NYC's toxic ebike culture almost killed 4 people; let's talk about it.

[@fokker1138]

The people blowing through reds and stop signs expecting cars to stop need a physics class. Bicyclists (and motorcyclists to a degree) need to learn that no matter what the law is, physics says the car/truck wins.

[@IronPhysik]

thats why Right of way for ships is decided by tonnage, because a 200,000t heavy container ship is less likely to stop than a 5,000t trawler.

[@briantrotter4740]

Really

[@middleagebrotips3454]

​@@IronPhysikI think that's because the momentum effect is amplified on water vs on land.

[@lukewoodside9420]

@@middleagebrotips3454 Well yes, ships don't exactly have brakes, and you can't use the anchor at speed. Even with the prop in full reverse, that's a lot of inertia to arrest.

[@IronPhysik]

@@middleagebrotips3454 its the same effect the only difference is the friction coefficient of Rubber-Asphalt versus steel-Water

[@heroslippy6666]

"The fastest way to lose your freedom is to cause everybody around you to advocate for your freedom to be taken away because they hate you". Fantastic statement Louis.

[@Gideon_Judges6]

It sounds good but then why are there still cyclists ANYWHERE in USA?!?

[@NexxtTimeDontMiss]

Or literally how you end up with Nazis

[@NexxtTimeDontMiss]

@@Gideon_Judges6Nigga I ebike all the time

[@Eustres]

@@Gideon_Judges6 Cause it has not become an issue to cause "everybody" to advocate against it

[@arpytrooper2604]

​@@Gideon_Judges6because most city parking is absurdly expensive and it's much harder to navigate gridlock in a car

[@leyrua]

Two reasons to run a red light: 1. You are in an ambulance. 2. You *want* to be in an ambulance.

[@Kadori328]

3. Nobody is around and your bike can't trip the the Sensors Ran many read lights still alive no tickets

[@azertycraftgaming]

@@Kadori328 true

[@ambiarock590]

@@Kadori328 Especially if there are no cameras in your area, and again if there is literally nobody around then what's the harm in carefully proceeding through the intersection?

[@whyamiwastingmytimeonthis]

@@Kadori328I’m sorry you had to go through that, but do pedestrian buttons on traffic lights not exist in whatever backwards place you’re from?🧐

[@saleplains]

​@@Kadori328tbh i feel like stopping at a red light and crossing when clear isnt even really running the light

[@nottiification]

Apply this logic to the drone ID law you spoke about a few days ago. That law would never be proposed if some people weren't using them to be shitheels. No matter where you go in life, no matter what you do, some jackass got there ahead of you and ruined it for everybody.

[@neglectfulsausage7689]

Classic Deflection: "I cant blame my parent or my politician, so I'll blame my sibling/neighbor and be angry at them".

[@captainheat2314]

government would still love to pass any ID law as they would get registration fees and renewal fees.

[@LatitudeSky]

It's not necessarily that some people are abusing drones. Some surely have. But it is far more people who THINK bad things are going on and want to convince themselves that this is not the case. So they expect remote ID to give them that comfort. But the truth is people who are uncomfortable or unsure or afraid are very difficult to appease. They rarely ever reach a point where they feel good about anything, so they simply demand more and more and more control. Again not because of any actual issues. Only because they FEEL like there are issues.

[@JCDenton.]

As a former NYC resident. Good luck. There is a segment of the NYC population that just does not care and will disregard any laws. Trust me, I grew up in East New York. The Ruff Ryder's used to own a motorcycle shop across from my house. No matter how many tickets and arrests. They still did what they wanted till they got priced out of rent.

[@hadrast]

​@@p3rpNZ You can find a few examples if you search something like "ATC" "drone" here on KZbin. For reasons I hope are obvious, flying a drone anywhere near an active runway is a Very Bad Idea.

[@ksnax]

E-bike regulation exists to fix behavior from people who do not give a flying f**k about the law, merely punishing the rest of us that ride sensibly. Not much we can do about that beyond just not being a dick, but being a dick is the main personality trait for some - and banning e-bikes will not stop them.

[@Talinthis]

happens for everything. I used to fly drones and it was great, could fly anywhere and i wasnt a moron about it. After drones became commonplace and everyone and their dog was able to buy them, i went from everybody being amazed by them and absolutely zero problems to every other day some person runs up and starts screaming at me saying i cant do that. I stopped flying drones entirely.

[@slick8086]

For society does not control crime, ever, by forcing the law-abiding to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of criminals.

[@Oxibase]

This is the same issue when it comes to laws that infringe on peoples’ human rights related to gun ownership. The people that commit crimes with guns don’t care about laws.

[@KabobHope]

I don't think most people want to ban ebikes. I think most people just want to hold the outlaw bicyclists accountable. Bikes and ebikes are a great asset for a community.

[@harrickvharrick3957]

@@slick8086 Despite your choice of wording that sounds slick, what are you actually saying? Aren't you putting it the wrong way around?.. The behaviour of those who were NOT criminals to begin with is not what any law is gonna modify even though laws may ruin the atmosphere. And the behaviour of actual criminals is not gonna change be cause of any laws either, but I can't make out what your statement intends to say

[@ScaerieTale]

"Nobody in New York drove. There was too much traffic!" - Phillip J. Fry

[@I.C.Weiner]

I love how that makes absolutely no sense but some how is true.

[@TheBaconBasket1]

​@@I.C.WeinerIt's a double entendre in a way. The traffic is so dense that motorists can barely drive and the traffic also dissuades many others from even attempting to.

[@francodegasperi3814]

Man I swear, if Louis ever runs for anything my vote is guaranteed. I can't think of a better person to represent every day people.

[@rossmanngroup]

I can't change the behavior of individual people. As an elected official, I would accomplish nothing. The issue here is one of a large number of individual people behaving in a short term, self interested manner, without common sense or any regard for others. There's no easy political solution to cultural and behavioral problems. I would be a garbage politician. Honestly anyone who implies there's an easy solution to any of this would be.

[@777tman]

@@rossmanngroup come on Louis do the Thanos ill do it myself meme and run for 2024.

[@Wordsalad69420]

@@rossmanngroupRossman for dictator 2024!

[@TheMookie1590]

@@rossmanngroup you just cause chaos and stop what things you can veto. you might get 1 thing passed, and you have so much support. I mean for crying out loud dude, Ive been following you for a decade now, was like your 1000 subscriber. The forces Ive seen you gain over this last decade is incredible dude. you can do it. youll fail at most of it, failure is all about learning. but you would be a force of good

[@fire_tower]

​@@rossmanngroupSeriously consider it, with politics the only good players are the ones who don't want to be in the game.

[@kanrakucheese]

"Why don't you just drive a car in NYC" Reminds me of a story Larry Correia (great author) recently told that during a trip to NYC that the traffic was so bad he followed an ambulance, with someone in critical condition onboard, *on foot* .

[@bundevsawhney7578]

I hate when people say this because it comes across as fundamentally selfish and/or classist - New York just doesn't have the capacity for everyone to drive even if they all could afford it

[@user-ov4wr5yu4r]

Mm, how does he know the patient's condition?

[@bundevsawhney7578]

@@user-ov4wr5yu4r wouldn't be hard to tell from the situation upon the patient getting into the ambulance

[@kanrakucheese]

@@user-ov4wr5yu4r He was there when they had a heart attack.

[@RainbowGod666]

My brother in christ What the actual fuck

[@seanburke997]

"if you want to keep your freedoms, don't use them in such a manner that everyone hates you" is a lesson that rings true for so so so many things.

[@runswithraptors]

"If you want to keep your freedoms" just a casual admittance that our freedoms are to be administered and taken away by tyrants. Go f yourself

[@whyamiwastingmytimeonthis]

Say that louder for the pew-pew people in the back

[@freshmoor9357]

​@@whyamiwastingmytimeonthisdude.

[@P.Aether]

I agree, we should take the cars out

[@rjbourgeois5490]

freedoms don't need approval from the peanut gallery. That's the whole point of a 'freedom' / 'right'. Your governments absolutely hate that you have or exercise any freedoms at all. Will that justify them subjecting you to servitude then?

[@lisat9707]

Red lights ESPECIALLY turning lights. Often won't change to green here without the metal monstrosity of a car to trigger the sensors.

[@JohnSmith-fq3rg]

But if nyc is congested with traffic anyways, is that really a problem?

[@Dragonrealms245]

the very FIRST thing I learned while riding my bike to work was always stop at stop signs and red lights! To just blow through them like they aren't there is just asking to be hit by a car that didn't see you

[@orppranator5230]

Yeah. I’ve been riding pretty hard for the past couple years, and while the small neighborhood roads aren’t dangerous, any road that takes you from point A to B should have it’s traffic rules obeyed. (not a road that connects houses to everything else)

[@Sasha-zw9ss]

And first things I learned were a) bike stays on sidewalk because riding with cars is too dangerous and b) the pedestrian is always the priority and I should never speed up in presence of people.

[@Dragonrealms245]

@@Sasha-zw9ss If a road has a designated bike lane I'll try to stick to it as best as possible but otherwise that is fair. I've had times where the side of the road was just filled with glass and no one ever cleaned it up. Lost a couple bike tires to that spot

[@Sasha-zw9ss]

@@Dragonrealms245 We only have a few bike lanes and they are not even interconnected. At least the newer parts of the city have wide sidewalks, but it can be a bit uncomfortable in the old city center.

[@Voyajer.]

@@Sasha-zw9ss And then you get hassled by police because riding on the sidewalk is illegal even though they do nothing when they see someone on a bike get buzzed by a car.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Ambulances don't usually play chicken with cars, they often check that everybody has noticed them before crossing an intersection here. Yes there were cases in the past where they were more cavalier with that but after an ambulance got destroyed in a crash at full speed with somebody texting or something they changed their procedures.

[@sharpfang]

They are busy enough, don't want to create more work for themselves.

[@uplinktruck]

We never did play chicken. We always assumed people were out to hit us.

[@EBikeBuilder_]

They factored in Murphys Law

[@weird-guy]

If the vehicle is in a emergency , we are forced to give way, this is for ambulance,police,military ect. Most people do it , although sometimes there’s is a confused drive, at least is ow it is I’m my country

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@weird-guy yes in all countries drivers are forced to give way to ambulance and police and fire fighters when sirens are on. There are always some drivers that don't

[@francine4773]

As an ex doordash biker, the situation is kinda shitty. I'd be marked late for some trips, they know full well I'm on a bike. I'm actually on an Ebike so I'm going full speed, sometimes even breaking traffic laws (when safe to) and Im still late.

[@rossmanngroup]

Fuck doordash

[@greatestcait]

In general, Doordash, Uber Eats, etc are awful. If a place offers in house delivery, I'd be happy to get that. Otherwise, I'll either go out to eat (the horror!!!) or make something at home.

[@auzziegamer4661]

marked late due to cold food? or what then? also fuck all delivery services when it comes to any food like mcdonalds/kfc etc but supermarket deliveries thats fine unless they fuck up your delivery somehow

[@ambiarock590]

I never order from those apps, I know that they people who deliver are never paid properly, are given no benefits, and most of any tips that are paid through the app never even go to the delivery person.

[@lr7974]

@@David-ty6my en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Street_Railway Not really a coincidence the US is f'ed when it comes to public transit rail etc.

[@vali20vali20vali20]

I remember 4 years ago or so when I went to Canada for holiday, coming from Europe, I was just biking around Hamilton, exploring the area, on a Sunday, and I just casually stopped at a red light, when a group of folks on the sidewalk started giving me applause, and congratulating me and so on. I was extremely puzzled, at first thinking it was some kind of meme or joke, and then they proceeded to explain me how "no one" does that, how there were countless accidents and when I told them I am from the other side of the world, they seemed more understanding as to where my behavior was coming from.

[@crassirus]

Being a dick in the US is a power move now. "Oh? Those rules? They don't apply to me. You're little people and I'm the big man!"

[@KyleDavis328]

Living in Southern California, cyclists around here are awful, they often ride on the wrong side of the road, ignore stop signs and sometimes even red lights, and will often ride around without signalling anything, then blame autos for not reading their minds. So yes, thank you for riding like a sane person, because down here they don't exist.

[@silberwolfSR71]

I love that this is a literal "and then everybody clapped" story and I have no trouble believing it's true.

[@vali20vali20vali20]

@@KyleDavis328 Yeah, idk, for me it seems natural; maybe it's also because I also have a driver license and I am a driver in other circumstances, so I know the rules of the road...? And speaking of the rules, they're pretty much identical, I had no trouble understanding every situation in Canada, as a biker, the legislation, in general, seems to be on par with what I am accustomed from at home, so it seems to me it's simply the logical way to design things, seeing 2 random places in the world have similar rules. And I often looked out for cops and visually asked for their approval, i.e. looked at them, expecting to be pulled over and educated if some manoeuvre I do is wrong, like crossing a few lanes of traffic by signaling with my hand to the best extend that I afforded to, so as to let other road users know what I am doing, in order to reach the left turning lane and take a left. No problems whatsoever, and the drivers were generally nice, I even encountered one that was extremely polite: I was exiting a supermarket parking lot on my bike and taking a left onto a 5/6 lane one way road. The traffic was very light, and as I waited for the road to clear, just as the last car was about to pass by on the right most lane, I started going towards that right most lane, advancing the first 2/3 lanes (lanes 5-4-half 3) and just waiting there for that last car to pass in order to be quicker and less of a disturbance for the other cars that were far away still, and for my own safety (there was no biking lane, so I had to ride by the kerb, on the right side of the road). That driver stopped and let me merge in front of him - it was part a nice gesture, part I think being a bit surprised as generally I haven't seen vehicles "forcing" their way like I did, especially motor vehicles, which is generally a dangerous behavior (for example, when turning right, I was told, as far as I remember, that the law forbids pointing the wheels towards the street you enter, so as to not scare off pedestrians crossing). In my case, I think it was a case where I was justified and not endangering anyone, but still, was a testament that most people observe and are in agreement with these kind of rules, which is good. And also, one thing I miss at home, fines for idling - I hate it especially these summer days when my coworkers leave their cars on 15 minutes before leaving work for the AC to cool down the entire car. Anyway, tons of great memories from my time spent there, definitely a good time there.

[@oskar6747]

@@vali20vali20vali20 I was really puzzled by the part in parenthesis and had to ask ChatGPT to clarify. Now I understand. North America just has intersections designed only for cars and not for pedestrians or cyclists. Here you would have to stop on top of the zebra crossing and rely on honks from behind you to know when you have a green light and can turn if you want to keep your wheels turned in an intersection while waiting to turn right. And you are not allowed to turn right on red.

[@MrSiraque]

KZbin keeps bringing me back to this video. I watched it 2 weeks ago when you uploaded it, and it keeps automatically playing this every so often now

[@KontroKat]

There was a guy I used to watch streams of, and even though I don't watch his stuff anymore there is one thing he said that's stuck with me: "The price of freedom is vigilance".

[@fss1704]

He was an anarchocapitalist.

[@fss1704]

And the phrase is "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance", if i'm not mistaken the author is murray rothbard

[@whirled_peas]

There is a minimum and maximum level of freedom required for society to function. If the culture at the time does not produce individuals that are able to self-regulate, then authority is necessary, whether that authority comes from the state or an angry mob. The legal system is there to maintain this minimum and maximum (rights and responsibilities).

[@KontroKat]

Pretty sure he isn't. He's too busy pretending to be useful behind a camera and keyboard to practice what he preaches.

[@TheWolfiet]

Got a friend over in Illinois, living in the southern quarter of the state. 750 watt limit on Ebikes, with a 24 mile ride to work... They got rear ended by a truck that was paying no attention whatsoever on a freaking back road. Somehow its still being pushed to be the electric bike's fault. I have no idea anymore really...

[@joenuts5167]

Car culture always blames the pedestrian or cyclist. Drivers don’t have to be held accounts or for murder lol

[@ambiarock590]

@@joenuts5167 Cars are incredibly dangerous, they kill literally tens of thousands of people per year without fail. The car drivers have way more power than someone on an ebike and yet somehow believe they have less responsibility. Roads and the nation was rebuilt for the car, Not Just Bikes is a great channel for learning about how cities should be built and planned.

[@tudorg22]

​@@ambiarock590 found the retard

[@paom8476]

I like the fact that you fix things and advocate for rtr, but it's the sh!tt!ng on NYC that keeps me coming back for more. Thanks louis! please keep it up, I for one appreciate it.👍

[@trikstari7687]

Same. Angry Louis is best Louis.

[@Aggies44]

Same. And Im a dem hahahaha

[@Code7Unltd]

New York loves bad decrees, apparently. It's almost like the government there's corrupt.

[@paom8476]

@@Aggies44 LOL, it's not even about political affiliation, bureaucrats come in all flavors. It's all in the delivery, I don't always agree with everything this man has to say, but I do try and make a point to listen to him say it!

[@paom8476]

TBH, I hope he starts lighting up texas too!

[@joelcarson4602]

40 years ago, in the Atlanta GA. area, I rode a mid sized motorcycle as transportation for about 5 years. I do not advise it. At first it was inexpensive and fun, but the fun rapidly dwindles as you are avoiding Death and Dismemberment at the hands of the Average Motorist on a constant daily basis. Even now, because of the paranoia and constant watchfulness I developed during that time, I am absolutely convinced at an irreversible subconscious level, that EVERYONE on the road around me, is a moron and homicidal psychopath just waiting for the right moment to do something in kamikaze fashion to create as much vehicular destruction and death as they possibly can.

[@eslin2845]

Hey!! Stop warning everyone about me >B(

[@ChanceandChoice]

Bro, eat a snickers. It's not mad max out there. Motorcycling isn't for everyone, and that's OK.

[@CrizzyEyes]

​@ChanceandChoice it is indeed mad max out there. I know it's hard for people who drive cars to understand sometimes but everyone from bikers to pedestrians has to feel like they're staring down the barrel of a gun on a regular basis.

[@ChanceandChoice]

@CrizzyEyes I've been commuting 50 miles one way through I35 in the Austin TX area for years on a motorcycle (and a car too when it's bad weather). It's arguably one of the worst traffic congestion areas as that's really the only major highway to get around in that metro area. It's bad traffic for sure, but it's certainly not mad max. Are there bad egotistical drivers out there who think of nothing but themselves? Sure, but the vast majority of people are not like that. For the amount of sheer volume of people who drive on those roads, those bad drivers are a tiny fraction.

[@BaronCreel]

@@ChanceandChoice My experience riding a 50cc scooter when I was poor was: People tailgating you with a open lane on the left, people trying to push you off the road, people merging too close on purpose, etc. My max speed was 35 on flat and I think local drivers felt like I was on "their" road causing them issue.

[@danielmbirch]

If you're seriously playing chicken with cars, riding into oncoming traffic...if you get hit, you deserved it.

[@dmitrisafonov6976]

Lous, you've only been out of NYC for about a year, but you don't even realize how much things have changed. E-bikes are a thing of the past, now there are electric, and worse yet gas powered scooters everywhere - they have essentially replaced the e-bike, and now gas powered scooters are replacing electric scooters. The people that ride these are delivery people with a third world attitude towards the rules of the road, and feral degenerates that have most likely steal these from the delivery people and have zero respect for any kind of rules. They ride these unregistered motorcycles in the bike lanes, on the sidewalks, and even manage to bring them into the subway. There is not saving the city, it needs to just burn.

[@rossmanngroup]

The best time to leave was childhood The 2nd best was winter 2021 I don't miss it....

[@shamwaymoonyos9578]

I used to drive into Manhattan daily and was on road 4am to be in office at 5am. Left on road at around 3pm. Traffic was much better to deal with then. The parking lot I had monthly wise cost me 400 bucks when I left monthly. Had a tax free commuter expense I could use and other half from my credit card. I haven't commuted there since October 2021 and I do NOT miss it. Able to work from home these days... But for how long is the question. Got transformation stuff happening in our company so will see in coming year. Best get my resume ready and maybe begin poking around while I am employed.

[@Crosshair84]

I'm increasingly convinced that dense cities like NYC are as obsolete as rotary telephones. It's certainly not cheaper than living somewhere with lower density and owning a car. If anything, it's far more expensive. Great, you don't have the costs of owning a car, but you pay 3x more in rent and still need to pay to use the subway or a taxi.

[@jaycee330]

@@rossmanngroup I lived in Brooklyn when I was young, and then we moved away. I always enjoyed going back to Manhattan for the theatre and things, but now, it's not worth it anymore.

[@Mythinull]

​@@Crosshair84"pay for subway" lol as if

[@LifeofBrad1]

One thing I think needs to be pointed out is that there's a difference between e-bikes and electric motorcycles. I don't know about in the US, but here in the UK, our news outlets are continually referring to high power electric motorcycles such as Surrons as e-bikes.

[@PawsOnTheBalcony]

I got hella confused when Louis talked about e-bikes with no pedals that go 40 mph in the video - I guess he's talking about an electric motorcycle? In my area of the world, e-bikes are regulated, have pedals and are not self-driving, but rather provide electric pedal support to make the journey less strenuous.

[@TimpBizkit]

@@PawsOnTheBalcony well it's a bicycle with a motor that's unregistered and outside of the performance limits allowed by law, which in the UK is pretty low at 250 watts output and 15.5 mph.

[@panqueque445]

As someone who gets around by public transportation and or bike, it blows my mind how anyone would even think to own a car in a place like New York. Literally every time I see a picture of NW streets, it looks like it's already backed up with cars. It seems like you physically can't even get close to the speed limit there.

[@theSSHITT]

Thank you for this! I've lived in NYC off and on for 7 years and almost been hit by several regular bikes and it's been terrifying as a pedestrian. They ride them on sidewalks flying downhill around blind curves. You have to jump out of the way. You have a split second.

[@RoyalFizzbin]

They act like pedestrians when that’s more convenient, and like cars when that’s more convenient.

[@spoenk7448]

That's because New York City bicycle infrastructure is bad. There are also waaay too many cars in Manhattan.

[@Graphicxtras1]

Sadly, the same in the UK and probably everywhere, often an empty street and a cyclist travelling at 50mph on the pavement without a bell / light etc

[@devinbuettgenbach2941]

Thank you for speaking out about this. When I was in NYC last July it blew my mind how bad some of the cyclists were. Keep in mind I was driving a 55' motorcoach loaded with 56 passengers ranging from 16 y/o to 73 y/o. We were going through Battery Park on the way to the Staten Island Ferry and some absolute moron on a bike decided he wanted to pull out in front of oncoming traffic nearly causing a catastrophe. The only thing that kept us from actually hitting him was the fact that I was already crawling along the road at 15mph.

[@mobbsmcg]

loved the covid ebike tour videos, very surreal seeing New York like that.

[@Razor2048]

One issue with NYC is the traffic lights are times to cause traffic issues. The timing of the lights leads to many issues such as a green light on one block leading to a block that is completely backed up and the light is still red, thus the green light area gets no movement. In cities that want to reduce traffic issues, they will time the lights such that if you enter an avenue or other long segment of road, then you will only encounter one red light so long as you are on the same segment of road. When the light at one intersection turns green, then assuming you are doing the speed limit, as you are approaching the next traffic light, thus allowing someone to maintain a consistent speed. it is also safer, and naturally prevents speeding since speeders will only encounter a red light.

[@khanrides]

This video was spot on. I’m a part time delivery rider with an ebike that’s about 80% more powerful than the average arrow delivery ebike and these delivery riders drive me nuts with the way they recklessly ride. I also follow red lights like stop signs but frequently see delivery riders on mopeds and ebikes pushing their luck while oncoming traffic moves through. I tend to ride with cars since my bike (like yours) is powerful enough to get to 25 mph quickly and distance myself from busy bike lanes where riders are going the wrong way and barreling through the bike lane at 25 mph +. If you want to go class 3 speeds, get out the bike lane and go with cars! I think the situation will get better if these greedy delivery companies dropped their lawsuits and allowed the min wage law for delivery drivers to be passed. That way, those riders who are desperate for money have an hourly earnings floor instead of potentially making 5$/ hour (which can happen these days). Even if 10% of all reckless delivery riders take a chill pill and ride safer because of min wage assurance, that will be a step in the right direction. It’s not delivery riders only that give ebikers a bad rep, it’s also casual citi bikers. These people are definitely worst skill wise. At least reckless delivery riders are good at running reds and cutting you off. With citi bikers, these idiots have barely any experience with e-bikes and will ride like complete morons. The only positive about these bikes is that they are slow so bike on bike/pedestrian accidents aren’t that bad compared to an accident with an arrow ebike going 28 mph or worst of all, the illegal mopeds going 40mph +.

[@flakgun153]

Setting an hourly minimum wage won't do anything. Doordash had that and everyone got pissed. Fundamentally you make more money by skipping the red lights and ignoring traffic codes. That's always enough incentive to do it as Ling as there is no punishment.

[@virginiaviola5097]

I once saw an ordinary bike courier run straight into an older lady on the footpath..where she had every right to be standing..knock her down, cuss her out, leave her on the ground and ride off. God help anyone hit by an e bike. Arsehats. I hate bicycle riders with a passion, because they simply don’t believe in sharing the road, but abuse their right to share the road with pedestrians and other vehicles.

[@crassirus]

amen, class 3 bikes need to traffic cycle. As is I feel like it'd also be smart to recommend protection. They aren't motorcycles in the sense that their weight is way less without the 2 stroke and all that, so they aren't full blown motos but they also aren't like normal bikes. There needs to be a spectrum.

[@crassirus]

@QueerdoLoc a spectrum isn't binary so no they dont. And again, there are 3 classes and thats a spectrum.

[@qjtvaddict]

Some E-scooters can go 40mph

[@jakemccoy]

I got into an argument on social media with a dude who was bragging about his ebike doing 40mph on bike paths. It's basically a motorcycle on a bike path.

[@wurst1284]

That seems like a problem just 1 fall away from solving itself.

[@CrizzyEyes]

​@wurst1284 you mean 1 death of a totally unrelated bystander or biker

[@AlienRelics]

Twice I"ve had bikes run into my car, when a teen was riding at high speed on the sidewalk and came out from behind a bus in one case, and behind a building in the other case. In both cases, I was making a left turn and slowly pulling forward. There was no way for me to see either, nor to suspect someone was riding 20-25mph on the sidewalk.

[@CrypidLore]

Thanks Louis, you just cost me $20 by reminding me that Stromboli are a thing.

[@Margen67]

birb

[@eliteman7685]

*stern foot taps* How can anyone forget about Stromboli??!

[@skiinggator]

Now I'm hungry

[@I_AM_BAYTOR]

Is that some kinda wop food?

[@neowolf09]

Totally agree about using power responsibly. Before you even said that you use the power for acceleration m, when you were saying it could go 50, my first thought was, but i bet you used that power mostly for the acceleration to be less of a nuisance. Not to mention decent acceleration has helped me to avoid a few accidents personally. Ride responsibly! 🙏

[@themagitechie9955]

Definitely, If you can actually keep up with cars, you're no longer an annoying pest that slows everyone down, you're just a different sort of motorcycle. No big deal. As a normal bike rider, I always make sure to stop and walk my bike when passing pedestrians, if they have to dodge you, you're doing it all wrong. Ride Responsibly!

[@ahaveland]

Well said Louis, with great power comes great responsibility - I ride a powerful ebike for the last 8 years, and only suffered one right hook and got a broken pelvis, collarbone and ribs. I was lucky and able to ride again after 4 months of agony being bedridden and then having to use a wheelchair which was not fun at all. You've got to tame the aggression and dog-eat-dog mentality on the road and defer to pedestrians because they have priority and vote! Any slip that may not even be your fault can ruin the rest of your life, and not only that can spoil the prospect of cheap clean green convenient and healthy transport for the rest of us and set back getting rid of fossil cars. Ebikes are simply amazing - but please exercise self-discipline and courtesy too for everybody's benefit.

[@ErpelusMaximus]

As a german I listen to this and I am stunned, how you in the USA tread with traffic lights. If you drive in Germany with a redlight-violation with a car or bicycle over a crossing, you can lose your driving licence for one ore two month, get punishment-points in a central registry and pay much money as a punishment. A drving licence costs about 2500 Dollar in Germany, whith 25-30 hours practicing in a driving school. If you get 8 points you will lose your drivine licence permanently. Four red light violations with 2 points each, say byebye driving licence permanently. In Germany e-bikes must only work as cycling-assistance and assistance ends at 25km/h. There are faster ones with assistance until 45km/h, but these you must insure and install a licence plate, you are not allowed to drive on bicicle-sidewalks and you are forced to drive on the streets and wear a helmet, so they are not popular. Faster ones are treated like motorbikes.

[@chronometer9931]

Germany sounds dystopian, no thanks!

[@tudorg22]

France as well

[@rascal1234]

Maybe they should ban private cars in the center of NYC. Busses and Taxis should be enough. Expand the cycle lanes, Keep bikes off the sidewalks. Just my 2 cents.

[@Dogpool]

There will always be a small percentage of people who just don’t care. They don’t care if they are messing it up for others or if they are doing something illegal, or if they are causing harm to others. Doesn’t matter what you say, or threaten. It may be small, or even very small percentage of people. But, when there is so many people in one tiny spot, the amount of crazy people will be a lot. Any amount of taking or laws won’t stop this from happening.

[@petesmitt]

Those jerks need to be put on a chain gang breaking rocks for a year; do it again, 2 years, etc.

[@kurtwetzel154]

Happens in every job or pretty much anything. You always have bad people.

[@volatile2805]

Yeah and those people that dont care should get charged and be 100% at fault and have to carry insurance even on an ebike.

[@MsSarahJ56]

It's called free will

[@apersonontheinternet8006]

The problem is that we do not issue good old fashioned ass whoopings to these clowns anymore.

[@Nedyarg1100]

1 minute in and already know I wont like this video... not cause the video is bad... but becuase this isint something that should even need to be talked about in the first place...

[@ambiarock590]

When any sort of accident on an ebike happens the media ponces all over it like ebikes are the most deadly thing ever, but when cars kill tens or even hundreds of thousands of people per year no one bats an eye and car travel is considered normal.

[@poleonpoleon706]

1 sec into your reply to know it'snot relevant .. because you didn't hear the rest lol I found it an interesting commentary and live in london. Not as bad here but going the same way... Ps dont leave comments if you didnt watch the video, waste of your time

[@Nedyarg1100]

@@poleonpoleon706 I fail to see how my comment isint relevant but ok. Just cause your in a bad mood doesnt mean you need to bring others down with you you know.

[@poleonpoleon706]

@@Nedyarg1100 it seems you are in bad mood. I commented about the video and you commented about how you assume the issue doesnt need to be talked about when I found it quite helpful. You're projecting.

[@Nedyarg1100]

@@poleonpoleon706 I never said nor assumed the issue didint need to be talked about. I said it shouldnt need to be talked about becuase it never should have been an issue...

[@xntumrfo9ivrnwf]

One thing being a motorcycle rider has taught me is the importance of helmets (on any 2 wheeled mode of transport). Seriously, no matter how slow, relaxed, etc your ride will be, just put on the damn helmet. Even if you’re stationary, a fall can kill you.

[@NothingXemnas]

Sadly that is not the message some people want or like to receive. One of my parents say stuff like "if people in Amsterdan cycle without helmets (which isn't even that common there either), maybe it isn't needed" as excuse not to use any protective gear. It is always more complicated than that, but some people WANT it to be black and white.

[@tin2001]

​@@NothingXemnas I've seen people claim a helmet will break your neck. They claim there's statistics, but no one has ever been able to show me any.

[@BlazeFox89]

Not only that but I've hit my head on a pole going around a corner on a bike, the helmet meant I barely even noticed. If I had no helmet I could very well be dead and I didn't even come off the bike.

[@NothingXemnas]

@@tin2001 I can't say for others, but a close friend was involved in a cycling accident, involving a car that went through the red light, where they hit their head so hard that the helmet broke in half and the bicycle itself got stuck on the overhead power lines. They got into a coma for 3 days, and had amnesia for another 3, but they recovered and now they live a completely normal life. I can't know if they would have survived without the helmet, but I am sure as hell, if the WOULD HAVE survived without it, they wouldn't live a normal life after.

[@JonathanFrederickson]

​@@NothingXemnasYou take away from your point by saying that it's uncommon for people in Amsterdam to ride without helmets. That's plainly untrue. How many helmets do you see? kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2qmeqWMidCfiKM

[@primikka6422]

I know you read comments, you are a model of honesty and I watch you since forever, thank you for sharing, I wish you humbleness and patience, cheers ! Actually I am a bike delivery guy in Europe since 10 years with different ebikes/bikes ... I TOTALLY AGREE WITH ALL WHAT YOU SAID. NYC IS NOT INTERESTING, IT'S JUST CROWDED AND ANNOYING.... THAT'S THE TRUTH!

[@apollolux]

I've lived in NYC all of my life and there's a good chance that a huge chunk of your viewers might be New Yorkers too, Louis, but even if you didn't show pics or video of the incident itself it probably would've been a good idea for non-NYers to show either a pic of where the Manhattan Bridge is on a city map or an aerial view or something since I think that might also have relevance as far as the traffic density and incoming/outgoing neighborhood aspects of the thing goes. My ex lives in Brighton Beach, so I used to take the B/Q train to see her after classes or after work when we were together and am therefore familiar with the bridge, but outsiders might not be.

[@MacBjorn]

As someone who has been to Manhattan before ebikes and after, as a pedestrian l. I was pretty concerned about the high speed bikes and some have their own protected lanes. In a world of cell phones and looking down at them, it was pretty dangerous. I had to exercise extra caution, more than usual in my own city

[@bbeen40]

In Minnesota they just passed a law that bikes can run stop signs and red lights as long as they do it "safely". I don't see this going well.

[@andrewk8636]

Just feeds into their entitlement. A rolling stop shouldn't matter tho as they shouldn't on cars either

[@CtrlAltRetreat]

Easy solution is to simply make it clear that the cyclist has sole civil and legal responsibility for any occurrence that happens if they run that light or stop sign. Make it very clear that yes, even if you claim they tried to run you over 'intentionally' and for any reason as soon as you run that option. Do that and running the light will be something they'll be very careful with but will still be able to use if there truly is no one there to run into.

[@bbeen40]

@@CtrlAltRetreat Personal responsibility, in a Democrat state????? Hahahaha, no.

[@malrofo]

Well by definition if a truck creams them, it wasn't safe to cross

[@bbeen40]

@@malrofo No, they will say the truck should have seen them and stopped. I live in f'n clown world.

[@forgottenprose]

Re: the disappearance of the old system of paying cash to delivery drivers, these apps killed the in-house delivery service by undercutting them with funding from venture capitalist funds and now are really the only via option, so now they feel they can charge anything. I'm not sure if the old style of delivery can make a comeback at a large scale.

[@rallyfeind]

Door Dash and the rest of the apps are getting hit in NY for minimum wage now. The law may not last but it will wreck the delivery hubs. This will make restaurants either set up a local version or all go back to from source delivery. Some large cities have a similar app for food that compete.

[@middleagebrotips3454]

If you call a place that used to deliver before DD they probably still have kitchen staff to deliver on the side, but you have to call them instead of using the apps

[@keenanmcbreen7073]

E bikes are in their Wild West era, abuse of the speed and neglect of traffic laws will ruin so much for all of us. It is hard enough already as a dude-powered bike rider trying to get basic respect on the road.

[@RandomAnimeGamer]

Louis, be careful - if you're an uncle don't tell your nephew who has no parents "with power comes responsibility". Who knows if they'll start to get spider powers, then things get very dangerous for you.

[@duckman12569]

It's just this pervasive selfishness that's an aspect of humanity. I'm slogging to work on my e-bike most days. I assume most cars will want to run me down given the opportunity, which covers me from most people's mistakes, and the malicious ones out there.. But so many escooters just seem to flog along without checking for vehicles or even hesitating on the corners. Generally despise them myself, because yeah, it makes things worse for everyone, because they can't think of others needs maybe being on the same level as their own, perhaps even superseding whatever they're in a rush for.

[@reasonablespeculation3893]

It's a type of situational awareness. How are you adversely affecting the attitude of others? People don't know how important it is to NOT bring undue attention to themselves., especially when operating on the fringes of the law. E-bike can only work in a very "civil" society, or if only a tiny percentage use them. Laws are coming. They will be burdensome. A small percentage, of self-centered people, have ruined something that's a benefit for all.

[@miso-ge1gz]

These people really think they are invincible and won't learn until they pay the price and get demolished by someone either not paying attention or by a truck too big to brake in time. Just because the cars usually stop and avoid the crash, doesn't mean they always will.

[@crassirus]

The selfishness isn't evolved - at least not in the sense that it's hardwired into our genes. If you look at the way our spaces and social structures have changed over the last millenia or, really, over the last century, we aren't living at all how we used to. Currently we are all as atomized as we can be. Public spaces are kept to a minimum or made hostile. And I don't know about you but it seems to me as if spaces where you can just run into a stranger repeatedly until you know them by name and recognize their behavior is basically gone. You have to plan to go somewhere with people you already know. Meeting new people is an event and I've seen a lot of "I'm depressed, I don't meet anyone" coming from my buddies as we moved out of highschool and college. Being a 30 something worker and trying to keep a non-toxic friend circle of people my age is an exercise in total instability because there's a greater than 50% chance that any guy I meet that seems OK is just intensely masking over loneliness. If you try and think about the baseline where people would be comfortable and then look at where we are it doesn't add up unless you accept the idea that our social nature has been mined out to the benefit of people who had the means to make it happen. I don't mean some illuminati shit, I just mean the owner class. People with equity and shares in for profit ventures.

[@Digital-Dan]

"This is why we can't have nice things." Louis, not only have you described the challenges of E-bikes in NYC, but those of the Internet and the World Wide Web. One of the major drivers towards regulations that will limit the utility of these wonders is the bad behavior, for fun or profit, of so many of the users.

[@Thiccolo]

Oh man , the takeout drivers running red lights without even looking. Such a common occurrence in NYC. Dont be like a deer indeed. On a side note, there is an ongoing debate in NYC to make 1099 gig work (uber eats, grubhub, etc.), direct employment with said companies. They would have to have insurance, benefits, an hourly wage, and probably safety training. I would think this would kill 2 birds with one stone. 1 being more responsible delivery drivers on the road, 2 being delivery work can now be a viable livable option in NYC. your thoughts?

[@Thiccolo]

@@andrew66862 totally, it would bring the power back to the restaurants. on one hand, customers lose the convenience of the apps. on the other, stuff goes back to the way they were.

[@Thiccolo]

@@fishmarketer lmao exactly, people have such a skewed view of the city, granted it is not cheap to live here. But there are many people who make average income who live here.

[@TheThreatenedSwan]

​@@fishmarketerBecause most people prefer not to live in a shoe box. Plus the social capital measures don't lie. There are people though that are so obsessed with status they will purposefully make their lives that much worse.

[@flakgun153]

All of them would basically lose their jobs because full w2 work doesn't make sense for the business model at all.

[@yankees29]

I did GrubHub on Long Island for 3 years and I supported my whole family. It puts too much mileage on your car but other than that it’s not bad actually.

[@theangryotaku3361]

the thing that annoys me about cyclists is the fact that they (in general, i realize theres outliers) seem to think they are immune to any and all repercussions for their actions. like, dude, youre on a thin chunk of flimsy tube steel with nothing more than a helmet to protect you, a car going even 5mph toward you will yeet you across the street and break half the bones in your body. i can understand treating red lights like a stop sign or a yield, especially at night when no ones around, but to just go full jesus take the wheel into a busy intersection makes me panic just thinking about it

[@dahlia695]

"I'm going to force a car to slam the breaks so he doesn't hit me" - Unfortunately many drivers don't have perfect vision and many others might be playing with their smart phones.

[@allenqueen]

Online Food aggregators apps have done nothing but line up the exec pockets with cash that has been squeezed up to them from literally everyone else- the customer, the resturant and the delivery agent. Fk em. I haven't ordered from them since May and I don't intend to either. I'll contact the direct restaurant channel if I need food delivered.

[@LilyGazou]

I never order through those apps. Ever.

[@2Worlds_and_InBetween]

I remember a few years back hearing that the average speed of the car /traffic in London had fallen below that of the horse and cart when I lived in there I rode a bmx all over the place fun times up the South Bank on a Wednesday night 😊

[@JohnJaggerJack]

I honestly understand what you are feeling. I have an e-skate that on paper is capable of 40mph, but if you ask me, I'll tell you it can not go higher than 12mph (EU laws and so on) . I only send it when i'm trying to out run a yellow light, safely mind you. Because I positively do stop for red lights, no questions asked. Whenever I have to use pedestrians/cyclists ways I'm always mindful of people and my surroundings, I never try pulling stunts or tricks near anybody, because the last thing I want is somebody else to get hurt because of me. I even throttle down whenever passing by stroller, kids and people with babies on them so to not disturb or scare them with the sound of the electric motors and I will only send it again when i'm a fair distance from them. During these 2 years of e-skating, I have never seen other riders, be it e-scooter, bikes, skates, etc, being this mindful. That infuriates me because it is not that hard, we could have more laxed laws if it weren't for traumas of the past.

[@bob_smite]

I feel like I'm on the same boat too. I use and EUC and social media presents the form of transportation as being a dare devil. I too try to be as accomodating to pedestrians as possible and avoid going on pedestrian walkways. Since the unique form factor relies on motor power to stay upright and brake faster, EUCs require much more power. I need my form of transportation to be as compact as possilbe because of the increased amount of theives recently. I hope social media influencers understand the rammifications of posting reckless content online like blasting past red lights, and I wish governments can accomodate the law for our forms of transportation.

[@sn1000k]

Way to pat yourself on the back bud. The fact remains that e-skates are for dweebs and posers. We're scared of you but it's not the motor sound.

[@weird-guy]

The good ones always pay for the bad ones unfortunately ,the car lobby is still too strong , even in my country that we don’t have any car brand it accounts for 20% gdp I think because we manufacture for Volkswagen and stellantis. They are making bicycles paths but they are badly done, incomplete só a lot of people still don’t use them because they mostly suck, the only good thing they did was more than 10 years ago make a cyclovia in in the tracks were it ustu be a train. So most use the road and you need to obey the rules of the road or although ilegal the sidewalk even tho police doesn’t enforce it.

[@orlwal1234]

wow great discussion I just got an EBike couple months ago, I have gone 500 miles so far... I have wrecked about 3 times and took some time to recover... but this was a great share of idea's and will ultimately make me a safer rider on my Ebike... it only goes 20 miles an hour, it looks like an BMX bike... and I stay on the sidewalk most of the time.... I think I will start giving pedestrians a better experience and maybe stop for them and not go that fast by them now... your totally right thx brother!!!!

[@GeoffreyMorrison-xh2eo]

Many communities do allow the sidewalks--for both bikes and e-biles.

[@Urza9814]

I'm in a much smaller town up in Rhode Island, and around here people ride ebikes pretty much exclusively on the sidewalks. It's infuriating...because you'll be walking down a two or three foot wide sidewalk and they're VERY quiet so this thing will just pop up out of nowhere and blow past you at 30+ mph...if there's something on the sidewalk and I step around it at the wrong moment we're probably both ending up in the hospital...and it's not occasional, it's a daily issue for me...

[@qjtvaddict]

Maybe we need a lane in the road for them.

[@alexnorth2452]

​@@qjtvaddictwe already have one, it's called the road, as an e cyclist myself, I stay on the roads, I'm closer to being a motorcycle than I am a pedestrian, and alot of folks run around on bikes far more powerful than mine, they are motorcycles, they just abuse the ebike classification to avoid registration and other fees

[@poipoi300]

I almost hit a woman on a bike once because I expected her to stop at her stop but she just blew right through. I saw her terror when I came inches from ramming her off her bike. Hopefully that's not one of the ones that'll be playing chicken anymore.

[@thevikingsock8527]

In Germany you simply never cross a red light. Simple and effective. If you do, you lose ur license. Rightfully so. Ofc it depends on the individual situation, the speed etc and on your drivers entry and past misssteps.

[@saynotop2w]

which is why it’s a great place to live

[@samanthapeppers546]

You have your license immediately revoked in Germany for running a red light? I find that hard to believe.

[@thevikingsock8527]

@@samanthapeppers546 depends, if you are in ur test period then you get a fine and lose it for a while. After the test period you get a fine and a point. After certain points you lose it

[@cavejohnson4306]

@@thevikingsock8527that is also how it works in the US.

[@ericpmoss]

Yes, but they also make it possible to live without a car. Munich, for example, has separate bike highways absolutely packed with cycle commuters.

[@forgettablelisa]

Bikers in general seem to ignore traffic laws. I don't even ride my bike anymore because I don't like being associated with cyclists, way too entitled on the road for their own safety.

[@AvantGardeCuration2299]

It’s incredibly frustrating seeing other cyclists ignore traffic laws, especially clubs since we’re visually distinct from other cyclists. Motorists will see the people in Lycra and assume that all Lycra-clad cyclists run lights and stop signs. Im glad that traffic enforcement is actually ticketing this behavior in my area because it gets it through that their bike is a vehicle and not a toy that elevates them out of traffic.

[@AceofBlueDiamonds]

In Switzerland E-Bikes that can do over 15mph get a Licence Plate and that comes with some basic insurance. Having a Licence plate means they are less likely to screw around with red llights or traffic laws in general, because they are more likely to get caught. There are still some A-holes but thats inevitable.

[@AGILISFPV]

15:27 Im glad you go through the thought process. We need more of that from news sources.

[@njalsand133]

Never underestimate intersections and poor visibility

[@Blackpillinduced]

Still blows my mind how many people live in New York city.

[@niamhleeson3522]

don't look up shanghai or you'll get a hernia

[@sn1000k]

I was there for 8 months in 2009 and it was already over as far as being an interesting, worth-the-cost place to live.

[@Mightydoggo]

I just love E-bikes. I´m faster in town than the bus that has to go around all the villages and I can use all the forest roads cars are banned on. Still have to dodge surprisingly huge agriculture machines and the occasional horse cart though. Sadly you still can´t avoid normal roads completely and every time you have to cross one, it´s like doing a coin flip of life and death. We have a curve at the village entrance just referred to as "death curve" because every season multiple motor cycle drivers die in it.

[@Anton-ct6ou]

It's a pretty surreal feeling when you're watching one of your favorite KZbinrs and they suddenly start reading your reddit comment in their video, haha (I'm the guy who wrote the first comment in that thread about the Manhattan red light crash). Fully agree with you here, but I would also add that I still think that ebikes that are a full on motor vehicle with license plates should just wait at red lights. I ride a motorcycle and have never gone through a red light, it's not that hard to not do it. Your acceleration off the line is so much faster than cars you still end up getting places faster.

[@KabobHope]

California is talking about outlawing ebikes for children under 12 AND requiring licenses for motorized bikes.

[@CK-jd7wo-test]

I walked up on the bike path once on the Manhattan Bridge. IT was before ebikes and it was terrifying.

[@RB-dn4pj]

Why, what was it like?

[@CK-jd7wo-test]

@RB-dn4pj people riding incredibly fast not looking in front of them... nowhere for anyone to ride slowly or stop without creating a pretty high risk for themselves and others.

[@d0ugparker]

You're one of the voices of reason, and of common sense. Thank you.

[@Marco_Onyxheart]

I'd love to hear what you did to build your ebike and what parts you used. I wouldn't know where to start but I'm intrigued by your description.

[@Antyvas]

I believe it may have been in an old video

[@thejmanw234]

you ever crash your ebike, Louis? I can say after crashing my xp 3.0 at 30mph twice (once due to a mechanical issue that could not have been anticipated, once due to my own mistake), you need to be an idiot or a man with a death wish to ride an ebike at 50mph without full protection. arms, legs, chest protector, helmet, gloves, etc. Please, please don't go around riding that thing at 50mph without those precautions. Just a helmet isn't enough. Road rash aside, you need a chest protector at those speeds or youre risking death. even 30mph is pushing it with only a helmet. 30mph doesn't *feel* super dangerous until you actually go off the bike at that speed and experience the violence of a crash firsthand. I got a concussion *with* my helmet on. I also ripped a pretty nasty hole in one of my elbows still riding my bike and loving it tho lol

[@DylanPorto45]

i will never live in NYC or New York in general, but love hearing someone actually care and not just keep on voting to run the city/state into the ground

[@DustinEvans1966]

One trail around Seattle I had to stop walking on. Because e bikes rode at road speeds on the walking trail.

[@Blackfilmguild]

It always fascinates me how everything shut down over covid, but now everyone is packed like sardines in public transit and no one even talks about it anymore...

[@jeltoninc.8542]

People are embarrassed they believed all that bs. They don’t want to admit defeat to the ones who said WAKE UP, so they just pretend it never happened.

[@Dosbomber]

No one needs to steal an election this year. Expect the dread specter of death to reappear in about a year.

[@jamesphillips2285]

The worst part is that COVID never went away. We are just pretending that the non-sterilizing vaccines fixed it.

[@Antyvas]

IT'S OK, THE NEXT PLANDEMIC WILL BRING BACK THE 6-FOOT MARKERS

[@The_Cold_Slither]

When I started commuting to NYC for work in 2008, there were no ebikes yet, but still plenty of people on bikes for various reasons. That first year I don’t know how many times I almost got hit by some bike rider who gave zero craps about stop lights and signs. Most of the time it was like a cartoon and dudes would come out of nowhere. So hearing this, yeah I’m not shocked. Ebikes are amazing. Just don’t be a damn dick and be respectful of pedestrians… and wear helmets people.

[@chrisw.1090]

Absolutely agree with you on ebikes. You have to be courteous and ride like you are on a motorcycle basically. And pedestrians have the right of way always. People today weren't taught common courtesy and these f'ks ruin it for everyone. Keep up the great work, love your videos. You are a very unique guy.

[@roderickcortez138]

The bike trail I ride on has a speed limit of 15mph. Some of the people on ebikes ride their bikes up to 30mph. And they leave their front light on full blast when passing. It blinds everyone. I'm not against ebikes but I wish people would follow the rules.

[@plasmazer0380]

So I own an E-Bike myself and it makes my 25 minute walk into a 4 minute ride downhill and uphill. My bike only goes as fast as 20mph (locked it to an average max speed for pedal only on flat roads), but my brothers bike goes 27, and when going downhill, the motor still runs and can hit around 40mph. I like the dynamic of the bikes and the usefulness for them, but safety is an priority over my time and speed.

[@Darthmufin]

I thought i was going crazy when lewis begins saying the same exact line over again a few minutes in when i realize he accidentally copy and pasted the same clip twice lol

[@saynotop2w]

youtube editor is a joke of an app

[@sinephase]

Car drivers do lots of dumb things too. It's a people problem. The number of times I've seen people cut lanes when turning because they don't know how pivot points work on a vehicle, run yellow lights, follow people turning at a light when it's red in all directions, pass long lines of cars and almost cause an accident but then you meet them at the next light anyway, etc. is high enough for me to never blame the vehicle, it's the person.

[@str8_white_mail]

The difference is that you can ID someone in a car by their license plate…. What can you do for bicyclists? “Officer it was the skinny guy with cargo shorts and tattoos!” Aka everyone who rides a bike

[@sinephase]

@@str8_white_mail how does that have anything to do with my point?

[@str8_white_mail]

@@sinephase I’m saying that there’s consequences for bad drivers, but there aren’t any for bad bicyclists. It’s a people problem, sure. But only some people get in trouble

[@sinephase]

@@str8_white_mail IDK have you ever looked up the stats on incidents? It's probably not a major issue worth pursuing generally

[@KneeSlice1775]

@@str8_white_mailSo far from the truth.

[@KiloWattPlays]

Here in the Netherlands we have a 25km/h limit on our ebikes, you HAVE to peddle so it's not a e-scooter. Our issue is the Chinese bikes that don't follow any of these rules. People get annoyed at e-bikes while it's the e-scooters without a license or helmet that go 40km/h without paddling. And general ebikes get the bad name. Ebikes are super, biking 20-30km without breaking a swear is super nice. It's good you make these videos. Cause you'll be limited eventually also

[@Donut-zw2bb]

I don't care about helmets or not - they can break their skulls all they want. There needs to be a speed AND weight limit on ebikes so pedestrians and regular cyclists aren't bulldozed in a crash.

[@alexnorth2452]

Ebikes get a bad name because the rich kids will buy absurdly powerful ones wanting them to be capable of 60+mph while still being classified as a bicycle, it's a blatant abuse to avoid the fees for registering a vehicle

[@orppranator5230]

25km/h (15mph) seems too slow. I can easily cruise higher than that on my regular bike, although I work up a sweat.

[@Angel2kinds]

the limit is actually 250w motor (absolutely laughable) and 25km assist. I suppose here is my counterargument... I live in Prague, where cycling can be a bit of a hell cuz it's getting incredibly car-centric over here. on a regular bike on a stop many cars would pass me which made commuting quite dangerous due to the hostility and selective blindness of car drivers. With properly powerful bike I can be as fast as a car coming from a stop. I suppose Amsterdam is a bit different than here, cuz it actually has a decent amount of bike lanes. but here the bike lane is quite often shared by cars AND with trams. (if they even bothered painting one) and trust me, neither trams or cars will wait for a cyclist. As with everything, it's about people, not about the technology. if you are an asshole that runs a super powerful ebike trough bunch of pedestrians, you are the problem, not the e-bike.

[@kanrakucheese]

Most of US is 20 MPH (32.1869 km/h) from the throttle (can exceed with pedal/hill), but software only limiters are allowed (or, at least, are what every imported bike uses and gets away with) and require the user set which "class" of bike it is.

[@alecwhatshisname5170]

God this resonates so hard with me. I regularly mountain bike on single track in park city, Utah. E-Bikes are strictly forbidden on these trails because of the high speed and weight differences tearing up the trails. Yet still I’m regularly overtaken without warning by the idiotic millionaires who think rules don’t exist for them, widening the trails, disrupting wildlife, and terrifying regular cyclists like myself.

[@Arrythmic798]

One day I was walking back from work through a park, when this ebike (without any sound warnings! as they hardly make any noise) just zoomed past me at what must had been roughly 80km/h (translates to roughly 50mp/h), hit a slight turn, around 20-30 degrees, slided sideways for around 15 meters without slowing down and just continued zooming towards residential area without slowing down still, zooming past a school, kinder garten, and later down the line another kindergarten. If I had taken a sidestep on that moment when this zoomer was planning to pass me, I would not be here writing this now.

[@Aydreinn]

Glad to see I'm not alone on this. I've lived in NYC my whole life and I genuinely hate bikers here. It's like red lights simply don't exist to some people, and they have the audacity to ring their bell at you as if you're in the wrong for trying to cross/drive when YOU have the light. My friend was walking last week and he had the pedestrian sign to cross, and some guy with 2 other kids with no helmets on ONE BIKE, yelled at my friend for trying to pass. Its truly going to take people DYING to realize you should probably respect red lights. And don't even get me started on how they made lanes significantly narrower just to add bike lanes to regular streets. Wouldn't be so bad if transit wasn't absolute trash with massive delays and homeless people screaming at you for existing. I can't wait to move out of here asap.

[@matthewmcallister8845]

My honest opinion on ebikes is that they are a motorized bike and should have to follow the same laws as scooters and mopeds with the same licenses and insurances required when being used on roads and streets. But this is more my opinion from what I see in my area. Then again I think the same about bicycles if they want to ride on the street with the cars.

[@XenonG]

Or do what EU does, motor assist stop powering past 25km/h or 15mph. You'll break someone else's bones at that speed, I don't care if you do it to yourself onto hard pavement, just don't hit someone else.

[@theineffableword1072]

That's exactly why some of us are riding these. Because we can't afford that crap. Sorry.

[@Mrwizard-ck7oe]

Then make cities more bikeable if you want them bicyclist to go slower. Here in texas riding on the sidewalk is illegal and there isn't many bike paths, so that means competing with the speeds of cars or risk getting ran over

[@AlecThePirateKing]

This perspective is SUCH a breath of fresh air in a world where people act so entitled to their freedoms and are unwilling to even discuss how the irresponsible exercise of freedom can make you a menace to your fellow citizens.

[@friedchicken567]

What’s wrong with pedal powered bikes? Don’t understand the need for a motor when the speed limit is 20 or 25 mph anyway.

[@PixelShade]

honestly, people will always behave like crap in traffic, this is definitely not a problem that can be solved by blaming individuals. (people do that a lot in the US, there's a lot of blaming on the "individual responsibility") I honestly think this takes away from the systematic problem with transportation network. When I watch these e-bike videos the only thing I see is massive amounts of conflict points between cars, pedestrians, cyclists, bikes/e-bikes in traffic. IT SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THAT... If I look at my own city, which has been car infested in the past, but they have slowly made changes over time to move cars away from pedestrians and cyclists. I live in Sweden so really, e-bikes are pedaled assisted with a max speed of 15mph (25km/h), this would of course be crazy to mix with car traffic (it's almost safer to go faster to keep up with the traffic flow of cars in the US). but since e-bikes and bikes share the same infrastructure here, it is slower and safer. and with dedicated bike lanes completely separated from car traffic, there's seriously extremely few conflict points, even with pedestrians, since most know what a bicycle lane is. If I go visit my dad, 11km away from where I live I need to cross 3 red lights, but I would call those intersections super low risk. Beside that there's dedicated, lit bike road with tunnels underneath car roads. It even extends beyond the suburbs to another city 45km away where my brother lives. I can ride there safely without needing to deal with car traffic. NYC doesn't need to ban e-bikes. they need to restructure their road network to accommodate safe streets and passages for pedestrians, bikes... and separate those completely from cars... NYC could EASILY become an awesome biking city if they just wanted to. They could easily increase local commerce in walkable areas. But in case that should happen they would also need to change the laws for owning buildings in the city. currently they are over-inflated investment bubbles not fit for local commerce.

[@sn1000k]

Us Americans can only dream of accomodation for anything other than automobiles

[@PixelShade]

@@sn1000k I honestly think it is starting to change, but it will be a serious uphill battle due to how car-dependent the US is. The thing is, cities don't have the luxury of accommodating more car-centric infrastructure, as this alone is bankrupting them. The need to figure out how to get out of the debt hole, and one way to do this is by reducing urban sprawl, and increase walkability. It will take 20-40 years to do such a thing and it's a slow process. But it's important that people are aware of the issue.

[@weird-guy]

I’m from Portugal, my city isn’t that good at making bicycles paths, although even before them isn’t a very dangerous to drive on, but if we had better infrastructure the ride ship would be a lot higher, because since the popularity of ebikes/e scooter ridership went up in my anecdotal evidence, because before was only mostly road cyclist, also the city center is the more dangerous part , the “suburbia” is mostly chill , but my city isn’t that big so I don’t know about the others

[@FullTimeGaming360]

Really nailed it, cars and their infrastructure doesn't support bicycle (E or standard) then when you add in your pedestrians you are in trouble. I travel a good amount with work even in Europe it doesn't make sense to all other Europeans. Bikes and cars on a road could flow at the same time, the cars can turn left only while the bikes can go straight on and left. We were stuck for 30 mins as the constant flow of cyclists who go straight on block us from going left. Funnily enough we were in Denmark not so far from yourself geographically but we both tried to figure out if we are being stupid becuase I am from the UK so different approach to bicycles entirely and he is from eastern Europe with small towns so while it was probably similar there is a big differences between 2 to 10 bikes and 20 to 40 bikes that can block an entire flow. multiple times.

[@jame3shook]

Another e-bike user I have seen that ignore all traffic laws are university students. some act like the delivery drivers in Louis' video.

[@downtoearth1950]

A few years ago I was in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) the number and flow of motor bikes was amazing, like a huge snake flowing through the city, Traffic lights were treated casually with the flow continuing until it faulted and then the cross traffic had its turn❗Pedestrian crossings were ignored....Pedestrians had to walk slowly across at a slow steady pace and amazingly the snake of bikes flowed around you. It was difficult to do at first but practice made perfect and crossing the street was easy.

[@bojohannesen4352]

And the amount of deaths in traffic is horrendous

[@CrizzyEyes]

When everyone is moving slowly, risk is low.

[@Ciborium]

Reasonable person: Riding an ebike at 50 mph on a pedestrian walkway is extremely dangerous for all pedestrians. Running red lights without looking is extremely dangerous for the rider as well as the cars going through the green light. Ebike person: Man, everyone is so jealous at how fast I can ride. I am just to coolest most awesome dude around because I can do this. Pedestrians yelling at me and cars blasting their horns at me are just telling me that I am so awesome and they are so jealous of me.

[@jerrys5102]

Cities belong to the rats both human and 4 legged. Get out while you can and make more room for more rats. The more rats that flock to the big blue cities the better for everyone else.

[@KenderGuy]

I love when anyone brings up common sense. They'll say common sense isn't common, or that nobody has it these days. But common sense doesn't mean sense that is common, it actually seems to refer to a person's basic beliefs. If you grow up in a church being told constantly to praise God and to "honor thy father and thy mother", it's common sense to keep good familial relations regardless of your parents' character. If you grew up instead in an abusive household, obeying your parents is a phase you're sure to grow out of as soon as you move out and can go no-contact.

[@scanman975]

I still love my manual pedal bikes. Great exercise.

[@saynotop2w]

Regular bikes are great. I ride both regular bike and an electric one, and the conclusion I came with is that if the bike is designed well enough, it doesn’t need to be electrified. Some bikes you hardly feel thw incline under 5’

[@davidhunternyc1]

Hi Louis, you and I talked about ebikes before. I live in the Northern tip of Manhattan. To take an ebike to the Southern tip of Manhattan or deep into Brooklyn would take forever. Where your store was and where you lived made sense but a lot of us have much further to travel. I haven't figured out a solution but how about shutting down all of Broadway to cars? It's a start. I hate the subways too. I try not to leave my neighborhood unless I have to and then it's usually an hour long subway commute. I do think an ebike will work for many people, though. Then there's the issue of not having health insurance. That could get dicey.

[@rossmanngroup]

The top of Manhattan might as well be Connecticut man. What are you doing up there??? When I looked back in 2006 it cost more to live there than in bed stuy or bushwick which is much more centrally located!!

[@davidhunternyc1]

@@rossmanngroup Yes, I moved her from LA, sight unseen. It's a rent stabilized apartment with a large enough studio to paint and do photography in so I'm kind of stuck here. My favorite neighborhood is Greenpoint but the rent there is insane. Restaurants are very expensive too. Imagine spending $14 for one tiny taco. My best friend pays $3700 a month for an IKEA style tiny 1 bedroom apartment. They keep rent very high and still jack it up 20% after 2 years. They don't want people staying long term. It's better to keep flipping the building. Your apartment was brilliant. I know you hated NY but at least you had a nice place to live with a good landlord.

[@LilyGazou]

@@davidhunternyc1do your artwork intensively, make the most of every minute, then get the hell out. I know some young people who are living so cheaply in Slovakia and doing well enough to actually live from doing art. You’ll have NYC on your art resume. That should help. If I was going to visit Montauk this summer, you be welcome to camp out in the yard and explore the area.

[@davidhunternyc1]

@@LilyGazou Thank you for your great advice. Montauk has always been on my bucket list but I've never been. Also, yes, living here is outrageously expensive and, though I can pay my bills, I don't have health insurance. I'm not crying about it, most artists don't. It's the deal we made with the devil when you decide to become an artist. Also, I'm fortunate to have a gorgeous park across the street and I feed squirrels and birds. Simple things that make life worth living. There are times when NY is heavenly and I'd rather live nowhere else. About 10 years ago we had a winter blizzard which shut down the city. It was bitterly cold and no one was on the streets. My friend and I had a great idea. Let's go see a show on Meissen porcelain. The gallery was in a townhouse with a wood burning fireplace. It was ghost white outside and the porcelain was ghost white inside. It was mesmerizing. My friend and I were in the gallery for several hours and not one other person came walking in the door. The experience was transformative. I have seen expressions of humanity out of left field, totally foreign to me, but kissed by God nonetheless, like a show of "Ikebana" Japanese basket weaving. I went back and saw the show on three consecutive days. Last year, another friend and I had a private tour of George Nakashima's studio in NJ and spent time with his daughter, Mira. I can go to the Met and see Vermeer whenever I want. The DeKooning and Francis Bacon retrospectives made me weep. A few months ago I was gallery hopping in Chelsea (most of it was crap) and stumbled upon this brilliant show by Kenneth Noland. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKawqaV4j7B2aKs. Superlatives aside, yes, I do have to take the awful subway everywhere but you can't have everything. Also, there's great art everywhere and around every corner. I'm sure in Slovakia too. I've tried (so far unsuccessfully) to get Louis to go to the DeMenil Foundation in Houston. It would require him to slow down his brilliantly fast brain though. 😉... necessary, however, when you're fighting the battles he's fighting. My dream would be to buy an art studio in upstate NY, perhaps the Hudson River Valley but there too is becoming unaffordable. I pay my rent and own nothing. Does it matter? We came in with nothing. We go out with nothing.

[@tomtheplummer7322]

I quit my truck license and driver license all the insurance as well. I’m retired in Colorado. I don’t travel anymore.

[@mariekatherine5238]

I lived in NY from 1992-2020 with a car. I worked 70+ hour weeks for a nonprofit and had a side job of 15-20 hours to pay for the car! I needed it because of family obligations on eastern Long Island, Orient on the North Fork, plus most Wednesdays I worked in Fairfield County, CT.

[@bertblankenstein3738]

I also believe that ebikes are an enabling technology. That sometimes means that people who do not normally bicycle are now riding faster and are in a situation that they cannot handle. With regards to playing chicken, what if the drivers/cars didn't stop?

[@treelineresearch3387]

In this case it's probably more the same type of jackass that was riding a fixie like a maniac 10-15 years ago, but with 5 additional horsepower to jackass around with. Casual cyclists are usually a lot more cautious and courteous than "hardcore" cyclists and bicycle delivery boys.

[@PolPotsPieHole]

best comment and true, spot on. I am an avid bike rider, I moved to the mountains a few years ago and as I got older I've decided I wanted some peddling help. I bought a rather cheap VIVI ebike. I was blown away how much power this battery bike has, if not careful the bike will take off from underneath you, plenty of torque and speed. I see people all over on their new ebikes and wonder how many accidents happen to new ebike riders not expecting basically a small motorbike

[@BCNeil]

Big problem where I live. Get these 20 year old kids, going 40 down the sidewalk. I can only imagine what would happen with someone on a dirtbike doing the same.

[@MattyEngland]

Same here in England. One of them recently hit a mother carrying a small child because he failed to stop at a school crossing.

[@petesmitt]

@@MattyEngland that idiot was riding a high powered electric motorbike, not an ebike.

[@Tomhonks]

"Nobody drives in New York,there’s too much traffic"

[@tailsneon556]

I drive around NYC every day for work. The amount of people on e-bikes and scooters doing dumb stuff not wearing helmets is staggering. I won't even get on a bicycle without one. It blows my mind the complete disregard for ones own mortal safety.

[@millenniafever]

When I was a kid if it had a motor and pedals it was called a moped and was not welcomed on bike trails had to live by the rules of the road just like cars.

[@HimmelsDaemon]

Mixed with "Not Just Bikes," but some good and some great points. Anyways, beyond that, it's probably worth mentioning the scope when the term "scales" is used. In this case it's probably more accurate to say something like "scales down with density" or "scales down as density scales up." With the "car craze" with the usage for excessive dense usage, a sense of security also plays into that like how many want large SUVs and trucks for that exact reason and to not care about driving well or disregarding those around them (power through everything, like they're driving a tank). _"Essentially mandatory service fees, as near no one will assuage the convenience."_ _"The free-for-all behavior in a restrictive stringent 'community' is going to garner more restrictions, reflexively. Even not great skirting the basic curiosities in spontaneous order."_ You can point to other places, was it the UK..., for that exact issue of that free-for-all behavior with disregard.

[@nevisysbryd7450]

Where is that quote from?