Amsterdam is one of six European cities that will soon test a system that can remotely limit the speed of electric bicycles. Amsterdam’s traffic alderman, Melanie van der Horst, tested the system herself last week, NRC reports.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13081471

Alrighty,

So your system knows the exact situation and still is slowing down my bike, just at the moment I need to accelerate to avoid being overrun by that large truck heading into me.

How stupid are these folks? We’ve got rules, when people don’t follow those rules, you fine them. Case closed.

No system to prevent a bike speeding, teach people to obey the law.

  • @[email protected]English
    5•8 months ago

    FWIW, e-bikes sold in France (possibly in Europe, not sure) only have assistance up to 25 km/h. Past that the engine turns off.

    You can get devices without this limitation however they no longer qualify as bikes, they’re classified as mopeds/motorcycles and need a license plate and a proper registration. The same goes for those “pretend bikes” that actually go without the rider pedalling.

    However the law isn’t really enforced at the moment as it’s not very easy to tell them apart at a glance and the owners will of course do everything to disguise the real nature of their rides (same problem with the scooters, which also have a speed limit). Also the police are lazy, because they’re the police.

    • @[email protected]English
      2•8 months ago

      Sweden has 250W tops for bikes at 25km/h.

      Moped class 2 are the ones who can ride in the bike path with up to 1000W and 25km/h for cutoff. These do require insurance (~€6/mo) , but are mostly for delivery services where 250W just isn’t enough. These also require a helmet.

      So far this system has worked pretty well with no insane speeders in the news yet. With anecdotal evidence it’s usually the insane wattage that really encourages bad behaviour.