Re: New York's Crackdown on Ebikes

On 5/26/2025 1:15 PM, NFN Smith wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:

New York Times article on police cracking down on ebike traffic violations. Let's see if this will get people past the paywall:
>
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/nyregion/ebikes-scooters-cyclists- nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KE8.voH2.AOcHv0jrnp79&smid=url-share
>
>

 Ignoring the political drivel of the story...
 The problem is with classifying ebikes as "bikes" (e.g. 2 wheels) rather than accounting the dynamics of a powered vehicle.
 When it comes to bicycles, it's too easy to consider a traditional bike to be a "pedestrian", because it's slower than a motor vehicle, and is not powered. However a lot of the time, traditional bikes and pedestrians are incompatible sharing the same space.

I agree. In bike advocacy discussions, I've heard very competent people point out that bikes and pedestrians mix badly. It can be OK with conscientious cyclists and sensible pedestrians, but both are often absent.

 I've found that even multi-use paths are frequently not a good place for serious riding, because of the speed differential between a bicycle and a pedestrian.

Yes. I've heard the term "pathlete" applied derisively to bicyclists doing speed work on multi-use paths.

And there's even an in-between space for things like unpowered scooters or roller blades that are faster than pedestrians but slower than bikes.
 However, with ebikes (and for that matter, powered scooters) when you add powered propulsion, then you're adding an extra measure of speed, including that too many ebikes are capable of speeds in excess of what is possible than for all but the fastest fitness riders.

And it's been pointed out that to ride at 20 mph, most people require years of training. They start slow and tend to make most of their mistakes at slow (less dangerous) speeds. But ebikes allow total novices to ride faster than most experts.

I'm fully of the opinion that any bike should be regarded as a vehicle, and generally, ridden on streets, where it's understood by both the rider and motorists that the bike is subject to all the rules of the road, both rights and responsibilities.  Yet at the same time, I recognize there are combinations of road and bike (and rider) that are incompatible with each other.  It's not unlike trying to drive a Ferrari in a school zone, or taking an antique Model-T Ford out onto a freeway.
 However, the issue with the ebikes is the question of speed, as well as the understanding of the rules of the road.  With a motorcycle, it's normally necessary to have licensing, both for the bike and the operator. Somehow, it seems to have not occurred that just because the propulsion system of an ebike is electrical rather than an internal combustion engine that the ebike should not be subject to the same rules as the motorcycle, rather than being regarded in the same light as an unpowered bicycle, simply because it has two wheels.

All true. Regarding the "somehow" - the crazy legal situation arose, as I understand, from intense lobbying by bicycle industry lobbyists. They always need "the next big thing" to save their industry, and they realized that if ebikes needed licensing and were prohibited from bike lanes and paths, that they would sell far fewer of them.
And here we are.
--
- Frank Krygowski