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Should Electronic-Assisted Bikes Be Treated Like Cars?
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 17, 2011
Modified May 17, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 17, 2011
Modified May 17, 2011
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For those who buy into the anti-cycling backlash, here's something you can legitimately hate: electric bikes. Their speed makes them more dangerous than a normal bicycle, they encourage sloth, and their very presence on the street in New York City is illegal. But a bill working its way through the state senate would "classify electric-assisted bikes with…a maximum speed of 20 miles an hour as a bike." This would at face seem like a poor decision that will choke our already clogged streets with the faint hum of death, but part of the problem is that we need our Veggie Lo Mein here NOW.
The WSJ states that CB 8 in the Upper East Side "recently passed a resolution…recommending that e-bikes be treated as automobiles," because of "delivery people riding on the sidewalk and going the wrong way and generally creating problems like that." Fancy screenwriters and deliverymen alike ride them, and a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives says that although e-bikes "should be subject to additional legal safety requirements," they are "generally supportive" of them because it spreads the joy of cycling.
But for the delivery man quoted in the story, the joy of cycling doesn't involve moving his legs: "It's much faster and easier than a regular bike…a regular bike you have to pedal all the time." OK, so he doesn't get any of the fitness benefits out of biking. At least he hasn't gotten a ticket, right? "The one ticket he got was for going the wrong way up a one-way street, which he said also helps him reach customers faster. He said if the officer tried to tell him the bike was illegal he didn't understand because of the language barrier."
If there's one redeemable thing about the electric bike, a woman selling them in Chinatown pins it down: "It's very environmentally friendly—they should encourage people to [ride] it." The amended bill passing the state senate should do it.
Tagged
biking
CB 8
Chinatown
Community Board 8
cycling
deliverymen
e-bikes
electronic bikes
upper east side
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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