What Will We Call It?

 

Someone left a very interesting comment on yesterday’s post. He could recall when automatic transmissions were still a novelty in cars.  Non-automatic transmissions were called ‘standard”—until automatic transmissions became standard. Now they’re called “manual.”

The commenter sees a possible shift (pun intended) in the nomenclature related to two-wheeled vehicles. In my post, I followed the now-standard (!) practic of referring to non-electric, non-motorized bikes as “traditional.” Others probably call them “standard.”  But as they are outsold by e-bikes in many areas, and far more are used in bike-share and -rental schemes, they could, as the commenter points out, become the new “standard “ bike.

If/when that happens, what will we call our “traditional” or “standard” bikes?  The commenter’s wife has a suggestion : “manual.”

I wonder whether John McWhorter rides a bike, with or without a motor, and what he calls it.

Hold Them Accountable

 

When Bicycle Habitat co-founder and proprietor Charlie McCorkle started to use an e-bike, I was glad for him:  He’s a decade older than I am and health issues, including an increasingly arthritic hip, made it difficult for him to mount and ride a traditional bicycle. At least, I thought, he would have a way of getting around and having fun that didn’t involve driving.

And, although some are “cowboys,” I also don’t mind that delivery workers are also on e-bikes. Every one I’ve seen is an immigrant of color (no White South Africans!) and many don’t speak English well or at all. Thus, employment opportunities are limited and, as I understand, delivery workers are paid per delivery (as I, as a bike messenger, was). Also—again, as I’ve heard—delivery apps and customers themselves demand that pizza, sushi, tacos and whatever else arrive within a short window of time.

However, the majority of e-bike riders I see are decades younger than I, Charlie or even the delivery workers are. And too many of them are riding the way many of us did other things when we were their age: recklessly, without any regard for possible consequences, to themselves or others. And I am sure that some realize that they probably will not be held accountable for their mischief and mayhem, like the electric Citibike riders who struck and killed 69-year-old Priscilla Loke and sped away.

Across the Hudson River from where I sit, New Jersey has passed laws setting age limits and requiring registration (including plates) and insurance for e-bikes. While it won’t eliminate reckless riding, it at least makes accountability for injuries, deaths and property damage possible.  One would think that the mayor of my city, Zohran Mamdani (for whom, yes, I voted) would call for similar legislation. Unfortunately, he has done something that, if anything, will only embolden reckless riders: He has ordered the NYPD not to issue summonses to e-bike riders who break the law (e.g., run red lights).

While I am not convinced that more policing always leads to more public safety (and Blacks, LGBTQ people and other communities are over-policed), there are too many examples, such as stores that have closed due to rampant shoplifting, of communities suffering when “minor” offenses aren’t penalized.

I don’t think anybody believes it would be a good idea to tell the police not to ticket drivers who violate traffic laws. While e-bike (and electric scooter) riders aren’t encased in steel, they are as capable of causing serious injury and death to others.  I thus implore the Mayor for whom I voted not to criminalize them, but to hold them accountable.  So far, he has done exactly the opposite.

Are All E-Bikes Created Equal?

 This year, New Jersey passed a law requiring all e-bike users to have a driver’s license, register their bikes and haven insurance by 1 July.  It may well be the most restrictive legislation regarding e-bikes in the United States:  Unlike tiered systems in other jurisdictions, in which e-bikes are regulated according to their speed, power or whether or not they have a throttle or pedal assist, the Garden State’s regulation says, in essence, that all e-bikes are created equal.

Now some folks are saying that it violates one of the Declaration of Independence’s most basic tenets:  that all men are created equal.

No, the state hasn’t declared that e-bikes are people. Rather, immigrants’-rights groups are saying that the law will unfairly burden some of the people who most depend on e-bikes: delivery workers, nearly all of whom are immigrants, and people who live in areas without mass transit but who can’t afford a car or registration—some of whom are immigrants. And most of those couriers and people who commute are riding pedal-assisted machines that have lower top speeds than the ones that are basically just electric motorcycles.

Photo by Seth Wenig

Admittedly, some of those workers and residents are undocumented.  But given the current political and social climate, even those who are here legally and people who were born here to parents who are citizens (including yours truly) would rather minimize their interactions with government authorities.  I can understand their fears; I see ICE agents during rides or while running errands and worry that even someone like me is at risk of becoming the next Alex Pretti or Renee Good if one of those agents is hung over or otherwise having a bad day.  

Why An E-Bike Shop Burned

 Fires know no boundaries.

People on Madison Street, in New York's Chinatown, know that all too well.  Earlier this week, a fire in an e-bike shop spread from its first-floor location to the apartments above it.  As a result, two people are dead and several others remain in the hospital.

The fire is practically an exhibit with all of the problems associated with e-bikes, specifically the lithium-ion batteries that power them and some of the shops that sell and service them.

The shop where the fire broke out had been cited earlier for violations of the city's still-weak regulations regarding e-bikes and their batteries.  A previous citation (which levied a $1600 fine) resulted from the wiring and storage of batteries.  I can understand that shop owners are trying to optimize their limited space, but in that shop, like others, stored batteries in a space in a front shed without ample room or protection from the elements.  Also, according to reports, that shop and others (as well as individual e-bike owners) often use extension chords when charging batteries, or try to charge several at once on a power strip.

Also, I suspect that the electrical wiring and outlets in that shop and building were old.  When new, they probably wouldn't have been strong enough for charging lithium-ion batteries, but after decades of use, they're fire hazards.

There's another shop just like it--on the first floor of building, with apartments above it--across the street from the one that burned. I wonder how well the people in those apartments are sleeping.

(I don't mean to make light of this tragedy.  But I realize that this is the second day in a row I've written about e-bikes.  In my next posts, I'll go back to writing about good old pedal bikes.)