this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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Unusable by almost everyone that's disabled, most of the elderly, and cannot carry any significant amount of goods.
Difficult to impossible to carry more than a single passenger as well, which reduces range and energy efficiency steeply when it is done.
You can negate part of those difficulties with variations on the bicycle, including tri and quad bikes, but you still run into range limitations that are incompatible with living anywhere but a city.
The posted text is yet another example of someone with a narrow view of how life actually works outside of their own situation. I used to love riding a bike. Can't now because of disability, but it also would have made my main job impossible back when I could still work. You can't ride a bike thirty miles across mountainous terrain in snow and ice to get to a patient's house. You simply can not do it with any regularity at all, no matter what condition you're in.
Even in cities, you're still limited by weather and time.
Most elderly people can at least easily ride electric bikes. At the point where they can't, they also shouldn't be allowed to drive a car anyway.
You can haul anything you need for daily life with a cargo bike (or even a regular one depending on your circumstances). When you do need more you can just rent a car for those rare occasions.
Disabled people yes but they don't need anything as big as current cars either.
if an old person falls, they will likely be injured quite severely. it's also likely that they won't heal quickly or properly.
this is going to be compounded on an electric bike, due to the fact that they will be able to reach higher speeds than they would on a conventional bike.
much like cars, the addition of extra power will keep them riding long after they should've hung it up.
My dad is 75 and rides an ebike. He wrecked a few months back going about 20mph into a costco parking lot. He strained a groin muscle pretty bad. But he healed up and was fine 1-2 months later, and you know why? Because he wasn't a lazy fat ass his whole life.