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xtruss · 1 month

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Arguments For And Against E-Bike Registration And Licensing

— August 15, 2024 | By Charlotte Robertson

Photograph By Daniel Krieger

Last month, with great fanfare, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed State Legislation intended “to raise awareness about the safe use of e-bikes and products that contain lithium-ion batteries and protect New Yorkers,” she announced in a press release.

The eight-bill package, set to go into effect in January, 2025, makes important strides in the area of battery safety. It also requires mopeds to be registered at the point of sale, and alters Department of Motor Vehicle accident reports to include a new category for e-vehicle collisions with pedestrians, so they can be tracked.

What is not included in the package, to the consternation of some public-safety advocates, is “Priscilla’s Law.”

Named for Priscilla Loke, a teacher who was killed in Chinatown in 2023, by the driver of an electric Citi Bike who fled the scene, Priscilla’s Law would have required all e-bikes to be registered and display license plates. It was introduced by Queens City Councilmember Robert Holden last fall, and accrued 34 co-sponsors — the amount required to trigger an automatic hearing in the City Council.

But the hearing never happened. According to Holden, two councilmembers, Rita Joseph and Sandy Nurse, rescinded their support after Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is “to reclaim New York City from cars,” Wrote a Letter to every councilmember, urging them to reject Holden’s bill, leaving it at a legislative standstill.

West Side Rag reached out to Holden, Transportation Alternatives, and the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance (NYC-EVSA), a grassroots organization of pedestrians, many of whom have been hit by e-vehicles, for insight into the opposing sides of the e-bike-registration controversy.

The Arguments

“By licensing e-bikes, bikers can be held accountable for accidents,” Holden contended in a call with West Side Rag. Without a clearly identifiable license plate, reporting bike accidents is difficult, he added, as it is not uncommon for riders to leave the scene.

“Priscilla’s Law is clearly part of a much more concentrated war on bikes generally,” said Alexa Sledge, director of communications for Transportation Alternatives, also in a phone interview with the Rag. “E-bike licensing would be both ineffective and a bureaucratic nightmare … ” she added.

Those were the reasons local Councilmember Gale Brewer cited for not signing onto Holden’s bill. “I do not believe a blanket e-bike registration rule will make streets safer,” she said, “nor is NYC DOT [Department of Transportation] equipped to establish, manage, or enforce it.” Brewer did support the lithium-ion safety bills.

Carol Hilfer, who was hit by an e-bike on June 24 of this year, believes that e-bikes should be treated differently than regular bicycles. “An e-bike, to me, is just a motorcycle. It’s not a bicycle.”

Hilfer was crossing Central Park West at 90th Street this past June when an e-biker ran a red light and knocked her to the ground. The resulting hematoma on her leg took weeks to heal. “The idiot on the e-bike — it was a Citi Bike — he’s got earbuds in his ears, oblivious to everything,” she said. Once she managed to stand up, the biker sped away.

Marian Lewis, 85, another e-bike hit-and-run victim, agreed that e-bikes pose a new danger to pedestrians. “I’ve timed [e-bikes] on Central Park West [to see] how long it takes one in the bike lane to go one block. It’s just a couple of seconds. They’re so fast.” In March 2021, an e-biker collided with Lewis on 93rd Street and Central Park West, breaking her hip. The biker fled and Lewis was rushed into emergency surgery, remaining in the hospital for eight days before being transferred to rehab.

“This bill is really trying to bring order and get the chaos out of our city,” Holden told the Rag. “If you’re reckless, if you hit people, you should be held accountable.”

Sledge set forth the following argument: “The more people on the road riding bikes at any point in time, the safer that area is going to be for people on bikes, because cars are used to seeing them. Licensing e-bikes would dissuade ridership and, therefore, make the streets more dangerous.”

“Well, why would it dissuade ridership?” demanded Janet Schroeder, co-founder of NYC-EVSA. “Because someone doesn’t want to be held accountable for their egregious riding? Then those are exactly the people that should be dissuaded,” she said.

E-bike licensing could lead to discriminatory police stops, Sledge said. She pointed out that a large percentage of e-bike users are delivery workers, who are predominantly immigrants and men of color: “If we institute this bike licensing law, that’s giving a brand-new power to the NYPD to allow them to pull over anyone they want who’s riding a bike. Time and time again, when it comes to traffic stops…we’ve seen it’s been done in a racist way.”

“Transportation Alternatives is playing the race card,” Councilmember Holden responded. “[The NYPD] is going to stop bike riders breaking the law, period. They’re not going to distinguish between the color of their skin,” he said.

As for other safety measures the city could adopt, Sledge suggested better protections for delivery workers. “If you’re a worker for DoorDash, and DoorDash is requiring that you do what is safely a 20-minute bike ride in 12 minutes — that’s not acceptable,” she said.

She also called for the city to build more protected bike lanes, which would deter riders from biking on the sidewalk, she said. “The root of the problem of e-bike safety is that there is not enough space for bikers,” she said. “With these massive levels of density and not enough space for anyone in our streets except for people who are driving cars, this problem becomes even more serious.”

According to Sledge, cars pose a much greater threat to pedestrians than bikes, and if more people rode bikes, less people would drive cars.

Holden, on the other hand, expressed skepticism about waning car use. “There’s record registration for cars in New York City,” the councilmember said. He argued that more bike lanes do not prevent bikers from breaking the law, but licensing and registration will.

“An e-bike doesn’t have any restrictions. You’re really a phantom — you’re invisible,” he said. “That’s why so many of them don’t adhere to any traffic regulations at all. You need penalties,” he added.

Holden told the Rag that “a lot of councilmembers get, you know, campaign donations from Transportation Alternatives,” and that’s why they hesitate to support his bill. “I’m not represented or paid for,” he said. “I’m doing this for the cause.”

Jacob deCastro, interim associate director of communications for Transportation Alternatives, denied these allegations in a phone interview with the Rag. He pointed out that Transportation Alternatives is a 501C Organization and is, therefore, prohibited from contributing to political organizations.

#New York City #E-Bike #E-Bike Registration #E-Bike Licensing #State Legislation #Priscilla Loke #“Priscilla’s Law”#Transportation Alternatives #NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance (NYC-EVSA)#The Arguments #NYC DOT (Department of Transportation)#Citi Bike #Central Park West #501C Organization #Arguments For & Against E-Bike Registration

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theodoreabledotnet · 10 months

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just remarkably impressive how this citi bike has stayed in the same place for at least the last 36 hours

#citi bike #bicycle #bike #hudson river greenway #financial district

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surajbarthy · 10 months

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[2851] biketime

#nid #everyday #cinema4d #c4d #3d #after effects #adobe #self portrait #citibike #citi bike

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greentechspot · 1 year

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