Originally Posted by
u235
I rode by someone on a MUP about 10mph faster than they were walking.... They may be in their walking forum or HOA meeting discussing how these crazy people on bicycles are flying around on their neighborhood MUP and it is dangerous.
There are two critical problems with this analogy.
First, there's a lot more kinetic energy involved in a 24 mph e-motorcycle vs. a 14 mph pedal bike, than there is in a 14 mph pedal bike vs a 4 mph pedestrian. And it's not the weight; kinetic energy varies as the
square of the velocity. Even in a low differential velocity case, if one or both spill, they're hitting the ground (or an obstacle) at their net velocity, not the differential velocity. And obviously in a head-on case, it's worse.
Next, the skills of the person on the 14 mph pedal bike are far more likely to be suited to that speed than the skills of the person on the 24 mph e-motorcycle are suited to theirs; also the design of the path is more likely to be safe at that speed.
Ultimately though, it's about what the paths are *for*. The fundamental idea has always been human powered movement; the only exception being powered wheelchairs. Motors that replace what is no longer there are one thing; motors that enable something utterly new quite another.