New York’s attorney general on Friday asked New Yorkers to report businesses selling illegal e-bikes after a 17-year-old Brooklyn boy was killed riding one this week.
“Our laws set limits on e-bikes and e-scooters to help keep New Yorkers safe, and the riders and companies who ignore them are putting everyone on our streets in danger,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “I urge businesses and consumers throughout our state to follow the law and keep unlicensed and unregistered motor vehicles off our streets.”
“No one should have to fear for their lives when crossing the street, and I encourage New Yorkers to follow the law and report those selling illegal e-bikes and e-scooters to my office,” she added.
High schooler Gabriel Nacato died Tuesday when he collided with a Chevy Tahoe while riding his Deepower e-moto bike in Lower Manhattan, just steps from City Hall.
According to police, his bicycle had a 960-watt motor and could travel up to 30 mph, making it illegal for street use as an e-bike in the five boroughs.
Courtesy of family
Gabriel Nacato. (Courtesy of family)
All e-bikes are subject to a 15 mph speed limit within New York City. But whether or not a device is legally an e-bike in the first place depends on its top speed.
According to the AG’s office, electrically-assisted bicycles that can travel faster than 25 mph are not considered e-bikes under New York City law. They’re mopeds or “e-motos” and are subject to DMV registration, officials said.
Furthermore, all e-bikes sold in the state must have a motor capable of generating fewer than 750 watts and fit into one of three classes, none of which exceed 25 mph.
All e-bikes are required to be labeled with their class and the wattage capabilities of their motors if they are to be legally sold in the Empire State.
“The increased use of electric vehicles that exceed the legal limits set for e-bikes and e-scooters has led to a surge in injuries and fatal accidents in New York,” the AG’s office said in a statement. “The risks of these vehicles is higher when retailers misleadingly sell them as e-bikes or e-scooters, instead of as e-motos, motorcycles or mopeds.”
Streetsblog reported Friday that Deepower, the company that makes the bike ridden by Nacato, changed its website in the wake of the crash, swapping the stats to make the high-wattage, 30mph bike look like a more mellow Class 2 machine.
A user manual, reviewed by the Daily News and easily found on the Deepower website, lists the 75-pound bike as capable of 30 mph and shows owners how to disable a built-in speed limiter.
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Police investigate after 17-year old Gabriel Nacato died when he collided with a Chevy Tahoe while riding his Deepower e-moto bike on Centre St. near Chambers St. in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Tuesday’s tragic crash follows another set of deaths linked to too-fast two-wheelers.
Francis Delvalle, 39, lost control of an illegal high-speed scooter on the Queensborough Bridge in May, slamming into Dmytro Stechenko, 35, who was riding a traditional pedal bike.
Medics rushed both men to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens, where they died.