NYC Warns 40-Plus Retailers Over Illegal E-Bikes After 17-Year-Old's Death
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Aug 14
NYC Warns 40-Plus Retailers Over Illegal E-Bikes After 17-Year-Old's Death
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Aug 14
Summary
More than 40 online retailers, including Amazon, Walmart and Target, were told they could face fines of up to $2,000 per illegal sale after a 17-year-old died riding a vehicle marketed as an e-bike but banned on city streets.
The crackdown comes as child injuries from e-bikes, e-scooters and similar vehicles keep rising, with researchers saying young, often unhelmeted riders are suffering more severe trauma than on traditional bicycles.
New York state already requires e-bike riders to be at least 16, while New York City adds a 15 mph limit; New Jersey now requires riders to be 15 or older and licensed, registered and regulated statewide.
Orange County prosecutors have opened more than two dozen parent investigations and charged four adults, but advocates say many dangerous vehicles are really mislabeled e-motorcycles and argue enforcement, education and clearer national rules are needed.