Originally Posted by
cat0020
Horrific Crash on Manhattan Bridge Bike Path Underscores Moped Crisis
According to the NYPD's crash statistics, there were 44,754 reported crashes between January 1 and June 23.
Of those, 43,188 — or 96 percent — were caused by drivers of cars, SUVs, trucks, ambulances, vans and other heavy motorized vehicles.
Just 826 crashes — or 1.8 percent — were caused by the operators of e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds or motorbikes, according to the police.
Another 740 crashes — or 1.6 percent — were caused by regular bike riders, the cops said.
Drilling down further, there have been 3,952 crashes that caused injuries to at least one pedestrian.
Of those crashes, 3,784 — or 96 percent again — were caused by car and truck drivers.
Only 168 — or 4.2 percent — were caused by the operators of e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds or motorbikes, according to the police.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/07/...s-moped-crisis
Good info; thanks for sharing. It won't apply to most of us here, but these things tend to start in places like NYC and LA and slowly spread across cities in the USA.
What I get from this is that NYC motorists feel entitled to all of the road and are aggressive enough to intimidate or hit cyclists.
The question then, is why are we regulating eBikes more, instead of of keeping cyclists from being hit by automotive traffic? It has already been proven that
they're the main problem!
Originally Posted by
cat0020
As a regulatory engineer at a company that makes cordless power tools, I can understand this well. I was working at UL when hoverboards were going through the same thing. The government didn't make the connection between eBikes and hoverboards. (it's the chargers and batteries, not the product itself!) UL Listed products don't allow safety-critical components to be substituted willy-nilly. This includes battery cells, charge controllers, battery chargers, fuses, electrical insulation and many other components.
Even 2nd tier safety certifications (Intertek, TUV, SGS, CSA) are better than nothing.
When you see the CE mark on an inexpensive Chinese product, be aware that it is self-declared by the manufacturer. The onus is on them to prove they did the right testing in case of trouble or audit, but until they're caught, it's strictly honor system. These mushroom Chinese companies will just close up the business if that happens, move down the block and start over with a new business registration.
Also, realize that CE is for Europe, so it doesn't mean anything in the US, since we don't audit it here. When you see the cULus Mark on a product, it is a 3rd party certification and that construction is being audited quarterly by un-announced factory visits from the inspectors to be sure no unauthorized component substitutions are made.
I've noticed in my own eBike purchases (5 in the past year) that the chargers usually carry some proper certification, but only the more expensive battery packs do.