Matt Moore
7:30:18
Good evening, chair Brooks Powers and and council members who may still be in attendance.
7:30:22
My name is Matt Moore.
7:30:23
I'm policy counsel for People For Bikes, a national advocacy group for cyclists and the trade association for the US bicycle industry.
7:30:32
Our mission is to make the US the best place to ride a bike.
7:30:35
We do that by advocating for safe infrastructure, modern safety standards for our products, and reasonable laws regarding their operation on public roads.
7:30:44
People for bikes worked with the council on local law 39 and also educated manufacturers on its requirements.
7:30:50
We supported the recent bill package that created statewide safety standards for ebikes and batteries and additional manufacturer requirements to provide consumers with safety information on, battery operation.
7:31:04
Safety is also a personal issue for me as I am a lucky cyclist survivor of traffic violence from a careless SUV driver.
7:31:12
You should never minimize the experiences of other victims of crashes who we heard from today.
7:31:18
The policies that result from today's hearing must, however, be based upon facts, data, and careful analysis, not upon fear, popular opinion, or so called common sense.
7:31:30
People 4 bikes therefore supports introduction 1131, which would result in thorough consideration of these issues and sound recommendations for action, and we would be happy to support the work of such a task force.
7:31:44
People 4 bikes opposes registration and licensing of ebikes as currently required by introduction 606 because there's no evidence that will improve safety and ample evidence that will have negative impacts and excessive costs and reduce cycling participation.
7:32:01
I'd like to clarify a few other points that have been raised here today.
7:32:05
Registration schemes for ebikes have consistently failed elsewhere, including in New Jersey.
7:32:10
No country in Europe requires registration or licensing of low speed electric bicycles, which they call pedalex and treat like regular bicycles.
