Legalize E-bikes and E-scooters in New York City? Not so fast says de Blasio
On Wednesday, at a hearing on four e-bike and e-scooter bills Mayor de Blasio and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg indicated that they were not in favor of immediately legalizing the usage e-bikes and and e-scooters. According to them, they are too dangerous and can lead to additional pedestrian and regular bicycle accidents.
Polly Trottenberg said that the DOT had two e-scooter fatalities on record. She also added that New York State should be first to legalize this mode of transportation. However Governor Cuomo recently indicated that localities should be in charge of deciding whether or not they want to legalize e-bikes and e-scooters.
Despite being illegal the usage of e-scooters and e-bikes has been increasingly popular in the city especially among delivery workers. On Wednesday, many of them were present at a press conference held outside of City Hall before the City Council hearing on the bills. Delivery workers who are using them for work are fed with paying for tickets that can go up to $500 or have their vehicle confiscated. They want the city to legalize this new mode of transportation as soon as possible. Last year the NYPD confiscated 1,215 e-bikes and distributed 1,154 tickets for using e-bikes. Additionally 1,362 moving violations were issued to e-bike riders during the same period. For a delivery worker the amount of a ticket can be equivalent to a week of work.