Scraper bikes… coming our way, or already here?

@bensynnock Yes, but I think edjz was referring to pedal cycles with an electric motor - I don't know if there any non-EAPC-compliant examples of those with type approval.

@Geoff H And how often does this work is this purely scaremongering and often repeated rubbish. People don't sue the car manufacturer when they crash their car and the brakes didn't prevent the accident, the tyres didn't grip well enough, the windscreen wasn't tinted enough, someone put a speed bump in the road etc. This just sounds like rubbish that people use to justify stopping kids doing something fun that has some risk to it.

...(so assuming they're "type-approved" if MOT exists) ... and have the appropriate category on your driving licence (or presumably have done your CBT and have an L-plate), have got that insurance, wear an appropriate helmet and only ride on the road in accordance with the conditions for that kind of vehicle... but other than that, it's basically order on the Internet and go...

You can buy legal electric motorbikes and mopeds. https://www.flexelectric.co.uk/category/e-mopeds You'd think some of these were illegal if you saw them, but they have an MOT from new and can be insured. You'd want to carry your documents with you.

Has anyone ridden any of the Forestry England dirt courses? Some of them are pretty hairy and could definitely be deemed dangerous. Dalby forest has seen a fair few of my friends injured on some of the more gnarly downhills. These are the routes they are saying the youngsters are allowed on, rather than a well designed pump track with ramps, which would be an excellent introduction to the more challenging routes throughout the forest. Their proposal of a redesign will no doubt turn out to be a sanitised version of what they are removing. As an oldster, child of the 70's I don't remember any serious injuries from all the 'dangerous' stuff we did.

@ErgoKnees the riders family asked for it to continue and as Rendel mentioned, neutralised stages are generally a nightmare (one to manage and two for the riders). Granted, blame has to be with the race organiser but road closures simply come down to a matter of cost. The TdF can afford this, smaller races can't. Instead of the UCI taking a fee they should be treating these races like a loss leader and supporting them to improve safety measures like using police rather than volunteers and using the proper barriers.

Even your correction of the correction isn't quite right. It's perfectly legal for an EAPC (not EPAC) to be able to go more than 15.5 mph - its just that the motor has to cut out above that speed. Also, it isn't necessarily illegal to use a bike that doesn't meet the EAPC requirements, provided you first get a vehicle approval and find someone willing to insure it (though, in practice, next to nobody's going to bother with all that when they can mostly just go out and ride them without and no-one will do anything about it).

edjz: It's not EPAC, it is an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle; EAPC. Also. you keep stating that non compliant bikes are only illegal on the road. This will confuse some, as they are illegal on all public land, which includes cycleways and other tracks.

Yay!

@edjz We've added a clarification to that paragraph, thanks.