NYC Vows Legal Action Against Online Sellers of Illegal E-Bikes and E-Scooters

New York City is taking legal action against online retailers selling dangerous motorized devices — including high-speed e-bikes, stand-up e-scooters and other products that cannot legally be operated on the city’s streets.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said the city has issued cease-and-desist orders to 42 online retailers demanding they immediately stop selling these illegal devices to customers in the city’s 175 ZIP codes.

The products being being targeted by the city exceed legal limits for speed, weight or other safety requirements.

The announcement comes following several tragedies. A week ago a 17-year old boy on an illegal e-bike was killed in a collision with an auto. Last month, a woman riding a stand-up e-scooter was killed when she was struck by a driver and in May, two men in a bike lane on the Queensboro Bridge died when one’s illegal e-scooter and the other’s bicycle crashed.

Mamdani said that since 2017, more than 45 people have been killed while riding illegal e-bikes and more than 14 have died while riding illegal stand-up scooters,

“These are not unavoidable tragedies, they are preventable losses,” said Mamdani. “Today, we’re putting online retailers on notice: if you continue selling dangerous, illegal devices into New York City, you will be held accountable. We will use every tool available to make our streets safer for everyone who walks, bikes, drives or rides.”

Under New York City law, it is illegal to sell or operate on public streets:

• Motorized stand-up scooters weighing more than 100 pounds or capable of traveling faster than 20 mph.
• E-bikes equipped with electric motors larger than 750 watts or capable of speeds exceeding 25 mph.
• Seated mopeds that do not have and display a valid Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

According to the city, illegal e-bikes and stand-up e-scooters have proliferated in recent years largely through online sales and now account for more than half of all rider fatalities involving e-bikes and stand-up scooters.

“Two of the biggest factors of the severity of a traffic crash are the speed and weight of a vehicle, which is why the proliferation of faster, heavier illegal e-mobility devices is such an alarming trend on our streets,” said NYC Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn. “These online retailers have allowed New Yorkers to purchase products that are illegal to sell or operate on city streets — and that must come to an end.”

Retailers that continue selling prohibited devices after receiving a cease-and-desist order may face a civil penalty of up to $2,000 for each illegal sale. Illegal devices found operating on New York City streets may also be impounded.

“Every New Yorker should be able to walk down the sidewalk and cross the street without fear,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “Those who sell illegal e-motos to New Yorkers are fueling a tragic rise in injuries and fatal accidents on our streets.”

James said her office has sent an advisory to businesses and consumers throughout the state about these vehicles.

Ligia Guallpa, executive director of Worker’s Justice Project and co-founder of Los Deliveristas Unidos, said that delivery workers rely on e-bikes and mopeds to earn a living and for many of them illegal, unsafe vehicles are often the most affordable option. “Improving street safety for all New Yorkers means ensuring those vehicles are never sold in the first place,” Guallpa said.

Members of the City Council have proposed a number of new safety regulations to be coinnsidered this fall.