Mastodawn

@cathygellis your interpretations of the social media case were absolutely wild. Pretending @leo's Mastodon or Discord are anything like Facebook is so disingenuous. Meta has commissioned studies that showed changes to its algorithms were specifically harmful, and then decided to go ahead with them anyway. It made a conscious decision to put profit ahead of safety, and the jury rightly recognised that.

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Jim 1d ago

@Unixbigot frankly those big American yank-tanks *should* be illegal. Or at least require a higher class of licence than C-class.

But yeah, we need an intermediate class for bikes that requires some cheap licence (or can also be satisfied by a C-class) but doesn't require registration or insurance, for 35 km/h, 750 W bikes. To make lengthier commutes or large e-cargo-bike trips with kids or shopping possible.

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Jim 1d ago

@jessta @Unixbigot I basically agree with the 25 km/h speed limit. My submission notes that their plan to jump from 25 km/h to full motorbike licencing is too unnuanced. I call for a middle stage that would require a new ebike-specific licence (one-time fee, not renewing) *or* a driver's licence, and which would permit ebikes up to 35 km/h with 750 W, with licence but no registration or insurance requirements. Then pedelecs as the highest class, with registration & insurance up to 45 km/h.

Jim 1d ago

Hey #Brisbane, #Queensland folks, if you're not already aware, it's super important that you make submissions to the SDIWC committee to oppose the 10km/h speed limit for ebikes, requirement to have a driver's licence, and more. See more at Space4cyclingbne or CBD BUG Facebook pages, or from Bicycle Queensland. If you need some starter ideas, here's the letter to my MP in response to the inquiry the bill's based on (some details have changed but the bulk is still correct):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1--PuQrV0eUgfg0cUh0MQtAcvsJhYbTOTOjpmHvUgisk/edit?usp=drivesdk

Ebike law Letter public

26th March 2026 Ronny Reader CEO, Company Name 123 Address St Anytown, ST 12345 Dear MP I am writing to share my strong disagreement with aspects of the proposed changes to laws regarding ebike licensing. I ride an analogue bike currently, but would like the option to purchase an ebike for com...

Google Docs

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Jim 1d ago

@Unixbigot my understanding is that yes, that's correct. Which is why it's so important as many people write submissions to the committee about how the 10 km/h limit, age minimum, driver's licence, RBT, and other highly overreaching components of the law are not reasonable!

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Jim 1d ago

@JennyList no, the speed limit in Aus is not less than Europe. I think Kit just misspoke in their earlier comment saying 20 km/h. The truth is the limit is 25 km/h currently.

250 W is fine for most places, for most purposes. But if you're carrying two children with sporting gear, or a large load of shopping, and going up some of the steepest hills in Brisbane (I can think of several >10% climbs I've gone up regularly, and one 30% climb), it's likely too limiting.

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Jim 1d ago

@Unixbigot @JennyList fwiw it's not what's "being adopted" here. EN-15194's 250 W, 25 km/h is *already* the standard here. They're just further-restricting it so only bikes made to the 2023 EN-15194:2017+A1 standard are going to be legal (which one person's investigation found was...precisely *one* model being sold in a major bike store today...and that was a child's bike...).

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Jim Dec 27

@perkinsy at least he did it when he was solidly in the groove. Instead of trying to play it in his *first over*, like Konstas did last year.

...Geez I hate the influence T20 has had over proper cricket.

Jim Dec 27

@simon the lesson *should* be "Bazball works...occasionally, and we need to adapt so we can have different strategies available for the majority of the time when it does not". But it's likely to be "look, see! It worked in Melbourne! Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane were just unfortunate accidents!"

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Jim Dec 11

@jsl mixing bikes and buses is just a HARD no. I've had enough incidents on slower low-traffic inner-city roads where buses have pulled across DIRECTLY into me because they half overtook me and then decided "I have to stop here now". And that's before you get into the situation where the bus decides it's time to *pull out* around the same time the bike is coming. Bikes and motor vehicles do not mix.