‘I couldn’t stop it from hitting the pole’: Here’s why e-bike injuries among Gen-Xers and Boomers are spiking - The Boston Globe
‘I couldn’t stop it from hitting the pole’: Here’s why e-bike injuries among Gen-Xers and Boomers are spiking - The Boston Globe
New research suggests riders and city planners need to make changes to keep people safe.
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he said. “People, when they come in and I ask what happened, they say ‘I didn’t ride the bike that fast but I couldn’t stop it from hitting the pole.’ Or they hit a car.”
You squeeze the brakes with your hands; it's not rocket surgery. Even the most bare-bones ebike will have brakes capable of braking hard enough to stop abruptly if needed.
This is less an issue of ebikes and more an issue that people don't know how to ride a bicycle properly. People should not be getting on an ebike if they don't even know the basic fundamentals of riding a bike.
‘I didn’t ride the bike that fast but I couldn’t stop it from hitting the pole.’
Target fixation with a side of panic inaction. Also, they could stop it from hitting the pole. They didn't stop it from hitting the pole. Take some responsibility for your actions.
It has the same energy as "my accelerator got stuck and I couldn't stop my car". There are ways to stop the car, you just didn't do any of them.
I'll drop my whole transmission by slamming my car into park at 60mph before I just sit there and do nothing
The only difference between park and neutral, as they both disengage the torque converter, is a small pin called a "parking pawl". It's basically not capable of stopping a vehicle. Your best bet is always the parking brake. I refuse to own a car without a physical one, they should be mandated as a safety item honestly.
Then I'll slam it into reverse. Idgaf I'm doing everything I can to stop my car even if that means it's completely destroyed.
Just downshift? Even most automatics still allow it.
My point is I'd be willing to total my car if it meant not crashing into something.
Yeah, this is probably the better idea. If the brakes are still working but are being overwhelmed by a stuck throttle, neutral also works. If that doesn't, you can turn the engine off as well, though modern cars use vacuum-assisted brakes, so they're going to be a lot heavier to use once the engine isn't running.
However, what I will say is that people genuinely underestimate how a panic-inducing situation will affect them. This is why every single time you fly they go over the safety information, and you should pay attention to it. The number of people that have gotten stuck in a wrecked plane because they're looking for the seatbelt buckle on the side like a car, rather than the middle, is insane. Same for those that inflate their lifejacket inside the plane and them can't swim down to an exit.
laughs in manual
I would to except I don't think I can get past neutral if the car is moving. But neutral will still stop you but at the expense of the engine instead of the trans.
Why would neutral do anything to the engine?
Assuming that you are accelerating uncontrollably because the throttle is stuck open for some reason putting it in neutral doesn't fix that issue. It just stops the car from accelerating (i.e. fixes the symptom but not the disease). So the engine remains going full tilt, redlines, and blows itself up.
Oh, sure I get what you mean. It's not like neutral itself would be doing anything damaging though.
I didn't ride the bike that fast but i couldn't stop it drom hitting the pole.
Sounds like someone who was going to fast would say.
I think there is this mistaken idea that if something is generally available, especially without licensing or other restrictions, then just anybody can operate/use it safely. These folks aren't even wearing proper attire or PPE for operating these vehicles. But hey, they grew up drinking out of the water hose or whatever other nonsense they think makes them impervious to the laws of physics. Truly, we're all sorry your parents didn't love you and neglected you, now put a fucking helmet on.
It is more a problem with ebikes than with normal ones. Most of those people would not be nearly as fast on a normal bike than on an ebike.
I actually did get into a crash because I turned instead of broke but in my defense my brakes where more fucked than I thought til I got on, I shouldn't have been riding that thing lmao.
Also of you own a lectric xp and put a 52v battery on it, the speed limited becomes a suggestion. Ask me how I known lol.
Seriously though, next builds getting hydraulic brakes and a motor you can program to handle higher voltage batteries in a more reserved manner.
Bike handling skills required to ride 20mph in an urban area are quite a bit more advanced than what most people develop puttering around their neighborhood as children. It's precisely this kind of overconfidence which is causing this issue.