NYC Council considering e-bike, scooter safety proposals at hearing
New York City Council members considered 23 proposals on e-bike and e-scooter safety Wednesday, while crash victims and safety advocates rallied for stronger accountability.
City officials said it was the most proposals ever taken up in a single council hearing. The NYPD and Department of Transportation were among those testifying.
The meeting follows at least 20 people being killed while biking in the city so far in 2026. Most recently, a delivery worker was struck by a dump truck in Midtown on Monday, with the driver leaving the scene, according to police.
Some proposals target the companies behind the deliveries, with one requiring delivery services to get a city business license. Another would require food delivery apps to verify workers' mopeds are properly registered.
Other measures would require liability insurance and using technology to address unsafe riding. It includes an e-bike trade-in program, speed-testing equipment to check devices, and traffic-calming measures in bike lanes at 50 intersections.
Priscilla's Law would require e-bikes and scooters to be registered with the DOT. It's named after 69-year-old Priscilla Loke, who was hit and killed by an electric bike.
Sook Ling Lai, her former boss at Chinatown Head Start, said Loke was on her way from a client's home when she was killed.
"We are still fighting to pass the Priscilla's Law," Lai said. "Our staff members always think of her contribution to the program, to the community, to the parents, and to the children."
In a video posted Tuesday, Council Speaker Julie Menin and Majority Leader Shaun Abreu demonstrated a bike they say slows automatically when it reaches a sidewalk. This type of technology is among the ideas under consideration.
"E-bike collisions are up 31.7% this year over last year," Abreu said at the hearing.
"More than half of all riders who die in a traffic crash are riding illegal devices capable of going at high speeds," DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn added.
New York Electric Mobility Coalition spokesperson Elliot Garcia said he would like to see the City Council make infrastructure safer for bike riders.
"I would like to see them do a few things, definitely fix the infrastructure," he said. "So many changes have happened since COVID, you know? I get it. They have to narrow it down somewhere, but they gotta meet us in the middle."
Queens resident Jeremy Sexton said he has been biking for 10 years.
"Everyone is kind of the problem," he said. "People are going to get the bikes whether they like it or not. They can't post someone on the corner every single day."
The New York City E-Vehicles Safety Alliance held a rally at 9 a.m. It supports some of the proposals but argues that without licensing, registration and identifiable plates for all e-vehicles, dangerous riders can still be difficult to hold accountable.
"For some reason, it's more important a chicken sandwich get delivered than someone's life," said founding member Kerry Michaels.
"Our state infrastructure is not set up to license bikes," said Alexa Sledge, of the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives. "It would cost millions and millions of dollars and also a massive education campaign to make this happen. Yet, there's very little evidence that licensing or registering bikes does anything to reduce safety."
But some safety advocates argue without registration, none of the other bills discussed at this hearing have any teeth.
"This is a scourge which really needs to be brought under control, and the only way to do it is by making these bikes identifiable because otherwise what good does it do to make something illegal if you don't know who's doing it illegally?" said advocate Renee Baruch, who was struck by cyclist while crossing West 72nd Street three years ago.
Since these are still proposals, the City Council will have to later vote on them before implementing them into law.
