to record and watch bike riding fun or races; however, they can also be used to show the Police or other authorities a video of someone trying to swerve at a rider to frighten, intimidate or hurt them known as (Reckless Endangerment), and if someone were to steal the cam most are now linked to the rider's cell phone via "Bluetooth" where all of the videos are automatically stored on the cloud and able to be used as evidence (let's hope that never happens).
When riding during the evening in summer months to avoid the high temperatures make sure your bicycle or eBike has many reflectors on it and the riders helmet and clothes are bright colored or reflective as well, have a red blinking light on or under the rear seat or fender of the bike and blinking bright white light on the front of the bike, and as an additional option install a horn on your bike to warn pedestrians or cars pulled over to the right but not parked that your coming their direction or to scare off bike chasing dogs or other animals. As a last recommendation always carry a small water bottle to stay hydrated and a small can of fix-a-flat as this stuff can inflate most thorn or small nail hole flats instantly and stay inflated for a good amount of time often being able to ride back home or to a location to have the flat properly fixed if not able to be fixed on location). HAPPY TRAILS!
