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California Wants to Put License Plates on E-Bikes and Slow Them Down. Cyclists Are Not Happy About It
(guessingheadlights.com)
this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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Oh no.... Can't have people travelling around without flock cameras being able to establish travel patterns....
As more people turn to e bikes for commutes or errands, government needs to be able to track and Id you.
/s but still its probably true
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here a little bit. If you can drive a "bicycle" the same as a scooter (30 mph motorized vehicle) why would you not regulate the same? Scooters have to be registered and I think these 30mph ebikes with a throttle are pretty much the same thing. Should have reg and insurance if your doing 30 and operating on the roadways as a motorized vehicle. Otherwise why did I register any of my motorcycles? Why register a car? Read about ebike injuries. Their more akin to motorcycle crashes than bicycle accidents. Also can cause damage to other motor vehicles and injure pedestrians just as much as a scooter would.
I would support something that gets other cyclists to stop breaking the law. Running stop signs and red lights is dangerous for no fucking reason. I'm not sure if this is the right way though.
Maybe we should give them license plates and ban the flock cameras. Two birds, one stone.
Studies show that treating stop signs as yield signs and lights as stop signs saves cyclist lives. See the Idaho stop.
What makes cars safe to be around is not necessary for cyclist safety to themselves or others.
The cyclists around where I am ignore stop signs and lights. I've seen some that will get to a red light, take a right without stopping. Immediately take a u turn less that 30 feet from the intersection. Then take another right without stopping.
I'm not convinced that criminalizing them is the correct answer. Ideally we would just build real bike infrastructure and public transit. Less cars on the road is also probably a lot safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Stop signs and stop lights only exist to prevent cars from killing people, they aren't necessary for bicycles going under 25mph.
ive seen cyclist almost run over people, by going extremely fast, and they warn pedestrians at all, or they make a obnoxious loud noise that is equally dangerous when it also involves cars.
The convenient surveillance doesn't exactly discourage the government from supporting/driving car-centric communities.