Wide Angle: The Local Impacts of Larger Trends

A column I'm writing for the Highlands Current

Photo by KBO Bike on Unsplash

My first column for The Highlands Current is in print, E-Bike Encounters, where I look into the rules and regs around e-bikes. I was inspired by a close encounter with an e-bike on Main Street in Beacon, where I was almost hit in a crosswalk:

An e-bike is a bicycle with an electric motor and battery. In New York state, they are treated by the law as bicycles, rather than motorcycles; you don’t need a driver’s license or insurance. Some e-bikes only assist the rider while pedaling and others will run without pedaling, but all legal e-bikes max out at 25 mph. There are commercially available e-bikes that operate at higher speeds, but these are (nominally) illegal in New York.

The e-bike that nearly clipped me on Main Street seemed to be going faster than 25 mph, but who knows? At the least, he was breaking the law.

Although e-bikes have a lot going for them, we clearly need to be giving their drivers tickets when they break traffic laws.

In upcoming columns, I will be touching on other global trends impacting us in the Highlands.