NYC wants a 15 mph limit on e bikes and scooters to reduce accidents with pedestrians

I was an avid 5,000 mile a year bicyclist for many years. To me the most dangerous thing about being on a bicycle is the fact that you can't keep up with the flow of traffic. And every time you get passed by a car or truck that's a potential chance of getting hit and seriously injured or killed. Most of the bicyclists that I knew of getting killed or injured were hit from behind. I think the same thing probably goes for e-bikes.

So I don't see how forcing them to slow down even more will make it safer for them. These days I ride a motorcycle and I have to say I feel much safer because I can go with the flow of traffic instead of being constantly passed often by some angry motorist who is pissed off because I am in his or her way.
 

If a license, insurance and registration were required for bikes, e-bikes, and scooters, would there be an age limit. Start at 14? 16?

We have some kids around here that are younger than 12. They’re a menace.

Imo, school teachers should have a mandatory class for rules of the road for cyclists and pedestrians. This should happen every fall and again in the spring.

It’s amazing the number of people walking don’t know to walk facing traffic. It’s so easy for kids to get distracted and wander off the side of the road into traffic. They need to be even more aware because EVs are quiet.
 
Aunt Bea said:
IMO regulating the drivers is more important than regulating the bikes.

It shouldn’t matter if it’s a car, truck, golf cart, scooter, riding lawn mower, wheelchair, snowmobile, etc…

Operate them under the existing traffic safety laws and regulations.
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I couldn't have said it better!
 

When I think pedestrian , I think sidewalk. When I think traffic , I think streets, roads, etc. So where are these accidents happening ? If it's pedestrians being hit by [vehicles] are these pedestrians in the street ? Slowing the traffic isn't the absolute answer. Keeping the pedestrians out of the street should be the primary goal. And if scooters are the a big part of the problem ? then keep them off of the sidewalks.
 
I rode my 10 speed bicycle to and from work 5 days a week. From West 82nd Street to Jane Street in the Village (Greenwich), and back again. I didn't drive as fast and reckless as the messengers. But I came close to running into 2 local celebrities. A person stepped off of the curb into the bike lane as I came barreling down the street, and then jumped back on the curb, in time. I looked up into the glaring eyes of Channel 5 news reporter, Gabe Pressman.
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Another time, I was coming down the street, and I see someone in white pants crossing the street, heading to my side of the street. I kept looking up to see who it was. I looked up and saw a 6'6'' Geoffrey Holder glaring at me. He was the director The Wiz on Broadway. That was a black version of The Wizard of Oz.
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Nearly got hit by a scooter today. I was walking along the sidewalk of a nice strip mall. Got to the end and was just going to turn left on the blind corner. A well-groomed man in his 50s came from the other way on the sidewalk on a scooter. Good thing I wasn’t walking fast. He was startled and said sorry. This is a quiet dead end area on the side of the stores. There was an unused roadway right beside where he was riding.

So, I froze for a couple of seconds and was going to continue. His buddy was following him. I let out a yelp. Honestly, I was in shock. That one just looked startled and didn’t say anything.

These guys were really travelling, had no excuse to be on a sidewalk and except for luck, I could have been seriously injured. There would be no recourse for me. I don’t think they had a clue about the harm they could have caused.
 

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