E-bike Ban Protest

The bottom line is that due to a quirk in state law these bikes are not street legal.  But they should be. The law needs to be fixed at the state level to legitimize e-bikes, and the traffic laws strictly enforced.  Too many of the delivery workers flagrantly viate the rules of the road (and sidewalk) on a daily basis and there is no excuse for that behavior.  But the bikes themselves are not inherently unsafe and should be regulated for legal use. 

Too often the these two distinct issues are conflated.

Video: Delivery Workers Plead For Relief From Electric Bike Ban

"Yesterday morning roughly 40 people, most of them immigrant restaurant delivery workers, gathered at the corner of Chrystie and Grand to demand the repeal of a city-wide ban on electronic bicycles that went into effect on November 11th. According to protesters, the ban, which slaps businesses whose employees are caught using e-bikes with a $175 fine and possible bike confiscation, threatens to make it impossible for many delivery workers to both stay legal and keep up with orders in what is often a 10-12 hour day."

http://gothamist.com/2013/12/05/photos_video_delivery_workers_prote.php

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