Council Member Holden's bill calls for slamming the brakes on ebikes and e-scooters

 

 Sunnyside Post

Council Member Robert Holden, who represents the Queens neighbors of Ridgewood and Glendale, says that electric scooters and electric bikes are putting New Yorkers in danger and has introduced legislation that would ban them until they can be properly policed.

Holden introduced a bill last week that would repeal city regulations that allow e-bikes and e-scooters to be driven throughout the five boroughs.

The lawmaker says that some riders are ignoring traffic laws — since they are not required to have a license to ride their bikes – which is leading to crashes. In addition, he said, there have been instances where the batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters have sparked fires.

Holden wants the ban imposed until state lawmakers pass legislation that would require the vehicles to be registered, licensed and insured.

The legislation that would require the vehicles to be registered, licensed and insured, can only be enacted at state level since state lawmakers legalized the vehicles in the first place in 2020, Holden said. The state law gave municipalities the ability to legalize e-bikes and e-scooters.

“The scourge of these devices throughout our city has led to people disregarding traffic laws resulting in injuries or death, lithium ion-based fires that killed several people and injured hundreds, and a feeling of disorder on our streets and sidewalks as well as a diminished quality of life,” Holden said.

“We must ensure that these vehicles are operated safely before allowing them back on our streets.”

Knock off e-batteries are leading to a rise in house fires

NY Daily News 

Off the street, e-bikes and electric scooters take a toll in injuries and lives.

Two Three New Yorkers died and 60 63 were injured — including 18 firefighters — in 55 56 blazes sparked by the lithium-ion batteries that power the zippy two-wheel rides used by delivery workers and other people.

In the previous year, the lithium-ion batteries caused fewer than half as many fires — 22 blazes that injured 13 people, including four firefighters.

 “Before we even knew, the fire was already out of control,” said Octavia Thomas, 26, who escaped the blaze from her first-floor apartment.

But the Fire Department already sees faulty after-market batteries as a problem, Flynn told the Daily News.

Replacements, and not the batteries that originally come with scooters, are usually the ones to catch fire, he explained. “The most important thing to do is to stick with the manufacturer’s recommended batteries,” Flynn said.

Another safety tip: “Never leave the battery charging unattended,” Flynn said. “A lot of people charge them overnight and go to sleep, but we recommend you don’t do that.”

Overcharging and charging batteries in confined spaces are also a bad idea.

“People also tend to charge the batteries in the doorway of their homes, and that causes a substantial safety hazard,” Flynn said. A fire in a doorway can block escape routes, he explained.

 

 

Revel repulsion

Queens Chronicle 

 The image is a stark one.

Four of the sky-blue Revel scooters that have become ubiquitous on street corners in some sections of Forest Hills were photographed last week, not in the street waiting to be rented by a new rider, but on the other side of the curb, laying on their sides in the grass on a side street just off Union Turnpike.

At least one appeared to be damaged, with its mirror laying a short distance away on the sidewalk. The photo doesn’t indicate whether, the damage was incidental to the vehicles being moved by someone looking for parking or done with extreme prejudice.

The scooters began appearing in Forest Hills back in the spring. Unlike Citi Bike vehicles that are taken from and returned to specific docking bays, the scooters, under a city-approved program, can be left on the street for the next renter to pick up and drop off when finished.

While they must adhere to all city parking and traffic rules, they have not always sat well with some Forest Hills residents, who have complained about abuses on both fronts.

The apparently damaged scooters even came to the attention and social media accounts of Tom Verni, a retired NYPD detective who now works as a crime and law enforcement consultant for media outlets. He also is a former resident of Forest Hills and Kew Gardens. Verni, too, said the photo appears to show that at least one of the scooters was damaged.

“They’ve been springing up like dandelions all over the place,” Verni said. “With Citi Bikes, you have stations that take up a quarter-block, half a block. The Revels people leave them just anywhere. It’s becoming a nuisance.”

Verni said he has seen the scooters parked illegally; parked in front of driveways; and parked between cars, often leaving them inadequate space to pull out without physically moving the scooters. He has also seen them parked at curbs on alternate-side-of-the-street parking days when street sweepers must detour around them.

“All true. Those are the calls we’ve been getting,” said Frank Gulluscio, district manager of Community Board 6. Gulluscio said Revel officials did speak before CB 6 before the program kicked off, but that was it.

“It’s not like we had a say,” he said. “The city had already approved it.”

E-motor scooter stooges