If Mayor Adams gets his way, New York City will institute a new speed limit on electric bicycles, reducing the cap to just 15 mph (24.1 km/h) from the previous e-bike speed limit of 25 mph (40 km/h). It’s a move that is ostensibly meant to protect New Yorkers, but which experts have said will actually result in risking more lives.
It’s a prime example of doing more harm than good, says Michael Replogle, the former policy director for NYC’s Department of Transportation and an internationally recognized expert in the field of sustainable transportation.
The issue is that the reduced speed limit means that slower e-bikes will constantly come into conflict with higher speed traffic, routinely being passed by multi-ton cars and SUVs.
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