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

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NYC wants a 15 mph limit on e bike and scooters to reduce accidents with pedestrians. A recent fatal incident triggered the proposal. Many places in Europe already have limits on e vehicles.

Mayor Adams proposes 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters

To me if it's a motorized vehicle they should be regulated like other motor vehicle including insurance and registration and a license that can be suspended if too many incidents/infractions from an e biker. They shouldn't be on sidewalks either.
 

Why would you establish a speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters that is different than the speed limit for other vehicles? If e-bikes are too dangerous above 15 miles per hour, then what about gasoline powered bikes, scooters, and motorcycles? Or regular human powered bicycles?
 

Those e bikes are a terror. They go through red lights, they go on sidewalks; I hate & fear them. I agree they should be licensed and insured. Mostly immigrants, who are poor, rushing to make a delivery. The NYC Council always sides with the rider because they are poor immigrants. Always. So, I believe they block restrictions for that reason.

They ruin whatever quality life there is left in NYC.
 
raybar said:
Why would you establish a speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters that is different than the speed limit for other vehicles? If e-bikes are too dangerous above 15 miles per hour, then what about gasoline powered bikes, scooters, and motorcycles? Or regular human powered bicycles?
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Why? Because people riding e-bikes and e-scooters aren't required to be licensed, insured or helmeted, and there's no minimum age for riding them. The same rules should apply to electric and gasoline powered versions.

Riders tend to consider themselves both pedestrians (using sidewalks and crosswalks) and vehicles (straying into traffic lanes).
 
Pepper said:
Those e bikes are a terror. They go through red lights, they go on sidewalks; I hate & fear them. I agree they should be licensed and insured. Mostly immigrants, who are poor, rushing to make a delivery. The NYC Council always sides with the rider because they are poor immigrants. Always. So, I believe they block restrictions for that reason.

They ruin whatever quality life there is left in NYC.
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That's the answer right there - not special speed limits! While they're at it... age regulate who can ride any motorized vehicle.
 
Pepper said:
Do you have this problem in L.A.? @StarSong
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We do. I also see it in campgrounds. Speed limits for vehicles is 5-7 MPH, but motorized bikes and scooters zip around, not bothering to follow the rules.

I'll add a personal observation that may be unpopular, but is nevertheless true. A LOT of people on these vehicles (children, teens and adults) are seriously overweight. Pedaling a bicycle or pushing/gliding on a scooter is still faster and easier than walking and also provides a bit of exercise.
 
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Around here no one enforces the rules. These rentals are popular. You must be 16, only one rider on a scooter and wear a helmet. Rules don’t mean a thing.

Even mobility scooters are dangerous.

I don’t know why riders presume we have eyes in the back of our head. Ring a bell or call out. I was wiped out by a kid on a regular bike a few years ago. Ouch.
 
Jules said:
Even mobility scooters are dangerous.
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Absolutely true. They often barrel through grocery stores with the operators giving no thought of whether a shopper is around a corner. A few years back someone ran over my foot. Not even an apology...

Cruises are even worse. So many using scooters at top speed, with operators often demanding the right of way.
 
StarSong said:
Absolutely true. They often barrel through grocery stores with the operators giving no thought of whether a shopper is around a corner. A few years back someone ran over my foot. Not even an apology...

Cruises are even worse. So many using scooters at top speed, with operators often demanding the right of way.
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In my early years after I passed my Bar exam and character background check, I was hired by a personal injury law firm, which wasn’t my cup of tea, but we all have to start somewhere, I was assigned a case of a woman that was run into by another woman operating an electrical wheelchair. Her claim was she hit the wrong control.

The main attorney that owned the firm told me that it was a good case for me to begin my career on, but not to use a lot of time trying to win this case because judges are known to toss these types of case. However, in this case, my client suffered a broken ankle, which became infected and landed the woman in the hospital and she had missed almost 4 months of work. There was a lowball offer to settle, but my client laughed at it, so we went to court.

I found a similar case that was tried and then appealed to the Louisiana Appellate Court and they sent the case back to the state court because the Appellate Court didn’t think the state court took into consideration the amount of damages the client paid out of pocket. It was an almost identical case.

In the new trial, my client won payment for cost of care and damages, loss of wages and punitive damages. Loss of Consortium was also awarded to the husband. I think there was an additional award, but that was too many years ago to remember. My boss was amazed and told me I would be a great litigator someday. I took his opinion with a grain of salt.
 
We have the same problem here with those electric bikes and scooters... they speed as fast as many cars..in fact faster, because in many suburban and city roads the top speed is only 20mph for cars and trucks, yet these uninsured bikes and scooters ignore those speed limits completely...

It's time we demanded that all of those menace vehicles be registered to one person, and be fully insured, and if not a stiff punishment should be meted out to them if they are the cause any accidents..
 
jokizz999 said:
And yeah, if these e-bikes and scooters are basically motorized, it makes sense to have rules like insurance, registration, and licenses. Keeping them off sidewalks too would help keep pedestrians safer
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the terrible thing is as well, is that people who have been banned from driving for serious reasons.. can simply just get on a motorised bike or scooter, without having to face any responsibility or break the terms of their Ban because you don't need a licence,

So drunks, killers, drug users , people who've caused serious injuries to others through undue care and attention, perhaps never had a car licence even...... who have been banned...... are free to get on a Scooter or bike.. with no-one to to stop them..

That's all wrong !
 
I don't see the need for insurance and liscensing for an electric bike. That seems to be a bit extreme. They're not that much different from a regular bicycle and I think it would be stupid to need insurance and licensing for a regular bike. I do think they need to fix it so the bikes can't go as fast because we get patients in our ER that have had accidents on their bikes and tore themselves up because of the speeds and the way the roads are.

I think my friends ebike goes 30 mph. I don't think they have as much steering control as say a vehicle or motorcycle which is why they wreck. They are still a bicycle. They hit a rock or a pothole and it sends them to the ground. 15-20 mph is plenty for an ebike as far as I'm concerned. I don't usually see ebikers or any bikers on the sidewalks.
 
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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Right? It would also help if the drivers would use a little more common sense to make an effort to drive a little more safely and chill out on our roadways.
 
Fritz said:
I don't think they're exempt. They're supposed to stop if there's oncoming traffic and they know that. They just choose to ride out in front of people. Maybe they don't do bicycle safety courses anymore?
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Yeah, IDK.

The article says that bicycling regulations are dependent on rulings from local administrations and whatnot. What's true in one city might be different in another. And I'm not familiar of the regulations anywhere, lol... 'cause I don't use one.
Things seem so different to me in regard to "common courtesy" these days from what I saw when I was growing up... so you may be right about folks just are doing it out of rudeness.

I was reading another article about a thing they call "seat swapping" on airplanes. A lot of folks want to change seat assignments and are getting increasingly angry when someone doesn't want to change when asked.
Times change...
 
Ted01 said:
Yeah, IDK.

The article says that bicycling regulations are dependent on rulings from local administrations and whatnot. What's true in one city might be different in another. And I'm not familiar of the regulations anywhere, lol... 'cause I don't use one.
Things seem so different to me in regard to "common courtesy" these days from what I saw when I was growing up... so you may be right about folks just are doing it out of rudeness.

I was reading another article about a thing they call "seat swapping" on airplanes. A lot of folks want to change seat assignments and are getting increasingly angry when someone doesn't want to change when asked.
Times change...
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Anymore we have become a society of people who refuse to follow rules and just do whatever the hell they want. The airplane things sounds a bit scary. I'm always glad I don't leave the house much. :ROFLMAO:
 
Ted01 said:
I don't get why they don't regulate bicycling the same as autos... so I Googled and found this:

Are Bicycles exempt from stop signs.

I still disagree...
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quote ''
The rationale behind the Idaho stop law is that bicycles are fundamentally different from motor vehicles and should be treated as such. Unlike cars, bicycles are not capable of causing significant damage in the event of a collision. Additionally, the energy required to stop and start a bicycle is much greater than that of a car, making it more difficult for cyclists to maintain their momentum and travel safely. By allowing cyclists to proceed through stop signs without fully stopping, the Idaho stop law aims to make cycling more efficient and safer.'' end quote..


What nonsense that bikes are incapable of causing significant damage. There's more than enough record of people being killed due to a cyclists' actions...

Thankfully there is no Idaho law in this country, and cyclists are required to stop at junctions the same as other vehicles.



My 15 year old neice was killed crossing the road by a car that was travelling 30mph, the required speed limit on that particular road.... an electric scooter or bike is very capable of going these speeds , so they could more than easily kill someone in the same circurmstances..therefore Insurance and registration should be mandatory
 

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