CRL
In recent years, especially in urban areas, there has been an exponential increase in the ownership and usage of these types of micromobility vehicles. As such, there has been an appreciable increase in the accident rates with corresponding increases in injuries and litigation. In many situations, riders tend to treat these vehicle as recreational toys and do not really think about the dangers involved with riding them. Visibility, braking, riding location, and lack of safety equipment(especially headlights) are often factors in these types of accidents. In many urban areas, these vehicle are constantly being driven in between stopped and slow moving traffic. A common accident is when one of these vehicles is approaching a red traffic signal passing in between rows of other vehicles stopped for the traffic signal. Many of these vehicles are not street legal and are not something motorists are expecting to see in many situations. It is also noted that there are many start-up companies manufacturing these Limited Electric Motorcycles that are not certified and have no VIN#, therefore being illegal to drive on the road. Some of these do not even come with an owners manual.
Testing - This is a video of 4'4" test rider Liam Miler doing some skid tests on various surfaces.
Reconstruction of these type of accidents is similar in many ways to the reconstruction of motorcycle and bicycle accidents. The main differences are the sizes of the machines and tires, the type and effectiveness of the braking systems, and the powerplant. Some are powered by small gas engines and the mainstream now, especially in urban areas are electric. Some have disc brakes and some have cable brakes. Some only have rear brakes. Some have pedal assistance. The fire hazards posed by the batteries and charging of same is also a huge safety issue and many cities are beefing up their fire codes to handle this. There is also a tendency of operators to treat these like toys as opposed to motor vehicles.
Mr. Hermance recently performed a study on the braking and acceleration properties on some of these Micromobility Vehicles. This paper can be viewed by clicking the link below:
Classifications
The classifications and descriptions of these vehicles cover a wide spectrum and I am sure there are different laws and classifications throughout the various government entities here and abroad. Overall, these products are commonly referred to as micromobility products. Although the term micromobility does seem to concentrate more on stand-up scooters, E-Bikes do show up in the literature as well. As an example, this is what we have in New York State and New York City just to illustrate some of what is written in the Vehicle and Traffic Laws and how confusing it can be. These vehicles in many cases create issues for Law Enforcement as it is often difficult to get the weight and top speed of such vehicles to properly apply the classification and determine what legal requirements have to be met. As an example, a Class A Limited use Motorcycle can look pretty much the same as a Class B. The difference according to the New York law is that a Class A has a top seed over 30mph, therefore requiring a motorcycle endorsement to the license whereas the Class B with a top speed less than 30mph does not require the motorcycle endorsement
In some parlance, these vehicles such as the Fy-7are referred to as an Limited Use Motorcycles, Electronic Scooters, Mopeds, and/or E-Bike. The State of New York DMV says a Moped is the same as a Limited Use Motorcycle. The City of New York has a chart that pretty much shows the various types of small Electric Scooters, Bikes, and Motorcycles on the market with brief descriptions categorizing them. This chart pretty much follows the NYS V&T Law which defines Limited Use Motorcycles and similar type vehicles.