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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Permitted?


When you take the pedals off an e-bike, it becomes a moped under the HTA*.

Oh, and it was rush hour when this picture was taken.

Imma just throw this SmartCar on the train, too. K?

* - Being verified.

22 comments:

Shirker said...

I saw what I think is the same bike on the LSW a couple weeks ago (I actually snapped a pic but forgot to submit it). A lady tried telling the owner it wasn't allowed on but he said he had asked and was told it was OK.

Squiggles said...

It might have been ok on NOT rush hour trains. Betcha he never asked that question, or volunteered the information about riding during rush hour.

Regardless, it is NOT ok. Never mind the time of day. It reminds me of the adage: "just because you can, doesn't mean you should".

James said...

That thing is huge! I don't see how he could have received an OK. I'd tell him to bring it to the accessible car see how far he gets.

Anonymous said...

Ima gonna bring my gas powered scooter on the train as well, it IS a personal transportation device after all.
I'm kinda afraid it'll explode on the platform when I get near a smoker tho.

ExGOnowTTC said...

Remind me to drive my Hummer onto the train.

deepfish said...

I think we all should push it to the max and try to see if we can sneak our own trains onto the trains...

C.J. Smith said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
C.J. Smith said...

deepfish,
I was blew milk outta my nose when your comment came in.

deepfish said...

Live and learn - don't drink milk while bloggin, sister! :-)

C.J. Smith said...

As you can read, I had trouble typing as well.

Anonymous said...

"When you take the pedals off an e-bike, it becomes a moped..."

No, just a violation of Section 7 of Ontario Regulation 369/09 "A power-assisted bicycle must not be ridden on, driven or operated unless it is in good working order." ... for which the fine is $85.
Tks

C.J. Smith said...

Then there's a HUGE disconnect between the dealers who sell these bikes and the government because I considered buying one but definitely would want to remove the pedals. The GEO dealer told me the minute I do that, it's considered a motorcycle and I could be charged with operating a motorcycle without a class licence.
And you know what? I didn't think to research it because these people are in the business and should know the rules, act and regulations.
Thanks. I will follow up.

mumzthewurd said...

I know if you take the pedals off you can't pretend to be a bike and use the bike lanes anymore.

TomW said...

Something to remember about mopeds and motorcycles... the availability of organs for transplants in the UK is directly correlated with motorcycle use. (Goes up in summer, down in winter).

Personaly, I would be
uncomfortable doing 50km/hr (or even 100km/hr) with nothing solid between me and anything that might hit me.

Anonymous said...

Was there a fare inspector on duty on the train when this happened

orillia3 said...

C.J. Smith is correct in that is how pedal removal should be charged, which is just a ticket. Instead police choose to ignore the law and charge as an unregistered, uninsured motor vehicle, which can bring fines of up to $50,000 plus costs, and lose the "offender" their drivers license for up to one year, plus requires valuable court time. Most people charged with pedal removal understandably with a minimum fine of $10,000 for no insurance, plead guilty to a lesser charge paying fines of a few hundreds of dollars. I might point out that the HTA does not apply until the ebike is ridden on the road, HTA does not apply on a Go train, so removal of the pedals is a moot point there. The owner could have just taken them off for easier transport.

orillia3 said...

James said this thing is huge. The length of this Kiwi ebike is just over 5 feet, a few inches less than my mountain bike in my hallway. It is also just over two feet wide, my bike is just under two feet wide. So the statements about how huge this ebike is are sadly mistaken, it takes the same space as a regular bicycle, repeat, the same size length and width. True it weighs more, and the body is bulkier, but the height and width are essentially the same as a regular bicycle. Regular bicycles and ebikes are both permitted on Go trains with certain conditions against rush hour times, and against wheelchair accessible cars, so where is the problem? Go to the gotransit website for allowances and restrictions. As long as it had a sticker certifying it as an ebike and it was not breaking rush hour rules there is nothing wrong going on here, please move along.

i took the piv said...

it *was* rush hour!

NN said...

Can they plug it in during the train ride??

Anonymous said...

Have the posting rules changed?

Squiggles said...

I think Orillia, you are blowing smoke out of your ass.

My bike (normal, functions by sweat) is maybe 20 inches at the handles, only. It will take up far less room on the train (if I was the type of yahoo to do this) than the POS that is shown above.

The person in this pic was ignorant, inconsiderate and rude to his/her fellow passengers.

And Orillia, based on what I read above, I so want to say you were responsible for the jackassery pictured above.

Shirker said...

I can't speak to the dimensions of this bike versus conventional ones but I can attest to the fact that conventional bikes don't impede passengers from exiting through both doors. You can see in the picture posted that everyone had to line up single file to exit the train.