New York eBike Regulations are a MESS!

[CloneWerks]

Just a friendly FYI to anyone in New York State who is considering an eBike. The Regulations are an absolute mess in this state! As of AUGUST 2022 you will find that;

Statewide law has been amended: and now "the law allows people to operate electric scooters (e-scooters) and bicycles with electric assist (e-bikes) on some streets and highways in New York State." See link for details.

The DOT regulations go on to state;

• you can operate these devices on highways with a posted speed limit of 30 MPH or less
• municipalities can further regulate the time, place and manner of operation of these devices
• you cannot operate these devices on a sidewalk except as authorized by local law or ordinance

This somewhat vague guideline has led to an absolute patchwork of local ordinances, exceptions, and variances ranging from NYC where there is fairly strict set of rules that are enforced, all the way to smaller cities like Binghamton NY where the only real rule is "stay off the sidewalks in the city".

In short, if you aren't sure what the rules are you should call the police -in your locality- and ask them what the rules are. Things are evolving rapidly and it would be very easy to get "caught in the gears" right now.

EDIT:
At least NYS made some reasonable attempt to define eBikes as well;

Bicycle with electric assist. A bicycle which is no more than thirty-six inches wide and has an electric motor of less than seven hundred fifty watts, equipped with operable pedals, meeting the equipment and manufacturing requirements for bicycles adopted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under 16 C.F.R. Part 1512.1 et seq. and meeting the requirements of one of the following three classes:
(a) "Class one bicycle with electric assist." A bicycle with electric assist having an electric motor that provides assistance only when the person operating such bicycle is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when such bicycle reaches a speed of twenty miles per hour.
(b) "Class two bicycle with electric assist." A bicycle with electric assist having an electric motor that may be used exclusively to propel such bicycle, and that is not capable of providing assistance when such bicycle reaches a speed of twenty miles per hour.
(c) "Class three bicycle with electric assist." Solely within a city having a population of one million or more, a bicycle with electric assist having an electric motor that may be used exclusively to propel such bicycle, and that is not capable of providing assistance when such bicycle reaches a speed of twenty-five miles per hour.

 

[Snoop]

I agree, CW.

Sharing what I posted in another thread, recently:


I hope it passes as well. The biggest issue is the wonky politics and legislation occurring in NYS regarding ebikes.

The state is speaking out of both sides of its mouth.

One one side, it is boasting, “Look how green we are! We are helping the climate by incentivizing the purchase of ebikes! Ditch the car and take your bike to work! Save the planet!”

Out of the other side of its mouth it is saying, “unless you live in New York City, riding an ebike is illegal on almost any road you would ride on to get to work! It is dangerous! You shall not ride on any road with a posted speed limit of greater than 30 MPH! Only regular bikes can go on those roads! We know that makes no sense!”

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

——-————

It seems like all of the “pro”-ebike legislation was drafted to solely benefit NYC. As currently written, the rest of New York State is very anti-ebike, with draconian restrictions. Very surprising, IMO, for a state which wants to have itself seen as pro-climate.

 

[astromunch]

Hello, first time poster here, just heard my building is planning on banning e-bikes/scooters (it’s a co-op in NYC). Anyone have any suggestions? It’s really my lifeline. Thanks so much!

 

[JerryB]

Anyone else surprised that government doesn't have their act together........wonder how they will eventually make money from ebikes....license....taxes.....both???

 

["A"]

This new law in NYC will likely impact the ebike shops in Brooklyn that I use for electrical troubleshooting.

Usually they are good with fixing stuff while you wait, lots of knowledge in getting ebikes back on the road.

These ebike shops cater to delivery folks that depend on their ebikes to make a living, I wonder how it might impact the local economy beyond just the ebike shops.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/ret...-e-bike-law-mean-retailers-there#.ZAX91HbMJhE

 

["A"]

NYC bike and scooter riders just got good news and bad news​

NYC bike and scooter riders just got good news and bad news

If you've enjoyed riding electric Citi BIkes or Revel's electric scooters in NYC, then you'll want to pay attention to new changes.

electrek.co

 

["A"]

Perhaps not NYC specific

Bike shops are starting to get massive insurance hikes if they allow e-bikes into their shop (even for a tire issue or similar).
This thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/19d7l4l/ebikes_and_the_bike_shop_it_might_be_over

shows a bike shop owner receiving a threat to cancel their insurance,
unless they pay > $23k/year (it's unclear how much of an increase this is, some people are saying it's 90-120%)
.
(SNIP)
E-bikes and the Bike shop. It might be over.

It’s unfortunate, but 1000s of shops are going to be getting these letters over the next few weeks.
One of the largest insurers of bike shops in the USA is dropping policies for shops that work on, sell, and rent e-bikes.
A lot of us on the inside of the industry have seen the writing on the wall for sometime.

We personally have been warning brands we work with over the potential issues of not having proper UL 2849 certifications,
and now this will be the new reality.
I found out insurance policies alone for these brands should range from $25k-50k annually,
for the longest time they were trying to push the insurance onto the shops, but now the policy makers are changing things up.

We were the only shop in our metropolitan city to work on e-bikes in the first place.
We’re going to fight it to the best of our abilities and look for other options, but if we’re not insured to work on something, we can’t touch it.

This is more or less a warning for the general public that there will likely be new policy changes in your neck of the woods.
Shops that use to work on e-bikes may not be able to or afford to anymore.

In reality, this is individual brands faults.
They want to pump bikes into the market as quickly as possible without proper certification and this is the result.
Of course they don’t want to hold the policies and push that onto the rest of us just trying to run a business.

The more you know…

To me, this is not specifically a to a brand issue, since there are only a handful of UL certified e-bikes.
Seems like this might have to change soon.

Shops will require certification of each bike model, so brands selling a ton of models (that are actually unique to the brand)
are going to have hundreds of thousands of dollars in certifications, if not more, in the future.

Simple solution would be to require batteries to removed and kept at owners house for mechanical servicing.
If this is happening then home insurance companies could exclude ebike battery fires.

https://ebikeescape.com/ul-certified-ebikes-batteries-list/

 

["A"]

Another huddle to jump through with regulations.
Amtrak changed their policy for Electric Bikes on trains earlier this month,
now requiring them to be "certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory
" https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard
The wording isn't there but this implies only e-bikes that are certified to meet electrical safety standards UL 2849 for the bike or UL 2271 for batteries.

To bring a bike into a passenger car a folding bicycle must fit the dimensions of 34" x 15" x 48" (860 x 380 x 1120 mm)
and kept folded only in luggage storage areas at the end of the car (or, in Superliners, on the lower level),not stored folded in overhead racks.
Most folding e-bikes are larger than these dimensions so are only permitted to be stored in the bike rack train car, and you may have to pay a bicycle fee.

 

[Smaug]

Our government is SO bad. All these things are hindering this new tech that is making bicycling palatable to the average American. It would ease congestion, but they're over-reacting to the few fires that were part of the learning process.

That insurance company just punished ALL eBikes, rather than un-certified ones. I hope they go out of business. That's what happens when an insurance company executive and CEO get together to make decisions instead of learning and talking about it with those in the know.

 

[JerryB]

Our government is SO bad. All these things are hindering this new tech that is making bicycling palatable to the average American. It would ease congestion, but they're over-reacting to the few fires that were part of the learning process.

That insurance company just punished ALL eBikes, rather than un-certified ones. I hope they go out of business. That's what happens when an insurance company executive and CEO get together to make decisions instead of learning and talking about it with those in the know.

Yep.....they apply rules that don't make sense. A friend in Calif just had his homeowners insurance cancelled becasue they own a rothweiler.....I know that dog.....sweetest girl ever.......gentle and loving........total BS on the part of the insurance company.....I also hope they go out of business.