cross-posted from: https://beevibes.net/post/28433
The New York Times published a pair of articles this weekend highlighting the rising number of deaths of cyclists riding electric bikes. However, in one of the most impressive feats of victim-blaming I’ve seen from the publication in some time, the NYT lays the onus on e-bikes instead of on the things killing their law abiding riders: cars.
Most of the safety problems are caused by cars, not ebikes.
This is like around some of the schools where people are trying to blame the children walking to school because people in cars are running them down. We need to stop victim blaming and go after the source of the problem, the cars and the people recklessly driving them too fast.
Exactly! While I can’t condone riding e-bikes recklessly, it makes no sense to panic about a few incidents when we shrug at the mass carnage caused by the automobile every single day.
Once the danger from cars is properly managed, let’s have a conversation about e-bikes. But I worry that discussions like this will prevent people from using e-bikes as a car alternative. If they keep driving instead, this directly makes everyone less safe.