Some of you may believe that I have a bias against e-bikes. I won't try to disabuse you of that. My prejudice stems, in part, from pride (apologies to Jane Austen): I can pedal; I don't need no stinkin' motor," I tell myself.
OK, now I have revealed two more things about myself: I talk to myself and, worse, I use double negatives. About the latter, I tell myself, if they're good enough for other languages, why not English?
Anyway, now you can, if you wish question my grammatical competence and my mental health along with my impartiality when it comes to two-wheeled vehicles.
Oh, but there's another component to my bias against eBikes, which I haven't revealed to very many people--until now. (And it still may not be very many people, depending on how many readers this post garners!) You see, one of my very first encounters with an e-bike, a couple of years or so before the pandemic, was much too close. I crossed Broadway at Crescent Street and was walking toward one of those stores you go to for a light bulb or a battery when something glanced off my left elbow.
I recognized the guy--a delivery worker I'd seen before on a mountain bike that had as much rust and gunk as paint or rubber (and possibly metal). That night, he was astride one of the first eBikes I'd seen in this city. I cursed at him, not only for nearly knocking me down, but for his seeming indifference, which was reflected by the manager of the restaurant when I complained to him.
I haven't patronized that restaurant since--which, to be fair, I hadn't patronized much up to that point. But I guess that, like most New Yorkers, I have become accustomed or resigned to the eBikes. As I've mentioned in other posts, I can understand why some delivery workers would use them: They might be delivering orders from one of those apps that promises you'll get your pizza, tacos or whatever within a certain time frame. Or they might be a family's main breadwinner--whether that family is here or in El Salvador or China or some other far-away place-- speak little or no English and be aging--and have few or no other employment prospects.
But one opinion I've developed, and won't change, is this: They don't belong on any path lane, sidewalk or other pathway used by bicyclists, pedestrians or anyone else moving about without a motor--with the exception of motorized wheelchair users.
The Bureau of Police in Lancaster, Pennsylvania seems to share my opinion. This week, they released a statement banning electric bikes--along with skateboards and unicycles-- from sidewalks.
Now, since I don't cross paths (pun intended) with skateboarders and unicycles as often, I haven't developed as strong feelings about them. My main complaint about skateboarders is that they stop frequently, sometimes in the path of cyclists, often without intending to do so. The few times I've had to do a quick dodge around a skateboarder, he (nearly all I've encountered have been teenage boys and young men) was apologetic and polite. And I've had so few encounters with unicyclists that I really don't think about them. But, I can understand why some pedestrians--especially if they are elderly and have mobility issues--would feel endangered by skateboarders and unicyclists.
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