Throw off the bike path on Trumbull CT

[GothamMike]

Pequonock trail is town owed. Ranger flagged me down. Someone must have Narc’ed me.😭

[.....]

shoulda asked if the ranger could help you look for your other wheel, as your bike is missing it. Surely it fell off somewhere on the trail.

[GothamMike]

CT law regulates electric Bicycles, not EUCs 

[Nachos]

I know laws can be funny but what's the rationale for allowing Ebikes but not EUCs?  They are quiet, compact, and produce no noxious pollution.  Seems like the default would be to allow them everywhere as a way to displace cars when possible. I don't see any downsides.  

[Scubadragonsan]

Next time, try to exercise ADA Title 3. All you have to say is "I am exercising ADA Title 3." The other side whether police/ranger/park attendant has to take it at face value and can't ask you questions about your medical condition, if any.

Edited May 10, 2020 by scubadragosan

[MetricUSA]

They are probably saying no 'motorized' vehicles allowed....that wording is what needs to be fought...how can an euc be a motorized vehicle...it weighs 25-33% of the weight of the rider...and there is no protecting (metal/plastic) body surrounding the operator... legally it is not on the books... electric powered bike is more like it....

Edited May 10, 2020 by MetricUSA

[GothamMike]

9 hours ago, scubadragosan said:

Next time, try to exercise ADA Title 3. All you have to say is "I am exercising ADA Title 3." The other side whether police/ranger/park attendant has to take it at face value and can't ask you questions about your medical condition, if any.

Actually I tore my achilles a few years back and had a Handicapped permit. ADA Title 3 is even when you had a handicap in the past.  The sign at the town border said "No Motor Vehicles" other bike paths have them too.

[Nachos]

6 minutes ago, GothamMike said:

Actually I tore my achilles a few years back and had a Handicapped permit. ADA Title 3 is even when you had a handicap in the past.  The sign at the town border said "No Motor Vehicles" other bike paths have them too.

Does that mean no pedal-assist ebikes as well?  The no motor vehicles thing is confusing because I think many of those regulations pre-date EUCs, Ebikes and Onewheels etc.  I assumed they didn't want cars, dirt bikes, ATVs and other internal combustion "vehicle" on the paths.  

[.....]

3 hours ago, MetricUSA said:

They are probably saying no 'motorized' vehicles allowed....that wording is what needs to be fought...how can an euc be a motorized vehicle...it weighs 25-33% of the weight of the rider...and there is no protecting (metal/plastic) body surrounding the operator... legally it is not on the books... electric powered bike is more like it....

An euc is a type of motorized vehicle. It has a motor, people use it for transportation. In its simplest terms, its exactly that. Weight and power and speed, don't change the core definition. Now, we have categories and types and sizes and shapes and forms of motors and speeds etc... to classify it further. I think the issue is that IF something like an euc is not obviously in a class of category, the local law resorts back to the least descriptive and restrictive thing they think it is. We could argue until blue in the face about if an euc more closely resembles this or that, but until it is expressly classified, I think we're kind of at the mercy of the rangers' interpretation and knowledge of what class they THINK it falls into. I know around here, even if you are right, arguing with the Rangers doesn't usually help much.

Edited May 11, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[MetricUSA]

On 5/9/2020 at 1:34 PM, GothamMike said:

Pequonock trail is town owed. Ranger flagged me down. Someone must have Narc’ed me.😭

Can you show/post all the legal Connecticut definitions of vehicles? Cut and paste exactly out of the laws...

[GothamMike]

On 5/11/2020 at 9:32 AM, MetricUSA said:

Can you show/post all the legal Connecticut definitions of vehicles? Cut and paste exactly out of the laws...

(53) “Motor vehicle” means any vehicle propelled or drawn by any nonmuscular power, except aircraft, motor boats, road rollers, baggage trucks used about railroad stations or other mass transit facilities, electric battery-operated wheel chairs when operated by physically handicapped persons at speeds not exceeding fifteen miles per hour, golf carts operated on highways solely for the purpose of crossing from one part of the golf course to another, golf-cart-type vehicles operated on roads or highways on the grounds of state institutions by state employees, agricultural tractors, farm implements, such vehicles as run only on rails or tracks, self-propelled snow plows, snow blowers and lawn mowers, when used for the purposes for which they were designed and operated at speeds not exceeding four miles per hour, whether or not the operator rides on or walks behind such equipment, motor-driven cycles as defined in section 14-286, special mobile equipment as defined in section 14-165, mini-motorcycles, as defined in section 14-289j, and any other vehicle not suitable for operation on a highway;

 

(100) “Vehicle” includes any device suitable for the conveyance, drawing or other transportation of persons or property, whether operated on wheels, runners, a cushion of air or by any other means. The term does not include devices propelled or drawn by human power or devices used exclusively on tracks;

[GothamMike]

1 minute ago, GothamMike said:

(53) “Motor vehicle” means any vehicle propelled or drawn by any nonmuscular power, except aircraft, motor boats, road rollers, baggage trucks used about railroad stations or other mass transit facilities, electric battery-operated wheel chairs when operated by physically handicapped persons at speeds not exceeding fifteen miles per hour, golf carts operated on highways solely for the purpose of crossing from one part of the golf course to another, golf-cart-type vehicles operated on roads or highways on the grounds of state institutions by state employees, agricultural tractors, farm implements, such vehicles as run only on rails or tracks, self-propelled snow plows, snow blowers and lawn mowers, when used for the purposes for which they were designed and operated at speeds not exceeding four miles per hour, whether or not the operator rides on or walks behind such equipment, motor-driven cycles as defined in section 14-286, special mobile equipment as defined in section 14-165, mini-motorcycles, as defined in section 14-289j, and any other vehicle not suitable for operation on a highway;

 

(100) “Vehicle” includes any device suitable for the conveyance, drawing or other transportation of persons or property, whether operated on wheels, runners, a cushion of air or by any other means. The term does not include devices propelled or drawn by human power or devices used exclusively on tracks;

https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2012/title-14/chapter-246/section-14-1/

[Jpd]

On 5/11/2020 at 7:32 AM, MetricUSA said:

Can you show/post all the legal Connecticut definitions of vehicles? Cut and paste exactly out of the laws...

This is the legal definition at a federal level.

Motor vehicle definition

 

§ 85.1703 Definition of motor vehicle.

(a) For the purpose of determining the applicability of section 216(2), a vehicle which is self-propelled and capable of transporting a person or persons or any material or any permanently or temporarily affixed apparatus shall be deemed a motor vehicle, unless any one or more of the criteria set forth below are met, in which case the vehicle shall be deemed not a motor vehicle:

(1) The vehicle cannot exceed a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour over level, paved surfaces; or

(2) The vehicle lacks features customarily associated with safe and practical street or highway use, such features including, but not being limited to, a reverse gear (except in the case of motorcycles), a differential, or safety features required by state and/or federal law; or

(3) The vehicle exhibits features which render its use on a street or highway unsafe, impractical, or highly unlikely, such features including, but not being limited to, tracked road contact means, an inordinate size, or features ordinarily associated with military combat or tactical vehicles such as armor and/or weaponry.

(b) Note that, in applying the criterion in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, vehicles that are clearly intended for operation on highways are motor vehicles. Absence of a particular safety feature is relevant only when absence of that feature would prevent operation on highways.

[ 39 FR 32611, Sept. 10, 1974, as amended at 45 FR 13733, Mar. 3, 1980; 73 FR 59178, Oct. 8, 2008; 75 FR 22977, Apr. 30, 2010; 81 FR 73972, Oct. 25, 2016]

Edited May 12, 2020 by Jpd

[Scubadragonsan]

So vague and open to interpretations biased against EUCs. CT bureaucrats need to do their homework. In California, under Assembly Bill 604, EUCs falls in the category of electric skateboards which are even allowed to be ridden on sidewalks:

313.5. An “electrically motorized board” is any wheeled device that has a floorboard designed to be stood upon when riding that is not greater than 60 inches deep and 18 inches wide, is designed to transport only one person, and has an electric propulsion system averaging less than 1,000 watts, the maximum speed of which, when powered solely by a propulsion system on a paved level surface, is no more than 20 miles per hour. The device may be designed to also be powered by human propulsion.

Although most advance EUCs don't meet criteria "less than 1000 watts" and can go fast than 20 mph, as long as you are not riding recklessly on sidewalks, police seldom will pull you over. Police don't know much about these new toys. They don't have time to check your EUC wattage and so they would only visually check your riding behavior and estimate your speed to see if you are presenting a danger to others, may it be pedestrians or other objects.

[WI_Hedgehog]

(53) “Motor vehicle” means any vehicle... except...any [other] vehicle not suitable for operation on a highway.

(100) “Vehicle” includes any device suitable for the conveyance... The term does not include devices propelled or drawn by human power or devices used exclusively on tracks;

So it's a vehicle, but not a motor vehicle. However, if the ADA allows disabled persons to operate a wheelchair on paths, then it allows EUCs when used for that purpose, within reasonable speeds.

The ridiculous thing is someone is bullying by use of a park ranger...and I'll note while police have jobs to do, rangers have all the time in the world to harass people to get them to not use "their parks." (Lower park usage leads to less work for them and the staff, but the same pay.)

Edited May 13, 2020 by WI_Hedgehog

[GothamMike]

The bike path in question leads to a very sketchy city. Highest crime in the state. I can understand their concern.

I still have weakness in one leg from my torn achilles. I likely qualify under ADA.