New Yorkers are rightly afraid of being clocked by zooming, silent e-bikes and something has to be done. The 8 million pedestrians shouldn’t have to change our ways, but the handful of delivery companies deploying the army of e-bikes must reform.
Yes, we agree with Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who testified on proposed e-bike regulations before the City Council last week that the reckless driving of cars “remains, by far, the biggest threat to pedestrian safety. So far this year, 105 pedestrians were killed by car or [a] large vehicle, compared to only six killed in crashes with e-bikes, mopeds and standup e-scooters combined.”
But walking or standing on the sidewalk is almost always safe from cars. However, an e-bike might suddenly appear on a sidewalk or in the road by running a red light or by going the wrong direction on a one-way street. As Rodriguez said, the deliveristas are racing to make a few bucks where every minute means money.
We sympathize with the majority of the Council who support a bill by Councilman Bob Holden to require every e-bike to be licensed and registered by the city. The concept is attractive, to treat anything with a motor like a car, but it just may not be practical.
A better way, as urged by Rodriguez and Councilwoman Gale Brewer, may be to target the commercial uses of e-bikes, where giant apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub control the meal delivery market with 75,000 restaurant delivery workers, with about half them on e-bikes. It must also include Amazon and those conveying items other than food.
Require the companies to track their contractors regarding speed and direction (and hopefully even illegal sidewalk riding) and hand that info to city regulators. The city already has mandates on delivery pay rates, so the data can be used to see if deliveristas are speeding or otherwise acting dangerously.
Current laws cap the speed of e-bikes as the same as cars, which is 25 mph or 20 mph, depending on the road (the speed limit for e-bikes on sidewalks is always zero mph). Brewer suggests a speed limit of 15 mph for e-bikes, which sounds good. It would include the electric, pedal assist Citi Bikes, which can now reach 18 mph. If there are still problems at 15 mph, then make it lower. You can wait a few more minutes for your takeout dinner.
We would add that all e-bikes, even for non-commercial use, must have running lights, white in the front and red in the back, so they can be seen by cars, pedestrians and other bikers in the dark.
Another benefit of putting the onus on Amazon, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub is for them to make sure that their contractors in the street only use e-bikes with safe lithium ion batteries and that the batteries are never stored or charged indoors. The FDNY is fighting too many explosive lithium ion fires, with people dying, all due to the rise of e-bikes these last few years.
E-bikes and their use in deliveries have been beneficial for New Yorkers to quickly get food and other goods they’ve ordered and for thousands of people who can make a living. But it has to be safe. There’s a way to do this. So do it.
