E-Bike With Care

Note to drivers: E-bikes can reach speeds well over speed limits posted for cars. They can blast up from behind you in bike lanes and essentially pass on the right, rendering drivers’ carefully planned right turns unexpectedly hazardous — especially for the riders.

Note to bike and e-bike riders: According to a couple of law enforcement types with whom I’ve chatted, crosswalks are for pedestrians and bikes ridden at walking speed. 

Bikes at bike speed do not have right-of-way in crosswalks. The hilarious new street configuration around 19th and Willamette features bike lanes morphing into crosswalks at the intersections, thus putting high-speed riders at increased risk of slamming right into cars approaching the stop signs. Also, the crosswalk at 24th and Amazon Parkway is no longer a running/bike trail when you cross the sidewalk and enter the crosswalk; that yield sign there is for y’all, and yielding is crucial. 

With great speed comes great responsibility. Be cool. 

Lea Jones

Eugene