E-bike Bedlam!

Take a good look at this chart.

https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/ebikes-more-english.pdf

It’s from the New York City Department of Transportation explaining the different motorized bikes, mopeds and e-scooters that have multiplied as fast as rats at dusk on a Manhattan street.  It shows their maximum allowable speed, if they need to be licensed and/or registered, where you can ride them and if you need to wear a helmet.

On the extreme right side are the e-mobility devices that are supposedly illegal to ride on city streets.  A moped without a license plate or VIN, an electric skateboard, a Segway, hoverboards and electric unicycles.

Got all the info?  Have you stopped laughing?  

Does this official New York City Department of Transportation chart resemble anything close to what’s taking place on the sidewalks and streets of New York?

Nope, not even close.  This chart is a joke.  But the family of Mehri Hekmati is crying, not laughing.

Ms. Hekmati lived in East Harlem, retired from her job at the United Nations.  Her nephew told the New York Daily News that the spry 86-year old would walk more than a mile a day, until that fateful day when she tried to cross Third Avenue at East 104th Street.

Ms. Hekmati entered the crosswalk and looked to her right, waiting for the cars to turn.  

Then, out of nowhere, coming from the opposite direction, she was struck by an e-bike.  It was driven by a 35-year old woman going against traffic.

The woman stopped and tried to help Ms. Hekmati, but it was too late.  

Mehri Hekmati’s life ended on East 104th Street because that ridiculous, pie-in-the-sky chart is unheeded and unenforced.

New York City legalized e-bikes and e-scooters that could go as fast as 25 mph in June of 2020. That’s as fast as a car is allowed to go in NYC. 

A grand and glorious gesture two years ago by the anti-auto New York City Council. 

Now, it’s e-bike bedlam. 

We see it all the time, e-bikes, mopeds, motor scooters speeding on the bike paths and streets.  If we’re lucky, they’re not going the wrong way. 

They aren’t registered, they do not have license plates or insurance.  

Motorists have to pass a driving test, get a license, register their car and have insurance.  If they run a red light, if they drive the wrong way, if they speed, they risk losing their privilege of driving a car.

But if you drive an e-bike or an e-scooter all you have to do is hop on and let ‘er rip.  Stop at red lights?  Fuhgettaboutit!  Driving against traffic? Hell yeah!  Those pesky speeding cameras?  Ha! 

Rules and regs don’t mean nuthin’.

Let’s take a look at how e-bikes etc. are regulated in Amsterdam, one of the most bike friendly cities on Earth.  

E-bike riders must be at least 16-years old.  You must have a moped license and in some cases, insurance.  You must ride on designated cycling paths and you must have a license plate.

Those rules are in place to protect pedestrians and to make sure the e-riders have skin in the game, a sense of responsibility.

So why did our fools create chaos on our streets?  Because Transportation Alternatives and other rabid bike advocacy groups, have our political leaders by the wheel nuts and because…you took the words right out of my mouth…they are fools.

New York State Assemblyman Simcha Felder has now proposed legislation to require those e-vehicles to have the same minimum liability insurance as motor vehicles do.  The bill, S7294, is in committee.  Don’t hold your breath.  The likelihood of it passing is about as great as Mayor Eric Adams revealing his tax returns.   

Shame on our elected officials for creating a deadly situation for pedestrians and for the e-vehicle drivers themselves.

Just this past week, 32-year Winter King was riding an unlicensed, unregistered motorbike with her six-year old son on the back, when they were hit by a car in Crown Heights Brooklyn.  Winter was killed and the boy was seriously injured.  Neither was wearing a helmet.

Okay, not wearing a helmet is irresponsible but ultimately their blood is on the hands of the council members and the state legislators who created this deadly situation in the first place and allowed it to proliferate.  And shame on the NYPD for not enforcing the rules.

My friends, something has to give.  We can’t keep on living in a city that’s in a free fall free-for-all. 

In memory of Mehri Hekmati and Winter King, will someone please steer us in the right direction to restore sanity on our streets and to save precious lives?