The hearing, ostensibly on a massive package of 21 bills pertaining to e-bike safety, lasted approximately seven hours — but amounted to very little. According to Hell Gate:
Perhaps the hearing’s lack of substance was due to the middling quality of the legislation itself, a hodgepodge of basic street safety actions (installing calming measures in bike lanes), cries for the state to do something (require e-bike riders to be registered), and increased app-based surveillance of deliveristas. But you can’t deny there were numerous bills. City Council Speaker Julie Menin touted the number as a “record” for a single hearing.
The anti-e-bike crowd was there, too, booing any mention of cars and trucks as the cause of the overwhelming majority of traffic crashes. What a productive use of everyone’s time!
[Hell Gate]
