I believe the law is wrong and I want a change.

I may ride the bus, taxi or walk.  The area I live is very hilly.  The
public transport is expensive. What it cost me to travel 3 miles via bus I
could have taken my big expensive truck 12.

Walking is a fair option but only within an X mile radius.

I support the driving law, to an extent, and happily sit out my year (in
England).

I do NOT want to get behind the wheel of a vehicle weighing in excess of one
ton(ne) and plough it through this void we call space unconscious; waking
only to discover I have hit 3 cars, a mother, her baby, and two kids. This
is not what I want.

It is THE LOWER END OF THE SCALE I argue with NOT the middle (a car) or the
top (an airplane).

The law in England, and report to me other areas please, says I can/must
ride a bike at 30-40 mph in the road with all the other cars weaving in and
out at my own risk. This is close as I can come to getting around fast under
my own steam.

What if I need to get to a remote farm house for an event? What if I have to
be in 5 places at once, public transport just doesn't do it.

The problem is that the English law states it is illegal for me to drive a
motorised device over 17 mph weighing no more than 75 kg (165 lbs).

There are motorised devices which will do this.  There are electric bikes I
have ridden one and it was fantastic, even just the ease of going UP a steep
hill was terrific.

I put forward that this falls just short of the line and that a petrol
motorbike is needed.

I put forward that a Harley-Davidson is too big and too dangerous to risk,
you might as well jump in a Ford Escort.

I, even put forward that a Moped is the upper limit.  The closest to what I
imagine for open sale is something like the 90cc bikes used by Pizza
delivery firms and in-city couriers. These bikes are extremely light weight,
quiet, fuel efficient, and by their nature self-govern themselves at about
45 mph. The nice thing about this style motorbike is that laws are already
in place which govern their usage on motorways (freeways).

The law is also a blanket law restricting all Epileptics who have had a
seizure within the stated period:

England 1 year
California 6 months
Utah & Nevada 3 months

they MUST not use any motorized device, irregardless of their condition.
Were I blacking-out every other day, to contemplate this would be suicide. I
last blacked out during the day 11th of April, 2002. I had an attack while
sleeping, which is my most common period, 26th of April, 2003 and again on
the 20th of June, 2003, so I need to think hard before even taking a pedal
bike into town, but since that time I have been swimming for an hour and a
half, my life need to go on.

I put this article forward once before and everyone came back and said that
"the law is there to protect you and keep you safe", I agree, but sometimes
one looks at the law and says whoops this one is a bit overboard or this law
is not strict enough.  One could argue it should be against the law for me
to ride a pedal bike in the street as I may black out and drive into a
parked car damaging it.

I have been over this topic for 15 years studying it in my mind, I again
support the law with respect to easily any vehicle above a very small car
but question whether the law is set too low at the other end, and to a point
whether a doctor and his patient could reach a safe level.

I look forward to any thoughts on the matter.

Mike Smith
A California/Utah living in Plymouth, Devon, England.