If you ride an electric bike in New York City, you might want to think twice before rolling through that next red light. The city has started handing out criminal summonses to e-bike riders for violations that would normally just mean a fine for drivers.
What used to be a $50 ticket is now sending riders to criminal court. And if they don’t show up? A warrant could be issued for their arrest.
I live in Utah Valley, and while I have been pulled over on my scooters and e-bikes (including for speeding, performing an “Idaho stop” at red lights, and other reasons), I have never been issued anything more than a warning.
We previously have discussed excessive e-bike regulations in NYC and LA, check out those articles here and here.
Criminal Court for a Bike Ticket?
A construction worker named Ivan Boston who ran a red light on his e-bike last month, initially assumed he could just pay the fine at the DMV. Instead, he ended up losing half a day at criminal court. His case got dismissed, but not before he missed work and lost $200 in pay.
Other riders are dealing with the same thing. NYPD officers are now stationed around the clock at intersections across the city, writing up tickets, citations and court orders riders for red lights, wrong-way riding, and riding on sidewalks. The stated goal is to reduce chaos and improve safety. But it’s raising some serious questions.
Drivers vs E-Bike Riders: Who is More at Fault?
The basic issue its that drivers who break the same laws still get basic traffic tickets. Riders, on the other hand, are being sent to court. Transportation groups say the city is cracking down on the wrong group.
Last year, 121 pedestrians were killed in traffic. According to city data, 120 of those deaths involved cars. Just one was caused by an e-bike. But now it’s the e-bike riders being pulled off the street and sent to court.
Eric McClure from StreetsPAC said on the issue: “It’s a bad escalation. These are the least dangerous vehicles on the road.”
What is the Impact on Delivery Workers
The new rules hit delivery riders the hardest. Many of them use e-bikes as their main source of income. Some are undocumented, which makes the court appearance especially stressful.
Advocacy groups like Los Deliveristas Unidos say this is about traffic enforcement, it’s more about about making life even harder for immigrant workers who already deal with poor working conditions and legal risks.
A Bigger Backlash?
This crackdown is part of a broader shift. After years of building bike lanes and making streets more bike-friendly, there’s been a pushback. Some conservative politicians and drivers are calling these changes unfair or “anti-car.”
The tension is growing. E-bike riders now feel like they’re being punished just for choosing a more efficient way to get around. And the effect is obvious: fewer people will want to ride if they think it could land them in court.
Ben Furnas from Transportation Alternatives put it this way: “This kind of enforcement keeps people in cars, when we should be doing the opposite.” Or, as we wrote in a previous article, “this speed restriction will likely influence commuter choices, and steer them towards cars instead of bikes, which is exactly the opposite sort of change that needs to happen in American cities… like New York City.”
The Freshly Charged Take
We get the need for rules. But right now, the way the city is handling e-bike riders feels off. Sending someone to court for a traffic violation doesn’t make the streets safer – it just makes riding less appealing.
If safety is the real goal, let’s focus on infrastructure, equal enforcement, and fixing the problems that actually cause harm. Until then, it feels like the people being ticketed aren’t the ones causing the real danger.
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