I love riding trails full of people and kids, I love seeing families enjoy the trail. Recumbents are great for this since you sit eye level with the people you meet. One does need to anticipate problems and be ready to stop. If you had to put your bike down to avoid a kid than you were going too fast for conditions. The only time I've hit anything on a MUP was on a human powered bike when a dog literally ran under my rear wheel as I passed.
I get confused with all this talk of classes of bikes and law enforcement. Have to agree with Steve B on this one. The laws are so ambiguously written that even people on this forum aren't getting it right. If one looks at
HR 727``
(b) For the purpose of this section, the term `low-speed electric
bicycle' means a two- or three-wheeled vehicle with fully operable
pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts (1 h.p.), whose
maximum speed on a paved level surface, when powered solely by such a
motor while ridden by an operator who weighs 170 pounds, is less than 20
mph.
Two immediate problems: the speed "limit" is what the bike is capable of with motor only and a certain weight rider. Doesn't mean the motor has to cut off over 20 mph. Doesn't mean the rider isn't allowed to add pedal power to reach regular road bike speeds of even 30+ mph. Also look at the motor power rating. Motors are typically rated on output power, yet every ebike article and forum post I've seen almost without exception talks about input power. I'm guessing because that is what the watt meter on the display reads. And since most motors can be limited by firmware, what does a 1 hp rating even mean? Sustained output? Average power over 30 seconds without burning up? No cop can enforce this, no court will waste their time debating it. You might get a ticket, but go to court and chances are it gets dismissed.
Much ado about nothing as they say.