NYC e-bikes, scooters may soon need license plates, registration after 47 are killed in 5 years

This bill has a ticket to ride.The City Council is mulling a law that would require license plates and registration for electric bikes and scooters — after 47 people were killed in e-bike crashes over the last five years.“The scourge of e-bikes in our streets, on our sidewalks, and even inside our buildings continues to wreak chaos, injure and maim people, and, tragically, take lives,” Council member Bob Holden (D-Queens) said Wednesday at the first public hearing on the bill.“We need accountability for the victims of e-bike incidents — and we need it now,” said Holden, who introduced the bill in March.“This legislation is long overdue and will provide a necessary layer of oversight and responsibility for these devices.”The bill – named Priscilla’s Law after a 69-year-old Head Start worker who was killed when a Citi Bike plowed into her in Chinatown last September – would mandate a registration with the state Department of Motor Vehicles and an ID number on a visible plate for every bicycle and scooter with electric assist.The legislation would affect Citi Bikes and electric scooters used by food delivery drivers.“This bill also holds companies accountable: platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash profit from the rise of E mobility devices, they have a responsibility to educate riders and enforce traffic laws among their users and remove repeat offenders from their platforms,” Holden said. The council member first introduced a version of the bill in 2022, but that bill never had a hearing.

The current version has gained 31co-sponsors across party lines, according to the City Council website. Supporters of the bill, including those from the NYC Electric Vehicle Safety Alliance – a coalition of 1,200 members, including 98 pedestrian and cyclist victims of “e-vehicle and moped violence” – say Priscilla’s Law will increase accountability in e-bike-related traffic violations, accidents and crimes.“Living with a traumatic brain injury...