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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Michael Who hasn't noticed that nowadays even older grandpas are zipping through city streets on e-bikes as if they've been stung by a tarantula, and turning even remote forest trails into death traps?
Electromobility is taking increasingly bizarre forms here. First came the e-bikes, where you still had to pedal a bit to get some boost from the battery. Then came these murderously fast moped-like machines, which really only differ from a motorcycle that requires a license in that they don't make any noise while speeding down the street. And, of course, the skateboards with electric motors, often spotted as a form of hipster transportation. And they all crowd onto the narrow bike paths of the city. Classic cyclists duck their heads in fright.
And finally, there are what I call "suicide machines," e-motorized unicycles, either as a board on a thick rubber roller or with a wheel the size of a folding bike, through the hub of which a rod passes, with two footrests on the left and right. The rider stands on it, and like a Segway, the device balances itself while the rider propels it forward by leaning forward or slows it down by leaning back.
I have already seen with my own eyes how lunatics on these electric unicycles have raced through the dense city traffic at surely 30 miles per hour, weaving between cars stuck in traffic, and seemingly completely ignoring the fact that one in a hundred cars could change lanes any point in time and send the daredevil flying high into the air like Evil Knievel.
The problem is not the unicycle itself, as cyclists also survive in city traffic, but rather the extreme speed of these vehicles. The speeding is not legal; the maximum allowable speed in California is 15 mph (24 km/h). Nevertheless, there are shops here in San Francisco that sell souped-up vehicles that go twice as fast.
To ensure the store is on the safe side legally, it sells the part with a switch that, in its normal position, limits the vehicle's speed to the legal requirement. However, the customer can then flip the switch on their own and zoom around at double the speed. Of course, this is illegal, but our police do not (yet) check for such things.
Greetings from our crazy country!
Michael und Angelika
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