PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Patricia Hannam, Member of the Public, on E-Bike Safety and Accident Reporting
5:59:06
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127 sec
Patricia Hannam, an 80-year-old Brooklyn resident, shared her harrowing experience of being hit by two e-bike riders while crossing an intersection. She detailed her severe injuries, ongoing medical issues, and the challenges she faced in reporting the incident to the police due to the lack of e-bike identification systems.
- Hannam suffered facial injuries requiring reconstruction and dental work, with limited Medicare coverage for ongoing treatments.
- She highlighted the increasing frequency of e-bike-related injuries seen in emergency rooms.
- Hannam emphasized the difficulty in filing police reports for e-bike accidents due to the lack of licensing and identification systems, which hinders accountability.
Patricia Hannam
5:59:06
Ready.
5:59:07
My name is Patricia Hannam.
5:59:09
I was born on May 17, 1943.
5:59:12
I'm a retired woman living in Brooklyn.
5:59:15
On August 12th, while crossing an intersection with a light, I was hit head on by 2 kids racing on city e bikes and was thrown 10 feet onto the pavement face first.
5:59:28
I ended up at Weill Cornell.
5:59:30
They had to rebuild and reconstruct my face.
5:59:32
My teeth still are in severe disarray.
5:59:38
I have to wait another few months before they can even rebuild my jaw.
5:59:46
My medical bills were paid for the trauma.
5:59:50
But as an octogenarian on Medicare, there's no way I can get any reimbursement for my rebuilding my jaw and my teeth.
6:00:02
But mostly I'm grateful.
6:00:04
I'm grateful that I live in New York.
6:00:06
I'm grateful that I got good medical care and also that in the trauma rooms that people were very concerned about this e bike that they're seeing more and more people in the emergency rooms and my daughter-in-law was able to advocate for me.
6:00:24
But what was most surprising to me was when I went to the police to file a report, I was amazed to hear that almost no victims on e bike, accidents are feel that they can report they can file a police report because they have no proof, because they're hit and run accidents.
6:00:43
I was very lucky.
6:00:44
I got a detective who was very sympathetic and he found videos.
6:00:49
However, he said these videos don't do anything other than to prove that you were telling the truth.
6:00:54
There's no way I can identify that bike because there is no number system on it.
6:00:59
There's no licensing.
6:01:01
Therefore, there's no accountability.
6:01:04
And the policeman also spoke to me about the fact that they're discouraged from oh, anyway.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
6:01:10
Thank you.
6:01:10
But you can submit the rest in writing?
Patricia Hannam
6:01:12
Yeah.
6:01:12
I'll I'll send it.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
6:01:13
Thank you.
