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PUBLIC TESTIMONY

Testimony by Shannon Phipps on E-Bike Regulation and Safety

2:58:58

·

150 sec

Shannon Phipps, a first-generation Iranian American, testifies in support of e-bike registration and licensing, sharing personal experiences with safety concerns. She criticizes the argument that such measures are racist and describes dangerous encounters with e-bike riders in her neighborhood.

  • Emphasizes the need for accountability and safety measures for e-bike riders
  • Describes near-fatal collisions and reckless behavior witnessed involving e-bikes
  • Argues that e-bike regulation is not a racial issue, but a safety concern affecting all demographics
Shannon Phipps
2:58:58
So I'm going off script a little bit.
2:59:01
My name is Shannon Phipps.
2:59:02
I'm a first generation Iranian American, and I find the 2 white people appropriating racism extremely offensive.
2:59:10
Please, please, please, please.
2:59:11
I would be proud to register an ebike and get a license.
2:59:15
I also have a license plate on my car, and it has literally nothing to do with my race or ethnicity.
2:59:22
And, unlike other people who have testified, my family has actually experienced racism and discrimination, and I speak from that personal point of view.
2:59:31
I also speak from the view as a mother and I represent the child who wears these shoes.
2:59:37
I live in district 33 and 34, AD 50.
2:59:42
It should be a utopia for infrastructure.
2:59:45
It's not.
2:59:46
It's chaos.
2:59:47
It's hell.
2:59:49
I've even seen Lincoln violating the rules of the road, so perhaps he doesn't support this bill because he would be held accountable.
2:59:59
I was hit by a cyclist years before the pandemic, years before we saw ebikes on the road like we do now, and I'm lucky that I'm alive.
3:00:08
I'm lucky that I didn't hit my head, that I wasn't pregnant, or that I was elderly.
3:00:14
Many years later, I'm a mother to a toddler and we have obviously more ebikes on the road.
3:00:20
We've encountered, my son and I, so many heart stopping and fatal fatal, near fatal collisions with people operating e vehicles negligently and recklessly that I have lost count.
3:00:34
They fly through red lights, go the wrong way, speed on and off curb cuts, come up from behind you, come right at right at you within a couple of inches.
3:00:42
I've seen a white adult male with a child in a city bike, e bike basket at night driving the wrong way on his e bike.
3:00:53
Tell me, is that racist?
3:00:55
I'm gonna I'm gonna blow your mind people.
3:00:57
In my district, it's one of the wealthiest districts in the city and it's full of white people that can't obey traffic laws.
3:01:05
We have very open street where my son's pediatrician office was.
3:01:08
2 days after giving birth, I was nearly hit.
3:01:11
Thank you.
3:01:11
I was nearly hit by an e bike using the sidewalk, not using the bike boulevard that the d o t invested 1,000,000 of dollars to create for cut through traffic, for speeding of e vehicles.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
3:01:25
Thank you.
Shannon Phipps
3:01:25
All we're asking is for license plates and accountability.
3:01:28
Thank you.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
3:01:29
Thank you.
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