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

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.
gabe.jpg
 
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.
geoffrey holder.jpg
 
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.
 
E-bikes and E-scooters can be dangerous and have already been in a number of accidents. Some have caused serious injuries.
I think if they are driven on streets, they should be licensed. Many cities have bike lanes, but too many riders ride outside the lines and interfere with motor vehicles.
 
Part of the reason why people on ebikes and escooters ignore the rules is because there's nothing on the vehicles to identify them. If each and every ebike and escooter had to have a registration plate like normal scooters and motorbikes do, then at least anyone hit by one (or any witnesses thereof) could give the registration to the police. They could then go round to the registered address and confiscate the vehicle until the rider was brought to justice.

It therefore follows that any vehicle that has a registration plate should also have 3rd party insurance, and the rider/driver should have to pass a competence test before being allowed to use it.

Just doing those two things would seriously change the way these things are ridden/driven, as the riders/drivers would know that they could be brought to book and their vehicles impounded if they broke the law.
 
BJintheUK said:
Part of the reason why people on ebikes and escooters ignore the rules is because there's nothing on the vehicles to identify them. If each and every ebike and escooter had to have a registration plate like normal scooters and motorbikes do, then at least anyone hit by one (or any witnesses thereof) could give the registration to the police. They could then go round to the registered address and confiscate the vehicle until the rider was brought to justice.

It therefore follows that any vehicle that has a registration plate should also have 3rd party insurance, and the rider/driver should have to pass a competence test before being allowed to use it.

Just doing those two things would seriously change the way these things are ridden/driven, as the riders/drivers would know that they could be brought to book and their vehicles impounded if they broke the law.
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I absolutely agree.. I've lost count of the times I've seen people going way past 15mph... standing on an E-scooter... while eating a food or looking at their phones and zooming along at a rate of knots..completely oblivious of their surroundings
I've also seen Kids on these things, they're clearly too big and too fast for a 12 year old to be riding either on the road or pavement..

The other problem with them is that people who have been banned from driving can use these things without having to have a licence or Insurance.. and they're often drunk or on some kind of substance..

It's appalling tbh...
 
in Ontario, Canada E-Bikes are supposed to be limited to no faster than 32km/h, approx 20mph
A lot of people with the know how and Internet, monkey with the batteries and can make these E-Bikes go a lot faster than they are legally allowed to go.
As for scooters, in the city of Toronto, they are illegal but not enforced. There are way too many of them out there for the police to even be bothered with. I personally know a guy who has two scooters that can reach speeds greater than 70km/h or 43mph

I agree that there should be a need to have these riders carry insurance
 
QuietByNature said:
in Ontario, Canada E-Bikes are supposed to be limited to no faster than 32km/h, approx 20mph
A lot of people with the know how and Internet, monkey with the batteries and can make these E-Bikes go a lot faster than they are legally allowed to go.
As for scooters, in the city of Toronto, they are illegal but not enforced. There are way too many of them out there for the police to even be bothered with. I personally know a guy who has two scooters that can reach speeds greater than 70km/h or 43mph

I agree that there should be a need to have these riders carry insurance
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same here..they are illegal, yet no-one enforces this... and as you say many of them have been tampered with to make them go much faster.. and I suspect that's people who either have no licence or have been banned from driving...
 
Around here, I'm seeing a lot of kids in the 12 to 14 age range riding around on little mini-motorcycles. No helmets and apparently no rules. They don't pose much danger to pedestrians but I would think they pose a lot of danger to themselves.
 
Fortunately people in my area people are pretty responsible and courteous with them. They drive at safe speeds and alert people walking when they come behind them. It's even made me considering buying one.
 
Irishdude said:
Around here, I'm seeing a lot of kids in the 12 to 14 age range riding around on little mini-motorcycles. No helmets and apparently no rules. They don't pose much danger to pedestrians but I would think they pose a lot of danger to themselves.
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I just saw one of the mini-motorcycles yesterday. The guy was wearing a helmet. He needed to wear something brighter to make himself more visible. If one of these hit a pedestrian I’m pretty sure it would do some damage.
 
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