Electric bicycles are, for the most part, very much like their non-motorized counterparts. If you know how to ride a bicycle, those skills transfer easily to e-bikes. The difference is that you will be able to go faster and farther on an e-bike, which means you really must know how to ride safely.
PeopleForBikes and the League of American Bicyclists have put together a truly great free course on how to ride safely on an e-bike at ebikesmart.org. It’s broken into modules, making it easy to work your way through the etiquette and tips for safer riding and storage/charging.
It will start you out with a video called “What is an Electric Bicycle?”, then offer a quiz below to help you retain the information. The next module covers battery safety, specifically how to properly charge, handle, and store them.
From there it goes into a bike check to perform before you ride, to ensure your bike, including its motor system, is ready to safely go on an adventure.
The next module covers the rules of the road and how e-bikes fit into the traffic ecosystem, with great tips like making eye contact with drivers to make sure they see you.
Then in the final module, you learn great safety tips, like how to avoid “the door zone” and what the typical speed limits are on multi-use trails and pathways. Even veteran cyclists may learn things they didn’t know about their e-bikes.
Since 1999, PeopleForBikes has created a prominent place for bikes in transportation, mobility, and recreation decisions at all levels of government. They have worked tirelessly to ensure bikes are prioritized and positioned as a real solution to improve Americans’ health, connect communities, boost local and state economies, strengthen our nation, and protect our planet. Through their three strategic pillars — infrastructure, policy, and participation — we work to achieve our goal of becoming the best place in the world to ride a bike. PeopleForBikes created the three e-bike classes to make it easy for states to have sensible and consistent laws regarding e-bikes.
The League of American Bicyclists has been around since 1880, with a goal to make bicycling safer and easier as a means of transportation and recreation. Today, the League continues to improve lives and strengthen communities through bicycling. They are more than 200,000 members and supporters strong with more than 1,000 state and local advocacy groups and bike clubs as well as thousands of businesses, universities, and communities together leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America.
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SOURCE | IMAGES: EBIKESMART
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