Let e-bikes take a free ride

Comment on "Should e-bikes be banned in China?" (China Daily website, Nov 15)

The use of electric bikes, or e-bikes, has astonished me on my latest trip to China. If local authorities think e-bikes are a problem, they should limit the number of people allowed to use one bike, even though I have not seen any accidents.

If something is not broken, don't try to fix it. That's the golden rule. So if people using e-bikes do not get hurt, what is the problem the local authorities are trying to fix.

E-bikes help reduce the number of cars on the road. Apart from causing air pollution, cars are not a very efficient mode of transport in cities like Beijing, where roads are congested throughout the week, especially during rush hours.

I wish we could use e-bikes in my country (South Africa) where the number of cars and bad drivers would make riding e-bikes a risky business. In Johannesburg, it can take you two hours to cover a distance of 30 kilometers during peak hour.

People in China are now obsessed with owning a car. But cars are not the solution to all the transportation problems.

So keep the e-bikes. They are convenient for people and a boon for the environment.

PIETER, from China Daily website

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