Sad Day for ebikes in New york state

[ijava]

NY state set to formally make ebikes illegal.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/city_council_votes_on_electric.html#incart_m-rpt-2

 

[techboss]

I am glad I don't live there, but for those who do see this news article.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ciy-council-votes-ban-motorized-bicycles-article-1.1327937

 

[Ykick]

Well, at least comments are overwhelmingly against this continuing vindetta against eBikes in NY.

Say something if you can!

 

[bowlofsalad]

15 mph? I think just about everyone exceeds that just by pedaling. Sounds like they just need to keep bicycles off of sidewalks, which is an idea I completely agree with. It reminds me of the notion wanting to ban things like guns and fireworks. A few bad things occur involving these ideas so they need to be entirely banned? Those who are 'in charge' making those suggestions need to be fired pronto.

 

[ihategeeks]

So...the banned them from the street, and the result is they ride on sidewalks.
Now banning them outright because pedestrians are annoyed?

Why were they banned from the street in the first place :?
Da fuq new york.

 

[Ykick]

Yeah - it's a bad Omen...

Here's another thread, mods may be busy with this topic for a while...

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=49616

 

[Ykick]

So...the banned them from the street, and the result is they ride on sidewalks.
Now banning them outright because pedestrians are annoyed?

Why were they banned from the street in the first place :?
Da fuq new york.

The problem is POLITICS and the love affair with banning objects rather than behavior. Bust bike riders doing stupid and dangerous shit. Not for the device they're using which is safer than a damn Cell Phone and much less dangerous than hurtling cars!

 

[spinningmagnets]

Its my understanding that one out of three bikes in Europe is an E-bike. I don't like something simply because Europe is doing it (I could complain about them for hours), but...the Europeans have begrudgingly accepted that E-bikes are here to stay, especially in places where fuel is consistently over $7/gal (1-gal is 3.8-liters, $1.8 per liter, $1 = 0.77 Eu, 1.84 Eu/liter, did I do that right?) Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Denmark, UK, France...hell it would take less time to list the Euro countries that have fuel UNDER $7/gal.

The power limits are ridiculous, 200W? 250W? I understand a speed limit, a bicycle crashing into pedestrians at 25-MPH can be serious, but...a cargobike on a steep uphill with a child and a couple bags of groceries should have at least 750W and the use of the bikes gears...(IMHO)

There is a growing trend of pedelec only, so you don't get any power unless you are pedaling. I actually believe this is not a bad thing (don't throw any rocks, I am old and feeble).

I believe some of the issue over E-bikes in NYC is that the subways and cabbies lobby both bring in millions to the city tax coffers. Convince the cabbie company owners that E-bikes are not a threat and it will fade away. Of course, I could be wrong...

 

[MD.]

I can't believe this. Instead of embracing the technology and supporting a more efficient form of transportation, they're banning it? That's so sad!

 

[SamTexas]

NY state? It sounds like NY city to me.

 

[bowlofsalad]

I believe some of the issue over E-bikes in NYC is that the subways and cabbies lobby both bring in millions to the city tax coffers. Convince the cabbie company owners that E-bikes are not a threat and it will fade away. Of course, I could be wrong...

There is no way e-bikes aren't a threat to the use of other modes of relatively short distanced modes of transportation. Ebikes in dense cities are surely a mega win for transport and it'd be hard to argue that they wouldn't pose a threat to cabs. But to say that tax income should be put over personal freedom, your suggestion just sounds like trying to appease a fire in your home. Put the fire out, get rid of the corrupt politicians trying to protect personal interests rather than freedoms. Doing anything less is a fools errand.

 

[swbluto]

Another victim of the tyranny-of-those-in-power dynamic. Most of those in power are exclusively car drivers and pedestrians, presumably, which naturally have something against bicycles since they compete for the same roads and sidewalks they use. No doubt the whole "most ebikers are food delivery people" image which makes them associate ebikes with New York's "low class", thus encouraging what is probably also socioeconomic segregation at its heart.

 

[dogman dan]

I think they are just terrified messengers and sandwich delivery guys will ride even faster.

Could just ban them? No fair solution. Enforcing traffic laws sufficiently is out of the question. And because of that, only outlaws will ride ebikes, further enhancing the bad boy reputation.

Every day I wake up and thank God I live in New Mexico. But don't you go thinking of moving here. :wink:

 

[Ykick]

I think they are just terrified messengers and sandwich delivery guys will ride even faster.

Could just ban them? No fair solution. Enforcing traffic laws sufficiently is out of the question. And because of that, only outlaws will ride ebikes, further enhancing the bad boy reputation.

Every day I wake up and thank God I live in New Mexico. But don't you go thinking of moving here. :wink:

My observation is they don't ride all that fast but they do crowd through intersection walkways and sometimes ride like A-hole's on sidewalks.

This "city council" action may be connected to the new "bicycle safety" NYPD program scheduled to deploy this year? They've been organizing a new segment of NYPD enforcement since last Fall/Winter by handing out warnings to "up streamers", sidewalk riders and delivery guys not wearing helmets and bright vests. Full enforcement is/was reported to begin sometime this spring.

One "foil hat" thing to consider is that after many delays they finally have the new bike rental kisoks going live?

FYI - MTA charges $112/mon for unlimited which they don't get from me but likely would if I can no longer ride my eBike for 6-day/week commute. Yep, there's a lot of $$$ crap hitting the fan....

NYC is the only place I can do what I do for a living so I'm enough of a whore to accept the good with the bad. As bad as it can seem, things could be worse....

 

[MattyCiii]

Meanwhile in NYC, motorists will come right into your place of business and kill you, and get to drive home without even getting a ticket for littering the streets with your carcass.

http://timesledger.com/stories/2013/17/willetsaccident_all_2013_04_26_q.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/nyregion/van-jumps-queens-sidewalk-killing-pedestrian.html

 

[neptronix]

Moderator's note: I have merged both topics on this issue.
Further posts will be assimilated into this thread, since it was first

Anyway that is super sad, yes there is a lot of money in taxi service. Taxi medallions go for around a million dollars per car, and obviously the other forms of transit don't want competition either. I believe this is truly conspiratorial, and all the reasoning given indicates that this isn't about public safety.

Just think about the logic of what they allow on the road... 500lb motorcycle? totally legal. 3000lb car? totally legal. 30lb bicycle at unlimited speeds? totally legal. 70lb electric bike that does 20? gotta ban that, that's too dangerous.

Meanwhile you have many cities in China where the ebike is the main form of transport.. population density is much higher.. the legal speed is about 5mph slower, and you have cars and bicycles mixing in a very organic non-organized way.. yet somehow this isn't a problem over there, but it is here?

I always read these stories about New York City making a stupid new rule or law that totally tramples on folk's dignity and rights, and i just wonder why someone would want to live there. Then again, >8 million people live there. So i guess i just don't get it.

 

[neptronix]

Another bill will create a civil penalty of $100 for businesses that have electronic bikes on their premises, since they're often used by food delivery people. Second violations would come with a $250 fine.

http://www.nycewheels.com/

I guess these guys are gonna go out of business or just sell pedal bikes?

 

[Ykick]

Another bill will create a civil penalty of $100 for businesses that have electronic bikes on their premises, since they're often used by food delivery people. Second violations would come with a $250 fine.

http://www.nycewheels.com/

I guess these guys are gonna go out of business or just sell pedal bikes?

No kidding, they could be fined outta existence!

C'mon Obama, where's some Fed "funding" muscle when we need it?

 

[Dauntless]

Meanwhile in NYC, motorists will come right into your place of business and kill you, and get to drive home without even getting a ticket for littering the streets with your carcass.

Welcome to left wing paradise. YES WE CAN ban anything not personally preferential to ourselves, even when that conflicts with other left wing facists. HOPE you survive the experience.

If want to see the future of the Peoples Republic of New York City, come to California. Visit the Peoples Repubic of Santa Monica. . . .

 

[bowlofsalad]

Meanwhile in NYC, motorists will come right into your place of business and kill you, and get to drive home without even getting a ticket for littering the streets with your carcass.

Welcome to left wing paradise. YES WE CAN ban anything not personally preferential to ourselves, even when that conflicts with other left wing facists. HOPE you survive the experience.

If want to see the future of the Peoples Republic of New York City, come to California. Visit the Peoples Repubic of Santa Monica. . . .

Ugh, barf at that partisan non-sense. It's a locked system where people like to root for players who appear to be on opposing sides, but in reality are both trying to achieve the same thing. It's all broken and rotten. Left wing, right wing, it's all the same man, the sooner you accept this, the better. Not that it actually matters what you or I think.

Just a tiny crowd of voices muted by our own inaction.

 

[neptronix]

Ugh, barf at that partisan non-sense. It's a locked system where people like to root for players who appear to be on opposing sides, but in reality are both trying to achieve the same thing. It's all broken and rotten. Left wing, right wing, it's all the same man, the sooner you accept this, the better. Not that it actually matters what you or I think.

Just a tiny crowd of voices muted by our own inaction.

Thank you, let's keep partisan sillyness out of this. Both sides just serve different corporate/industry masters, but ultimately exhibit the same behavior. The problem is just the nature of having power itself. A democrat in West Virginia might feel that republicans there are equally oppressive... the problem is oppression itself.. not the flavor of oppression

I don't think inaction is to blame, there's no good case for banning electric bicycles. What happened was that they squashed something before it got big, just because they personally don't like it. Electric bicycles are disruptive and could unseat many industries. If safety was a problem, they could work on improving safety. I mean, 32,367 people died in cars in 2011.. did they ban cars because they were unsafe, or have they been working to improve safety?

 

[Ykick]

NYC - of all the places that should get off foreign oil....

 

[Dauntless]

Ugh, barf at that partisan non-sense. It's a locked system where people like to root for players who appear to be on opposing sides, but in reality are both trying to achieve the same thing. It's all broken and rotten. Left wing, right wing, it's all the same man, the sooner you accept this, the better. Not that it actually matters what you or I think.

Just a tiny crowd of voices muted by our own inaction.

The system is locked by people saying it's all the same thing. THIS is what breeds the inaction. The sooner you stop accepting, the better. Not until then will it matter what you think.

More like a huge crowd demanding voices muted and inaction.

 

[lbz5mc12]

E-bikes are heavier than normal bikes? Okay now that statement is pushing the limits of my tolerance. I'm 350Lbs or there about. You put me on a regular bike and way heavier than the average person on a bike. Combine me with a downhill, not only am I way heavier, I'm also now way faster. So what, are they gonna start banning fat people from riding bikes in New York? I also copied this and posted it on the comments on, http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/city_council_votes_on_electric.html#incart_m-rpt-2.

I'm adding a little more here. So e-bikes are evil but rolling combustion bombs are okay? What I mean by this is, where's the ban on gas bikes? They're also heavier, faster and they can explode or catch on fire. Are they going to also ban electric scooters? If I was a New Yorker with an e-bike, I'd ditch the pedals and replace them with foot pegs and say, "oh I'm sorry officer, this isn't an electric bike, it's an electric scooter. See, no pedals".

 

[ct46278]

My question is how come no prior news about the proposed ban on this site ? Then people could protest and fight the ban, looked at http://www.nycewheels.com/
seen nothing about it . This would affect a store that sells e bikes in a very dramatic way you would think they would be telling people to show up and protest at the meeting. Why do the people from NYC like the current Mayor ?He acts like a overprotective Mommy trying to control all aspects of everybody's lives .Seems those Communists in China have more freedom than some of us in the USA .