Deadly Queensboro Bridge crash raises questions about enforcement

The collision in the bike lane of the Queensboro Bridge that left two people dead Thursday is shedding light on a lack of enforcement for e-bikes and scooters, and in particular illegal ones that exceed the speed limit. 

One of the people who was killed was on a bicycle. The other was on an electric scooter, which police said was illegal, since it could go above 50 mph. 

"There's no protection for cyclists"

The narrow eastbound and westbound bike lanes on the bridge, where the collision happened, are only divided by a painted white line. 

"There's no protection for cyclists with scooters going 30, 40, 50 miles an hour," cyclist Mike Romano said. 

The speed limit on all New York City bike lanes is 15 mph. Cyclists who spoke with CBS News New York said it sure doesn't feel that way.

"I definitely feel the scooters, in particular, give me the skeevies a little," e-bike rider Sam Blumenfeld said. 

"I do feel like there's a lot of unregulated guys speeding," Citi Bike rider Daniel Nguyen said. 

While at the bridge, CBS News New York observed an officer issuing a ticket to a cyclist who went through a red light. 

"Sometimes there's police at the beginning of the bridge," e-bike rider Lian Cenzao said. 

"The appropriate level of enforcement"

The New York City Department of Transportation says cars and pedestrians make up the majority of all traffic injuries. 

So far this year, 12 people have died on e-bikes and scooters. That's compared to six during the same period last year. 

Last year, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch instructed the NYPD to start issuing criminal court summonses to riders on e-bikes and scooters for reckless driving, in an effort to crack down on e-bike safety. The Mamdani administration reversed that this year, instructing the NYPD to only issue civil summonses to reckless e-bike riders. If you rack up a few of those, you could lose your license.

The problem is you don't need a license to ride an e-bike.

"For cyclists breaking the law, we're not seeing a pattern of repeat offenders," Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn said. "We're doing a multifaceted approach of education [and] enforcement to get the word out there ... we think it's the appropriate level of our enforcement at the end of the day."

A spokesman for City Hall said Friday that the mayor's initiative to stop issuing criminal summonses for e-bikes does not apply to scooters such as the one involved in this collision.

"This terrible tragedy is a grim reminder that illegal, high-speed micro-mobility devices, like the stand-up e-scooter involved in this incident, are dangerous and have no place on our roadways or bike paths. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of both victims as we continue to review the details of this crash. Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe, and the Mamdani Administration will continue working to remove these illegal devices from our streets and bring accountability to micromobility use," a City Hall spokesperson said.   

E-bike enforcement can pose particular challenges. The Queensboro Bridge bike lane is very narrow, leaving no room for a police presence there. E-bikes can also easily weave through cars and traffic to escape police. Speed cameras also do not apply to bikes or scooters, because those cameras read license plates, which scooters and bikes don't have.