The Coalition Against Rogue Riding (C.A.R.R.) demands strict enforcement of traffic regulations for all street vehicles, including bicycles, and supports measures that will enable these regulations to be enforced reliably and efficiently.
No one intendes to discriminate against immigrants. The USA is a nation of same. We simply wants them to ride responsibly. Not to increase the level of jeopardy on the streets and sidewalks.One would believe that City officials should aspire to protect the rights of citizen/pedestrians-cyclists-motorists. Where is the responsible bike culture? Why has the NYPD not been allowed to create sustained effective enforcement? Would not licensing all motorized 2 wheelers make sense? Easier for NYPD to enforce the law. Collect fees to contribute to the upkeep of the streets. All the rights-with impunity-and none of the responsibility do not law abiding citizens make.
Wheel see: The path to a safe introduction of e-bikes and scooters on New York streets is clear
Make way. (Getty Images)
A
second attempt to legalize zippy e-bikes and e-scooters on the state’s
streets is here, the result of negotiations between Gov. Cuomo and the
Legislature, and it fixes some but not all of the mistakes made in the
first go-round.
Wisely,
the new framework would require stand-up, motorized scooters —
including those that might be part of any scooter-sharing network,
except in Manhattan where that’s barred — to top out at 15 mph, while
limiting their use to 16-year-olds and up and requiring minors wear
helmets. We want helmets for all but can live with this compromise if
speeds are properly capped.
It
would prohibit e-scooters and e-bikes on sidewalks (yes, kiddos can
still ride there) and break e-bikes into three categories based on
whether they’re throttle-powered or pedal-assist, and their speed, with
the fastest allowed to go up to 25 mph and requiring helmets.
And,
as before, local governments can have tighter restrictions, though we
think outright bans are silly in an age when bicycles have made a big
comeback.
Still,
we don’t get how cops can consistently enforce laws based on fine
distinctions about whether a given e-bike or scooter is going 15 or 16
mph, or 20 or 21 mph. And how does one at a glance tell apart three
classes of e-bikes, none of which needs a license to ride, and three classes of mopeds, all of which require licenses and registration?
Let no one be under the illusion that enforcement, if there is any, will be anything but arbitrary.
This makes for some uneasy riders. Moped-rental service Revel
has only accelerated chaos on the streets of Brooklyn and Queens,
endangering riders and other travelers alike through shoddy training and
faulty parts, a series of lawsuits claim.
With just $5, a valid driver’s license and Revel’s smartphone app,
users can ride off on one of the 1,000 electric-powered scooters the
company has rolled out in the boroughs since May 2019 — no training required.
That level of ease has turned outer-borough traffic into a
high-stakes road test, according to lawyer Daniel Flanzig, who
represents two people bringing personal-injury suits against Revel in
Brooklyn Supreme Court.
“New York City is not the proper place to be learning for the first
time how to ride a scooter,” said Flanzig. “It’s not all that far off
from a motorcycle.”
Among Flanzig’s clients is Paul Dicesare, a bicyclist who claims he
suffered a broken ankle in a June collision with a Revel rider near York
and Gold streets in Downtown Brooklyn, filings show.
Revel “was vicariously liable for the reckless, careless and
negligent acts of its driver,” argues the suit, which seeks unspecified
damages.
But the rides — which can hit a top speed of 30 miles per hour — aren’t just alleged to be dangerous to other travelers.
In a suit filed through another attorney, Revel rider Afadikwei Reyes
claims that a moped locked up on him mid-ride, causing a crash that
left him with two fractures in his leg.
As Reyes was riding along Bergen Street near Buffalo Avenue in Crown
Heights early one August morning, “the vehicle began malfunctioning,
with the steering mechanism locking and the breaking [sic] system
failing to slow the moped,” according to that suit. Enlarge ImageRichard Harbus
Dicesare and Reyes are among seven people who have filed personal-injury suits against the company — a rate of nearly one per month since the service expanded to 1,000 two-wheelers in May 2019.
Under state law, a motorcycle license is not required for mopeds that top out at 30 mph — a low barrier to entry that regular motorcycle riders say is a recipe for disaster.
“They’re making it exponentially more dangerous,” said Nick Trocano, manager of the Union Garage motorcycle shop in Brooklyn.
Trocano said that he’s regularly spotted Revel riders flouting laws
by cutting against traffic through bike lanes, riding without helmets —
which are required by law — and zipping along areas that are supposed
to be off-limits to the scooters, including the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway and the bridges over the East River.
“In this densely-populated area, if you crash one of their scooters,
you are not just hurting you and your passenger,” said Trocano. “The mom
and the little girl in the crosswalk [are] hit by a sliding scooter.” Enlarge ImageMichael FlahertyRICHARD HARBUS
The NYPD said that it does not track the number of motor-vehicle accidents specifically involving Revel mopeds.
In a statement, Revel said that the company does not comment on
pending lawsuits, but insisted that novice users can learn to their
hearts’ content before hitting the mean streets of the city.
“Revel offers free, in-person lessons seven days a week so new riders
who want to learn more about our vehicles and practice driving them in a
comfortable, supervised setting have that opportunity,” said a
spokesman for the Brooklyn-based start-up.
But even some of its own customers said that they take their lives into their own hands by mounting up.
“Someone is going to die and then they are going to have to figure it
all out,” said Michael Flaherty, as he parked his Revel scooter in
front of a Williamsburg deli. “It’ll be a slow process. But this is the
future of transportation in New York City, ride-sharing.
“Just try to find parking and you’ll see why.” Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
OOF: Electric scooter injuries have nearly tripled over four years as they've grown in popularity, per new research reported by the Associated Press.
Researchers
at the University of California, San Francisco, studied government data
on nonfatal injuries treated in emergency rooms. "Nearly 40,000 broken
bones, head injuries, cuts and bruises resulting from scooter accidents
were treated in U.S. emergency rooms from 2014 through 2018," the AP
writes. "The scooter injury rate among the general U.S. population
climbed from 6 per 100,000 to 19 per 100,000. Most occurred in riders
aged 18 to 34, and most injured riders weren't hospitalized."
Cammerman’s death and safe riding. (Obtained by New York Daily News)
Bike lanes are a superficial fix
Long
Island City: I am an avid cyclist who rides all over the city from Red
Hook to the George Washington Bridge. I was deeply saddened to read of
the tragic death of Dr. Daniel Cammerman (“Doctor on bike fatally struck
by bus in Central Park,” Dec. 18). My condolences and prayers to his
family and colleagues.
I
am also deeply troubled by the statement from Transportation
Alternatives that “New York City has still failed to build a protected
and connected bike network that could have prevented this tragedy.”
Transportation Alternatives does not help the situation with their
typical knee-jerk reaction to another tragic cycling death in the city.
The bike lane system is deeply flawed and Transportation Alternatives
has not helped in solving the problem.
I
would like to hear them say that no one should be cycling on the park
transverses. They should not be cycling in bad weather. They should ride
the inner roadway and get crosstown on the car-free crosstown inner
roadway whether it is the lower loop, 72nd St. or 103rd St. And please
do not tell me that I am criticizing the victim. We do not have
intelligent and real leadership in this city on the cycling dilemma.
Cyclists have to take some responsibility. Paul Camilleri
Manhattan:
Transportation Alternatives operates on the premise that the more
cyclists, the safer the streets. They also disparage mandatory use of
helmets because it would depress ridership. They also ran from joining a
task force that would have addressed the irresponsible bike culture
creating a public safety menace in 2010. If a responsible bike culture
had been implemented with consistent effective enforcement, many of the
deaths might have been avoided. Sidewalks and streets would be far safer
than they are. The NYPD has been undermined. Emergency vehicles have
been compromised. More riders means more deaths. Without a responsible
bike culture, there is no safety. Jack Brown
