255
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by Davriellelouna@lemmy.world to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world

Today is a big day for the future of e-bikes in New York City. A hearing starts at 10 a.m. You can file a written comment until 5 p.m. You can also send an email to rules@dot.nyc.gov until 5 p.m

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 months ago

The thing with pedelecs and 25km/h is complicated™

  • we distinguish e-bikes and pedelecs
    • self-driving electric bike
    • bike with electric pedal assist
  • motorized bikes are already a thing for a century
    • motorbikes… (driving license; 16 years+; real number plate; but 20 years+ for >45km/h)
    • moped has 45km/h limit and a kickstart pedal (driving license; 15 years+; insurance plate)
    • mofa has 25km/h limit and (can have) real bike pedals (driving test; 15 years+; insurance plate)
  • every motorized vehicle that can do more than 20km/h and doesn’t have a seat belt, mandates helmets
  • bike paths are only for bikes
    • outside of built-up area mofas were already allowed to use bike paths
  • at least one state banned motorized vehicles from forests

It probably was always possible to drive them as moped/mofa, don’t think it was specified what kind of motor.

Pedal assist doesn’t just stop at 25km/h, it also decreases with higher speeds.

But the point is that pedelecs effectively count as bike and not motorized vehicles. That means somebody younger than 15 can drive them, but you have to be at least 10 to be allowed to drive on streets/roads. Helmets are only mandatory for <12 years old kids on bikes.

this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
255 points (100.0% liked)

Fuck Cars

13545 readers
385 users here now

A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

Rules

1. Be CivilYou may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.

2. No hate speechDon't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.

3. Don't harass peopleDon't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.

4. Stay on topicThis community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.

5. No repostsDo not repost content that has already been posted in this community.

Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.

Posting Guidelines

In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:

Recommended communities:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS