Unless Pedal Me provide open-source data on which they based this decision, I don't believe it is based on safety.

It's seems like marketing and cost-cutting issue for them.

Customer: "Driver is wearing a helmet, and nobody provided helmets for us.. Are we in danger?"

Pedal Me: "Say no more.. "

Plus it seems they only bought caps & jackets for their drivers previously, no safety gear. Drivers are replaceable, aren't they? (\s)

And other thing, why is a 3 meters long bike road-legal?

“And other thing, why is a 3 meters long bike road-legal?”

Because there’s nothing unsafe about it.

Better questions are: why are cars that exceed 90 mph street legal? Why are trucks with lift kits street legal? Shouldn’t we be preventing things from being on the street that are actually killing people?

> And other thing, why is a 3 meters long bike road-legal?

Huh? Why shouldn't it be?

A normal road bike gets close to 2 meters at the tips of the wheels. Add a trailer and that's easily 3.

I don't think it's based on safety, either. It's almost certainly a safety perception / marketing thing.

However, the type of bike they are using is much safer than a normal bicycle because of its size.

> And other thing, why is a 3 meters long bike road-legal?

Why shouldn’t it be?

That wouldn't surprise me at all. But as for a 3m bike, that's still shorter than most cars? Broadly speaking, bikes of any size are classed as vehicles in the US, with the same rights and duties (though that may vary a bit state by state).

Why is a 5 meter long motorized bike with an enclosed cabin street legal?

2 bicycles with a little house in the middle??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzReEcDjmlY

There are laws authorizing their use, they are registered with licensing required for use. That’s why.

It's inevitable, inattentive other drivers will eventually hit one of these cargo bikes no matter how safely their operators are riding.

I'm not sure about that. If the bike gets stuck either you go over the front or you wish you did.

I have had my bike's wheel get physically jammed into a train track and went over the front. I was wearing a helmet, though I didn't hit my head. I was practicing Aikido back then and did a nice roll resulting in no injury. There is no way I could do that today.

hHe article is full of BS, you don't hurt yourself "going over the handlebars" you hurt yourself with sudden impact to your head. This might happen after you go over the bars, hit your head on the bars, get t-boned or something hits you from behind. The logic that "helmets make risky people take bigger risks" is criminally false. It's like saying wearing a seat belt makes you drive aggressively because you feel your now invincible.

Of course going over the handlebars is possible with a cargo bike. The cyclist will hit the cargo area before they hit the pavement, which makes these situations no less dangerous.

The physics don't work that way. With a normal bicycle, you go over the handlebars because the whole bike tips forward - it's just gravity + momentum. Then you faceplant.

With a wheelbase of 2-3m, there's just no way the bike tips forward like this, especially with the rider positioned towards the back. Couple that with the fact that cargo bikes travel at lower average speeds and it's not clear to me how this injury occurs.