NYPD CRACKDOWN ON ELECTRIC BICYCLES
Last week, NYPD officers seized 247 electric bicycles in a 24-hour period as part of a sting to seize illegal ATVs, motorcycles and ebikes. It’s part of New York City’s implementation of Vision Zero, the multi-national road traffic safety project. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced adoption of their own Vision Zero plan with initiatives to allow more control in the administration of traffic safety measures. This oversight seems to currently be targeting cyclists, especially those on electric bicycles, which are illegal in New York (but legal on a National level).
NYPD Chief of Transit Bureau Joseph Fox tweeted this:
The response was rapid and showed that many in the Twittersphere don’t care for the ban, discussing the fact that many rely on the bikes for their livelihood and that electric bikes aren’t statistically responsible for deaths or injuries. A sampling of the responses:
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport cool, now all those deliveries can happen by car & we’ll have more traffic, more noise, more pollution, more danger
More@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport Can you remind us how many people were killed or injured this month by those bikes ?
@NYPD9Pct Great, but did you do anything about cars making illegal left turns where that officer was? Because I heard otherwise. #DoYourJob
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport How many cars have you seized from law-breaking drivers? cc @BikingPublic
More@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport yawnn… do some real police work. those are hard working delivery people.
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport How embarrassing. But I admire yr transparency on going after slower, non-dangerous, less polluting things. #MyNYPD
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport “VisionZero” is about preventing fatalities. What % of street fatalities caused by e-bikes in your precinct?
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport In 1 day you have seized 1/2 as many bikes as you have given motorists tix since Jan. 1. #notvisionzero
@NYPD9Pct what a colossal waste of resources.
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@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport You. Accomplished. Nothing. #fail #mynypd #VisionZero #bikenyc
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport Way to go on the low hanging fruit there. So brave of y’all. Now go. Now go beat up some jaywalking seniors.
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport Thank you. These guys are a menace! Bikes are not supposed to go that fast.
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport great jobs guys. Thanks for the XXXXXX XXXX.
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport pardon my French, but: XXXXXXX XXXX
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport stupid masses still believe these criminals in uniforms r here protect/serve. It’s more like extort/harass
More@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport your mayor is an X XXXX.
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport savages stealing from working class,y don’t u criminals target your own members who commit violation/crimes everyd
@NYPD9Pct @NYPDTransport wow.. are all those poor Chinese guys’ delivery bikes? good job on picking on poor guys.. bikes don’t kill
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There was a similar response to the NYPD 9th precinct when they posted this:
According to nyc.streetsblog.org, “People riding bicycles — both conventional and electric — are responsible for a vanishing trace of pedestrian fatalities in NYC. Drivers who speed and fail to yield remain the biggest causes of death. Yet the Midtown North precinct, which only issued 37 speeding tickets in the month of February [PDF], confiscated 38 bikes on Wednesday.”
It seems there are far more egregious threats to pedestrians on the streets of New York than electric bicycles, with trucks operating illegally killing many pedestrians and cyclists. The crackdown on bikes may have stemmed from citizen complaints against delivery cyclists, which haven’t statistically caused the same damage as trucks or other vehicles.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is fine with the mass-ticketing campaigns by NYPD. “The bottom line here, first and foremost, cars, vehicles, are the number one challenge because their size and their speed make them the single greatest danger, but bicyclists have to get the message,” de Blasio said at a press conference in November. “They need to follow traffic laws too, and we have had targeted enforcement of bicyclists and we will continue to deepen that.”