eddieo mentioned in a comment that ebikes were banned in NYC, so I've been reading recent articles. Appears there is an aggressive campaign to push for enforcement of the law. A bill by NYC council member Jessica Lappin that was introduced a on Feb 29th to double the fine for riding on an electric bike from $500 to $1000 passed on April 12th. Her issue is she stated her office has been receiving complaints of delivery bikes going 30mph claiming in a recent survey 72% of constituents said they'd "been hit or almost hit" by a delivery bike. She claims electric bikes converged on her from multiple directions. Sounds like a good cult horror film like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes or an ebike version of Christine.
Both represent the Upper East Side and of course they had David Pollack from the Taxi Safety committee involved calling bikes a "menace to little children" and "a menace to society" claiming he was almost hit twice on his most recent walk outside.
Now I couldn't imagine what kind of financial motives a taxi organization could have against alternative means of transportation. State Senator Liz Krueger used the infant card claiming babies were in danger when mothers are pushing carriages. You always know there's something fishy when politicians and their taxi organization uses the kid card together to argue how unsafe electric bikes are to kids. She is also pushing to fine both the restaurant and the driver.
I knew they have been cracking down on biking infractions such as running red lights, riding on sidewalks, etc. with hefty fines. They even have police waiting at the end of parks to catch people merely riding across a sidewalk from the park to the road. In other words, you should get off your bike and walk it across the sidewalk to get to the road. Riding those few feet across a sidewalk will get you a ticket. I could see myself thinking oh I'll just leave this park and look both ways and ride across to get to the street.
What's more concerning than the hefty fine of $1000 is that they can and do confiscate electric bikes.
So I guess the lesson here is the more stealth your electric kit can be and the more you abide by the laws of the roads, the less likely you'll get your bike confiscated. It's another reason I like the idea of a bike that requires pedaling for the assistance, thus minimizing the electric bike riding look.
Watch out for those Upper East Side baby strollers and grandmas folks!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/nyregion/for-food-delivery-workers-speed-tips-and-fear-on-wheels.html?pagewanted=all
New York City Clamps Down on Electric Bikes | ELECTRICBIKE.COM
Both represent the Upper East Side and of course they had David Pollack from the Taxi Safety committee involved calling bikes a "menace to little children" and "a menace to society" claiming he was almost hit twice on his most recent walk outside.
Now I couldn't imagine what kind of financial motives a taxi organization could have against alternative means of transportation. State Senator Liz Krueger used the infant card claiming babies were in danger when mothers are pushing carriages. You always know there's something fishy when politicians and their taxi organization uses the kid card together to argue how unsafe electric bikes are to kids. She is also pushing to fine both the restaurant and the driver.I knew they have been cracking down on biking infractions such as running red lights, riding on sidewalks, etc. with hefty fines. They even have police waiting at the end of parks to catch people merely riding across a sidewalk from the park to the road. In other words, you should get off your bike and walk it across the sidewalk to get to the road. Riding those few feet across a sidewalk will get you a ticket. I could see myself thinking oh I'll just leave this park and look both ways and ride across to get to the street.
What's more concerning than the hefty fine of $1000 is that they can and do confiscate electric bikes.
So I guess the lesson here is the more stealth your electric kit can be and the more you abide by the laws of the roads, the less likely you'll get your bike confiscated. It's another reason I like the idea of a bike that requires pedaling for the assistance, thus minimizing the electric bike riding look.
Watch out for those Upper East Side baby strollers and grandmas folks!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/nyregion/for-food-delivery-workers-speed-tips-and-fear-on-wheels.html?pagewanted=all
New York City Clamps Down on Electric Bikes | ELECTRICBIKE.COM
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