New York City will no longer criminally enforce minor traffic offenses for cyclists and e-bike riders, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration announced Wednesday

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0____0_0@reddit

What about ones that were already issued?

In summer of 2021 I got a DMV red light ticket on, I kid you not, the intersection of a dead end one way street with no pedestrians around (right near the UN)

Every hear my hearing gets postponed. So are they gonna throw it out now or I need to keep going with the charade (I assume one year the copy will retire, not show up to the hearing and it’ll get thrown out)

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

This news is a few weeks old now, but I couldn't find it posted here yet, and it's a pretty big deal.
Eric Adams had cyclist offenses treated criminally, while motorist offenses weren't, as part of his campaign against cycling. Mamdani is ending that, so NYC cyclists can breathe a little easier.

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Inciteful_Analysis@reddit

Why wouldn't pedestrians on sidewalks be rightly concerned about the implications?

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

Research has shown that people largely adjust behavior that breaks rules based on the chances of being caught, not the intensity of punishment. This is a change to intensity of punishment, not to chances of being caught (it's still a ticket if a cop finds out), so won't change how often the rule is broken.

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Inciteful_Analysis@reddit

Yeah, I'm calling BS on this.

Do you think a majority of motorists would speed if the penalties were the same as a DUI?

Both factors play a role.

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jedadkins@reddit

pretending the severity of punishment doesn't factor into compliance decisions. That's a sign of entitlement. Studies have shown that frequency of enforcement is better than severity of punishment at dissuading behavior and treating cyclists more severely than motorists disproportionately effects the poor.

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Inciteful_Analysis@reddit

I wasnt making an assertion as to which one played a dominant role. I'm asserting that both have an impact contrary to Nebulon falsely stating that the severity of punishment had no impact. And I gave a perfect example of how severity of punishment produces compliance.

Nor was I advocating treating cyclists more severely than motorists. But this forum has literacy issues.

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Shame_memory@reddit

I don’t live in NYC, but is there any precedent for this for why Adams would treat cyclists so harshly? I get people can be idiots, but an idiot on bicycle is so much less dangerous than an idiot in a car or motorcycle

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

He also was the sole person who came up with the 15mph speed limit on all ebikes. Same guy who did congestion pricing, so it's not that he wants everyone in cars, I'm pretty sure he just hates poor people.

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The_Quiet_PartYT@reddit

It's almost always that they just hate poor people.

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subhuman_indep_777@reddit

I think most politicians are more like sociopaths who don't feel much of anything and just obey their wealthy donors.

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

Recent research suggests they physically are less able to consider others' feelings, due to less having to do it.

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RodediahK@reddit

No Adams was just the the mayor when congestion pricing started. it's a state program he had no say over it. he wanted everyone in cars that why he also started messing with outdoor dining justifying it by saying they were stealing parking spaces.

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

Oh that makes a bit more sense.

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lee1026@reddit

No plates means that most accidents are hits and runs, and delivery riders are not the most rules obedient group. Their bikes are both heavy and fast, which is not a fun combo if you are gonna get hit. Combined with no expectation of insurance, and things gets extra unfun.

I am not saying that I have the right answers, but I understand where people are coming from.

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Shame_memory@reddit

That’s fair actually. My frame of reference is LA where when I told people I was using an E-bike to get around their first reaction was: “you’re gonna die.”

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No-Trash-546@reddit

So you’re saying this is just going to mean they’re treated similarly to traffic offenses involving cars? Then that sounds like a step in the right direction.

Although traffic offenses in general should probably be more strict in NYC, or enforced more consistently.

It’s wrong to treat cyclists and ebikes as worse than cars, so I’m glad Mamdani is undoing that

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

Strictness towards individuals generally doesn't help, because people will break the law if they think they can get away with it. What really makes for safe roads is better design, and NYC is also improving greatly in that area. A particular issue also affecting NYC is delivery vehicles (who work for Amazon...via an intermediary that absorbs the risk for Amazon so Amazon can set unrealistic quotas and not pay when drivers crash), and Mamdani is working on regulations targeting them to reduce the pressure on delivery employees to break the law to make quotas.

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lee1026@reddit

One of the fun aspects of the "ebike vs emoto" arguments that has been happening recently in this sub: if the authorities isn't going to be enforcing the rules, then the difference goes down even more.

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

Under Adams, the authorities were treating cyclists MORE HARSHLY than motorists, as in if you did the same traffic offense on a bicycle or ebike, you would get treated worse than if it was in a car.

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Notmuchofanyth1ng@reddit

It’s not hard to follow the rules of the road as a cyclist. Instead of allowing more traffic laws to be broken, they should focus on cars as well, and treat them both equally. But they shouldn’t utilize selective enforcement. If the traffic laws are unfair, repeal them.

But I’ve almost killed many cyclists who decided stop signs and red lights are just suggestions. And when I have my young child in the car, does she need to see someone die just because they think laws don’t apply to them? Nah, enforce all laws equally.

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stormdelta@reddit

Equal enforcement should be equal on the basis of the threat posed to other people.

Distracted driving is the #1 largest threat to other people on the road by a massive margin. It's six times deadlier than drunk driving, and even minor offenses in a large vehicle are a bigger danger than anyone on an ebike.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be any enforcement of ebikes, but policies should be about safety first and not some abstract notion of "fairness".

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Notmuchofanyth1ng@reddit

If you’re on the road, everyone should be treated equally. If the law doesn’t make sense, repeal it. If the law makes sense, enforce it equally for everyone on the road.

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tenemu@reddit

So if a pedestrian doesn’t stop at an intersection they should be treated the same as a car going through the stop sign?

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Notmuchofanyth1ng@reddit

It’s fairly obvious that pedestrians are not held to the same laws as people using the roads. Was my response that confusing or are you trolling?

I’m actually genuinely confused how saying all people that are legally required to follow vehicle laws should be treated equally is somehow so controversial. Unless more injuries and public disdain for personal electric vehicles is the goal, which I wouldn’t think so.

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bobthebobbest@reddit

If you’re on the road, everyone should be treated equally.

This is what the mayor’s directive achieves in practice.

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Notmuchofanyth1ng@reddit

The article states minor laws wont be enforced for cyclists. I disagree with that. I also disagree with them enforcing laws for cyclists that they don’t enforce for cars. If laws are mundane or unnecessary, then repeal em. If they are necessary, then enforce them equally. Seems like a very slippery slope to have a government (even local) that only selectively enforces the law.

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bobthebobbest@reddit

I also disagree with them enforcing laws for cyclists that they don’t enforce for cars.

You can disagree with it. But it’s exactly the “equal treatment” you supported one post ago.

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-Gman_@reddit

lol you know that automobiles kill thousands ever year right?

How many times are we going to see motorists get a slap on the wrist for killing people in cars, but suddenly an old lady getting knocked over means we have major problems and need to write new legislation to target emotes and e-bikes?

Dumb take.

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Notmuchofanyth1ng@reddit

Yeah, and we don’t need to lessen restrictions on cars. Everyone on the road needs to follow the rules equally. Sorry if equality is a dumb take.

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-Gman_@reddit

Seems like you misunderstood the root issue discussed. The USA is automobile centric. Because of this, there is little to no pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. What little there is, automobiles disregard daily.

Rules that apply to automobiles makes no sense to cyclist and pedestrians because they weren’t written with them in mind. Hard to wrap your head around apparently

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Notmuchofanyth1ng@reddit

The condescension was completely unwarranted.

The laws regarding pedestrians are different than laws for people on the road. Whether that be for autos or cycles. Should there be better infrastructure for cyclists? Yeah. But that’s not what this addresses. If there are laws regarding use of public roads, enforce them equally. Selective enforcement is not the answer.

You’re free to disagree. We’re all just randos on Reddit anyway.

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The_Quiet_PartYT@reddit

Good. People on bikes aren't the ones that get people killed. It's the people in 2000lb 200 horsepower steel cages acting like they have no responsibility to drive safely.

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stormdelta@reddit

Especially as modern cars are significantly more dangerous.

A disturbing number of people have been tricked by safety ratings into thinking modern cars are safer and don't realize they're only safer for the driver. They're way more dangerous for everyone else, as pedestrian and cyclist death stats over the last decade compared to prior decades shows.

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Pretty-Yam-2854@reddit

Try double that lol.

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defiantcross@reddit

All it took was enough of Mamdani's doordash orders to get cold

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a1015n@reddit

Why it was criminally prosecuted in the first place? And why it was ok to do it

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Nebulon-B_FrigateFTW@reddit (OP)

Immigrants do deliveries on [e]bikes, so criminally prosecuting offenses on a bike would lead to deportations and harassment of cyclists in the news that would gain Eric Adams, the center-right mayor at the time, votes in the coming reelection. It didn't work, he lost to Mamdani anyways.

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