This is Not Helping the Cause

[MetricUSA]

https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2024/04/04/electric-unicycle-rider-seen-cruising-down-i-15-in-the-cajon-pass/73187791007/

[Planemo]

Try the same thing in the UK and there would be a world of pain falling on you in very short order by some rapidly mobilised traffic officers. Quite rightly too IMO.

[winterwheel]

Wheels are the future, people like this are helping to get us there.

[FF9F00]

I mean, where else is he supposed to ride on his high speed EUC?

[Planemo]

28 minutes ago, winterwheel said:

Wheels are the future, people like this are helping to get us there.

Oh I agree, when theres an interstate dedicated to EUC, not mixing it with 18 wheelers and 5 lanes of traffic ready to turn you to pulp.

[UniVehje]

And seems like most of the R&D efforts are going to supporting this kind of riding. Seems pretty logical that you end up on highway if you want to actually use the top speeds we have now. But it won’t last long. There are only registered and insured vehicles on highways legally. 

[techyiam]

1 hour ago, FF9F00 said:

I mean, where else is he supposed to ride on his high speed EUC?

Apparently, in NYC, it is in the "cutout" tunnel, and in SoCal, it's on the mountain highways, and the roads by where Roger works, if one goes by the Youtube videos.  

[varamontelo]

A procedural act should be included for officers who could send offenders to a doctor and a psychologist for a consultation and issue a medical certificate mentioning fitness with placement in police custody, as exists for drunken drivers and drugged drivers.

[The Brahan Seer]

On the other hand this article could be seen as very positive to EUC's. Is it really that criticising? Seems to be quite positive to me, talks about EUC abilities and how others have driven on this highway in the past.

So it could actually help the cause by highlighting the abilities of higher end EUC's that are essentially 125cc (very small) motorcycles.  

They could look at this, see how capable they are and include legislation so that they can be insured and registered and be totally legal on the road too.

 

 

[Bizra6ot]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/216446931050649/posts/330328082995866/
"there are a few spots where it is legal on the freeway here due to lack of safe bicycle pathways besides the freeway for that section"  "Fyi: I've done this trip a dozen or more times. It's LEGAL in that part to ride on the freeway shoulder."

https://bayareabicyclelaw.com/safety-laws/bikes-on-freeway/#:~:text=The major freeways cyclists can,of Bicycling Organizations (CABO).
According to Caltrans, bicyclists can only legally ride on the shoulder of about 1,000 miles of California’s freeways. All of these freeways are far away from urban centers and are only legal because there’s no other way for bicyclists to efficiently get around town.
The major freeways cyclists can travel on are mostly located in Southern California’s desert region. These include I-8, I-10, I-15, and I-40.

[varamontelo]

 How to make minced meat on a highway.

[winterwheel]

The biggest problem for legislators is they have no idea how capable our wheels are when they write laws. They don't understand that little wheels are perfectly good on sidewalks and even indoors in large shopping malls, intermediate wheels are like highly agile bicycles, and big wheels are roadworthy for most cars. They also often don't understand that power on our wheels means something different than on an electric bike; that a limit of 500 watts would be a showstopper for wheelers.

Stories like the one referred to in this thread help them understand that EUC's have a long term future because they are so much more capable than bicycles that they offer a serious alternative to cars for many short and medium length trips, particularly in commuting applications.

[Funky]

I once saw 4 veteran shermans riding down my country highway shoulder. Was great sight to see. I was like WTF 4 black vertical tubes traveling at distance..  As we got closer - we saw EUC riders.  And in my country EUC riders are very rare to see.

Two of them where shermans that i'm dam sure about. I think third was also, but can't say what 4th was..

 

FYI: This isn't a joke.

Edited April 8 by Funky

[FF9F00]

44 minutes ago, winterwheel said:

The biggest problem for legislators is they have no idea how capable our wheels are when they write laws. They don't understand big wheels are roadworthy for most cars.

I think this is a good thing. If they understood this much, they would force you to pay mandatory inssurrance for your EUC.
They would force you to wear a license plate so their surveillance cameras could auto-issue speed tickets straight to your mail box.
They would force you to pay the taxes for the roads as well as force you to perform annual/biannual maintenance at the car mechanic.

And they could do muuuuuuuch worse than this. 
You can google translate this wiki if you want to know how ingenious the government can become

https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilafgifter

[bpong]

16 hours ago, FF9F00 said:

I mean, where else is he supposed to ride on his high speed EUC?

hmmm, lets say for arguments sake,  i just purchased the latest corvette....where am i supposed to enjoy it ?  cant i drive it along a highway at 200+ miles per hour ?

perhaps my example is too far fetched,  but there are local race tracks and off road tracks outside most large cities.  if an ambitious group of euc riders really wanted to see what their machines can do,  legally and within the law,  perhaps renting some track time as a group to make the expense abit tolerable,  would suffice to address that "need for speed".   "where else is he supposed to ride,..." is not a valid excuse but rather mild justification...

IMO, the rider in that article was seeking more attention than anything else.  no one in their right mind would risk riding at highway speeds along any stretch of highway with traffic.  and in this instance,  the euc rider was not really going that fast.  i would only be concerned about what would happen if he had a cutout at that speed,  amongst vehicular traffic.  none of the drivers would be guiltly of running over and killing this rider because he took the risk of riding with much bigger, more powerful, and heavier vehicles.

[winterwheel]

your opinion of his motive is absolutely meaningless

[Roadpower]

Hard to tell from a still photo but my assumption is that the rider is on the shoulder. People are entitled to have their opinion on that but if we are to apply common Vehicle and Traffic Law to this situation then the rider would likely be outside of the law as are bicycle riders are for access to interstate highways. Where it gets trickier is when it comes to state highways and on down, IE county roads.

In my opinion this is not a black and white issue, there are nuances to talk about such as public access and points of view to address. That said my view is that EUC's should not be on a interstate highway (United States context).

Edited April 9 by Roadpower

[winterwheel]

I don't do it often, but I have ridden on the highway (shoulder) from time to time. If my commute required it I would do it every day without hesitation.

[Puzz]

It's not where you ride that's concerning to me at least.. It's more of the idiot's behind the wheel paying too much attention to their cell phones instead of the road that worries me. I see it all of the time while I'm on the sidewalk and see drivers going by, looking at their phones instead of the road.. It's not a few either.. It's a lot. That pretty much is what keeps me off of the roads unless it's absolutely necessary. Not here to judge other riders.. Just my two cents on the subject.. 

[winterwheel]

On 4/15/2024 at 8:18 AM, Puzz said:

It's not where you ride that's concerning to me at least.. It's more of the idiot's behind the wheel paying too much attention to their cell phones instead of the road that worries me. I see it all of the time while I'm on the sidewalk and see drivers going by, looking at their phones instead of the road.. It's not a few either.. It's a lot. That pretty much is what keeps me off of the roads unless it's absolutely necessary. Not here to judge other riders.. Just my two cents on the subject.. 

No argument here. I just assume every driver is going to run me down because I they're out there. Confused cars driving unexpectedly in our bike lanes here is a regular occurrence. Riding defensively is the key, though rarely if every discussed.

[Scubadragonsan]

Thanks to the potential sacrificial sheep! He's helping to bring attention to the green movement, EUC movement, bravery movement, insane movement...whatever you may call it! He's has my salute because most of us realize what he is doing in some way insane. I just hope he won't get run over or kill himself while doing it. I can guess this rider most likely is one of the immortals which means he thinks he shall live forever!

[winterwheel]

Not insane, likely just a person a little bit ahead of the times.

[mkygod]

SImply put: If your vehicle can't keep up with traffic and reach highway speeds consistently, then you shouldn't be on the highway.

This doesn't just apply to PEVs, but also to other motorized vehicles like mopeds and Grom motorcycles.

And that's not even mentioning the fact that riding on the shoulder is illegal.

Edited April 19 by mkygod

[winterwheel]

On 4/18/2024 at 6:27 PM, mkygod said:

SImply put: If your vehicle can't keep up with traffic and reach highway speeds consistently, then you shouldn't be on the highway.

This doesn't just apply to PEVs, but also to other motorized vehicles like mopeds and Grom motorcycles.

And that's not even mentioning the fact that riding on the shoulder is illegal.

Maybe where you live. We have this:

(4)  Notwithstanding subsection (2), a person who is operating a cycle, other than a motorcycle, on a highway that has shoulders

(a)    in the case of a highway that has paved shoulders, shall operate the cycle on the right shoulder, and
(b)    in the case of a highway that does not have paved shoulders, shall operate the cycle as far to the right of the roadway as practicable,

unless that person is in the process of making a left turn.

[Funky]

On 4/19/2024 at 3:27 AM, mkygod said:

And that's not even mentioning the fact that riding on the shoulder is illegal.

Wrong.. At least in my country - even bicycles can ride highway shoulders. (Ofc if you have license..) 

Then again "our" highways aren't anything like USA highways.. Compared to USA highways our looks like backroads.  

Edited April 22 by Funky