Historically, most people who have died riding bicycles in New York City were killed in collisions with cars and trucks on streets that did not have bike lanes, and that was the case last year as well.
According to a New York Times analysis of preliminary police reports about the 30 deaths, most of the cyclists who died in 2023 collided with automobiles in areas without bike infrastructure, regardless of the type of bike they were riding.
The rise in electric bike deaths does not appear to be the result of an increase in e-bike ridership, at least not entirely, according to the Department of Transportation.
And although the most visible e-bike users in New York may be delivery workers and Citi Bike riders, the majority of people who died on e-bikes last year were neither.
Only one delivery worker died from an e-bike crash, according to the department, and four people died using electric Citi Bikes, according to Lyft, which owns the bike share program.
Organizations:
New York Times, Department of Transportation, Citi
Locations:
New York City, New York