The proliferation of electric motorcycles, especially in the last year, has become a headache for residents of the Big Apple, like Melissa Miguel, from Jackson Heights, Queens, who claims that she has already had “several scares,” after that on different sidewalks in his neighborhood he has come face to face with drivers of this type of vehicle moving like hell.
“Not all those who drive those scooters behave badly, because the majority know how to respect, but lately I see more of those motorcycles riding on the sidewalk, as if it were a road, and sometimes I have even seen adults with children riding in front, driving without God or law, about to run over me,” says the 49-year-old Colombian.
The mother’s complaint coincides with the concern that New York authorities have with the increase in unlicensed electric motorcycles, also known as scooters and mopeds, which has increased seizures of this type of vehicle in different parts of the city, in so far in 2023, as revealed by the NYPD this Friday, during one of the weekly presentations on advances in public security that the Municipal Administration makes periodically.
At the conference, chaired by Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Louis Molina, Captain Lauren Foster, of the NYPD’s Office of Crime Control Strategies, revealed that as part of the initiatives that the police have deployed to establish order and improve security, the number of confiscated vehicles, including electric motorcycles that violate driving laws or do not have required documentation, has increased.
“To date there have been 5,620 interactions due to violations, such as expired licenses or false registration, which have generated 9,249 fines,” Captain Foster said on Friday the 22nd, detailing that in total during this year 17,718 vehicles have also been detained, of which 12,437 are electric motorcycles, which represents an increase of 73% in this type of actions. A total of 4,620 vehicles did not have road registration plates.
Carlos Nieves, deputy commissioner of the DCPI, of the New York City Police Department, confirmed the increases in seizures of motorcycles and electric bicycles, and took the opportunity to call on those who use this type of vehicle to work or get around, in order to avoid getting into trouble, following the registration rules and respecting traffic signs.
“The Police Department is always enforcing the rules for everyone, not just those who are using motorcycles and mopeds to make a living, but we also want you to know that we are not looking for those people specifically, but rather the efforts that we are doing are for everyone in the city,” Nieves commented. You have to follow the rules. Many of those vehicles need to be registered, and if they do and wear a helmet, there is no problem. But they have to understand that if an officer sees a person driving one of those motorbikes on the sidewalk, that is something that is not allowed. “We don’t want to be taking away their motorcycles, but they have to follow the rules.”
The NYPD Spokesman stressed that this year there have been several serious incidents due to the recklessness of electric motorcycles, which have even resulted in fatalities, which is why he was reiterative in requesting that to guarantee the safety of everyone, those who buy electric motorcycles must adhere to the the law.
“You have to follow all the rules, and if a street is one way, you know that if you drive the wrong way, an officer is going to try to stop you, and if he doesn’t catch you this time, he will stop you next time,” the sergeant said. “It is a safety issue, not only for the people who are driving the motorcycles and bicycles but also for pedestrians, because there have been several cases where a person using a motorcycle to make deliveries crashes into a pedestrian and dies. That is why we are strengthening the law and the number of motorcycles we are confiscating has increased. “Every year we confiscate thousands and thousands of motorcycles, and we don’t do it to prevent people from working but because they are not following the rules.”
And regarding complaints from deliveristas who claim to feel that the NYPD would be having special treatment with some newly arrived motorists, without applying the law to everyone equally, the NYPD spokesperson said that “that perception” is not true.
“The NYPD is making these efforts all over the city, and while I understand the frustration of many people when someone sees 30 or 40 motorcycles parked in front of a hotel, I assure you that the Police Department is doing many different things and “If a motorcycle is parked where it shouldn’t be, they can come and give you a fine in an illegal area,” concluded Nieves. “And if the NYPD sees that single motorcycles are not registered, they can also be confiscated. It’s not just when it’s being handled, but I can 100 percent guarantee that no one is getting special treatment in that regard.”