1 hour ago
3
Last week, victims of serious e-bike crashes sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani, charging that, in ending criminal enforcement against e-bike drivers breaking traffic laws, the mayor has unilaterally “rewritten” state policy.
Rather than relying on the courts to force the mayor to act, though, Gov. Kathy Hochul must step in to protect pedestrians and pedal cyclists.
The lawsuit makes for harrowing reading.
Bonnie Gerard, 83, was on an Upper East Side sidewalk in October 2023 when an e-bike driver hit her, knocking her into a garbage can and causing a serious head and leg injury.
Roberta Simon was walking in a Central Park pedestrian lane in August 2024 when an e-bike driver struck her, causing a brain injury that required surgery.
Harvey Goldberg, 75, was riding a Citi Bike in the Second Avenue bike lane when an e-bike hit him, knocking him out and breaking a bone.
These stories are backed by data. In 2024, six pedestrians died in crashes involving motorized two-wheelers, a category so new that it was the first year the city reported it separately.
Serious injuries — for pedestrians and e-bike drivers — have soared.
The plaintiffs, represented by former independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden, don’t want money (beyond legal fees).
They just want a judge to direct Mamdani to reverse a policy he started in March.
The March 19, 2026, cover of The Post. Mamdani’s March directive was to end a nearly year-old initiative begun by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch under the Adams administration.
Starting last April, the NYPD began writing criminal summonses to reckless e-bikers rather than traffic tickets.
Tisch made this decision after seeing that e-bikers were ignoring civil tickets.
Mamdani was wrong to stop criminal enforcement, and he should resume such summonsing before more people die.
But that doesn’t fix the original sin.
State policy is broken beyond the scope of this lawsuit, because, in 2020, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the mistake of legalizing e-bikes and stand-up scooters, after vetoing a similar bill a year before over safety worries.
This was vintage late Cuomo, terrified of progressives: pass bills on complicated topics in the state budget, and ask questions later.
The problem is that e-bikes are motor vehicles, not human-powered vehicles.
But New York state doesn’t require their drivers — and they are drivers, not “riders” — to carry licenses, registration or insurance.
New York City cannot start its own DMV to accomplish these tasks, although City Council Speaker Julie Menin should corral moderate members to signal that they’d like the state to act.
Signal or not, Hochul and state lawmakers must act.
Start with fleets: licensing, registration and easily identifiable plating for delivery e-bikes.
Nobody should be making a delivery without meeting such requirements — and civilian enforcement teams could fan out near delivery-destination hubs, like banks at weekday dinner times, to ensure compliance.
Citibike, too. Just as you can’t rent a car without verifying insurance, Citibike, owned by ride-hail firm Lyft, should either carry full liability insurance for its casual e-bike users for an extra per-ride fee, or verify that users have other insurance.
For civilian drivers of their own e-bikes, Hochul could gradually work with the insurance industry to create a new class of coverage, perhaps an inexpensive addition to auto, homeowners or renters’ insurance.
E-bike licensing doesn’t have to be as onerous as getting a full driver’s license; a day-long class, even online, for a new class of license could suffice.
But New York state needs some way of identifying and tracking e-bike drivers, just as it identifies and tracks car and truck drivers.
Then, a cop often wouldn’t have to chase down a reckless e-biker on a sidewalk; he could snap the plate and connect it to a delivery fleet or to Citibike to issue a violation.
The state should also force commercial fleets, including Citibike, to geofence their e-bikes, prohibiting them from exceeding the speed limit or operating on pedestrian paths.
Should Hochul act, she’ll hear no end of it from organized “cycling” advocates.
Their preferred stand-in for the average e-cyclist is the Brooklyn mom who uses her e-bike to take her kids to school, following all traffic laws.
And Hochul would be deluged by delivery-app lobbyists, who’ll whine that customers will be denied their constitutional right to get their food fast.
But disorganized cyclists are just as fed up as pedestrians with the reckless e-bike takeover of bike lanes.
And anyone who wants to avoid the licensing, registration and insurance that come with operating a motor vehicle, and the cost and the scrutiny that accompany such requirements, can do what “cycling” advocates used to counsel: pedal a bicycle!
Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.
English (US)