• FlashMobOfOne
      link
      English
      407 months ago

      This is the way.

      All of the major newspapers and media outlets are owned by the billionaire class, and it’s been that way for over a decade.

      It’s time to stop clutching your pearls every time your media company of choice does something in service to the billionaire class and stop giving them your clicks.

      • worldwidewave
        link
        English
        207 months ago

        If every media outlet is owned by billionaires, and I should stop visiting each one that does something in service to that class, am I just ultimately left newsless?

        The proper thing to do is to call out this BS and let the NYT know that this is bullshit. Don’t hide from it, fight it.

        • FlashMobOfOne
          link
          English
          37 months ago

          The proper thing to do is to call out this BS and let the NYT know that this is bullshit.

          Use your time as you like. It’s yours to waste. Your only real weapon is depriving them of your consumption.

          The closest you can get to unbiased is the AP or international sources.

      • @sacbuntchris
        link
        English
        97 months ago

        Calling out dumb ideas isn’t pearl clutching. It’s a core part of our political system.

  • @Cypher
    link
    English
    387 months ago

    E-bikes are great, the issue is the morons using them.

      • [email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        397 months ago

        except for the “cars are great” part.

        Yeah… Excluding moron drivers you have:

        • fucking dangerous for anyone outside the car
          • killing millions every year
          • main cause of death among those aged 15–29 years
        • air pollution
        • noise pollution
        • one of the main sources of greenhouse emissions
        • wasting space where it’s more valuable
        • wasting money on subsides, directly and indirectly because of roads needed
        • distorting urban growth to increase dependency on it

        I’m probably still forgetting something important…

        • FlashMobOfOne
          link
          English
          177 months ago

          Yup.

          Remember the headlines about the massive pollution drop that occurred in Spring 2020 after most workplaces went remote?

          Cars and planes are the problem. Unfortunately, cars and planes make the billionaires a lot of money, so there won’t be any meaningful change to our transportation systems.

          • @Moneo
            link
            English
            57 months ago

            Interestingly the COVID lockdowns might be what launched the 15min city conspiracy into the mainstream. Climate deniers saw articles about how the covid lockdowns reduced emissions and warped that into the theory that 15 min cities are a plot to restrict personal movement.

            Source: climate deniers playbook podcast aka the climate town peeps

          • @AA5B
            link
            English
            37 months ago

            cars and planes make the billionaires a lot of money

            Isn’t there a billionaire who wishes to make tons of money on railroads and railroad construction? Please, bribe our politicians to spend the hundreds of billions a we need to spend

        • @Fedizen
          link
          English
          107 months ago

          cars deteriorate air quality and are a leading cause of lifelong chronic injuries

        • @AA5B
          link
          English
          3
          edit-2
          7 months ago

          Microplastics. Apparently tire wear is a major cause

          Water pollution from oil of gas spills or improper disposal

        • Norah - She/They
          link
          fedilink
          English
          27 months ago
          • main cause of death among those aged 15–29

          Is this an American thing? In Australia the leading cause is suicide, with auto accidents a distant second. However, it is the leading cause for 1-14 year olds.

    • @errer
      link
      English
      197 months ago

      “Everyone is a moron but me!”

      • @cmbabul
        link
        English
        207 months ago

        No I think I’m a moron too

        • @Moneo
          link
          English
          -17 months ago

          Yes we are morons too, but we are superior morons. Smart morons you might say.

    • @Dozzi92
      link
      English
      27 months ago

      People are the problem, you say?

    • @stoly
      link
      English
      27 months ago

      How’s that different than anything else that someone operates?

    • @EtherWhack
      link
      English
      -107 months ago

      Exactly. As I think I’ve said it before, there are a lot of numbskulls who think the PEVs work just like manual powered ones. But, with the increased speed, faster acceleration, and the general less work it takes to use one can make them take stupid risks that normally they wouldn’t otherwise.

      For instance, they may be cruising down a road at 30mph. Coming to an intersection, they see the light is red, but since they aren’t in a car, they think it shouldn’t apply to them as they think that’s only for cars. What they didn’t realize is there is a tanker truck coming down the cross-street. The truck isn’t able to stop in time to avoid the guy on a e-bike who just darted out. The truck driver still tries to futilly veer away while slamming on the brakes causing the truck to jack knife and rollover. Smashing and killing the driver of a car that driving along next to it along with spilling whatever was in the tanks.

      The end of it now is the e-bike rider and the driver in the car are dead, quite possibly the truck driver too. There is also a toxic spill that requires everyone in the immediate area to evacuate to a safe area until it is cleaned up. The roadway is closed for multiple hours, causing major delays and loss of business/service to the shops in the area. (hopefully no medical facilities) All this because the idiot on the e-bike didn’t bother to stop like they should have.

      While there are some laws and rules in regards to PEVs, they are generally far and away from being complete or enacted/enforced in all areas. This in my opinion needs to be made a priority to achieve at least some semblance of safety and responsibility of all parties.

  • @LeroyJenkins
    link
    English
    217 months ago

    there really is an issue though. it’s an unregulated mess and for every ebiker who is a clean energy micro mobility advocate there’s half a dozen people who buy them because they don’t have a license for whatever reason or are trying to skirt as many road laws as possible.

    • @Psythik
      link
      English
      6
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      So what? If someone loses their license they still have the right to be able to pay their bills. Public transport isn’t always an option, and Uber/Lift are as expensive as cabs now; how else do you expect an unlicensed person to get to work?

      • @LeroyJenkins
        link
        English
        37 months ago

        that’s not the point I’m making. I’m not saying those who are unlicensed do not have a right to transportation. I’m saying that there are problems in the space where regulations need to be applied.

        • @AA5B
          link
          English
          37 months ago

          Like effing infrastructure. E-scooters shouldn’t be in traffic nor on a sidewalk. Having an actual dedicated right of way appropriate to the speed of different types of movement would go a long way toward making it safer for all

          Really it’s only three- a car lane, and e-anything plus bicycle lane, and a pedestrian lane. But clearly distinct and protected

    • @UnderpantsWeevil
      link
      English
      3
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      it’s an unregulated mess

      Posting this while I let AI drive my Cybertruck into a lake.

      • @LeroyJenkins
        link
        English
        07 months ago

        no you are wrong. according to scientists and smart people who graduated college, I’m correct here.

    • @Moneo
      link
      English
      27 months ago

      Don’t read the comments unless you want to be depressed and angry.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        27 months ago

        ITT: old people that have had one bad experience with bikes and ebikes, but know they can’t ban bikes anymore so they go after ebikes. Probably knowing several or more people who have either been injured or killed in car accidents.

        Pedestrians, bikes, and ebikes are all on the same side: making sidewalks and bikelanes bigger and safer for a more walkable city without cars. Especially in car centric american cities where no normal person will ride a normal bike up steep hills or extraordinarily long commutes where ebikes excel. Or towing gear and groceries.

  • @surewhynotlem
    link
    English
    177 months ago

    The problem in New York is that the e-bike riders are not replacing car riders. They’re just pedestrians who want to go faster.

    This isn’t a win.

    When we start seeing e-bikes go through the tunnel as a replacement for cars, that would be a win.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      127 months ago

      From the article it sounds like a lot of the complaints are any delivery gig workers, not pedestrians. The gig workers are incentivized to go fast and bike recklessly in a way that pedestrians aren’t

      Some of the proposals the safety conscious people are suggesting, though, feel a bit harsh to me. I don’t want to have to get a licence for a bike that assists me when going up hill. On the other hand, if people are treating these like electric motorcycles then vehicle lisencing makes more sense to me

      As for the article, I felt like it was balanced in a way the headline is not

      • @SlopppyEngineer
        link
        English
        127 months ago

        Sounds like a law so gig workers are paid by the hour would solve more.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      117 months ago

      Are car drivers not just pedestrians that want to go faster? Each pedestrian that wants to go faster and chooses an E-Bike instead of a car is a win to me.

      • @Dozzi92
        link
        English
        27 months ago

        You know what they mean though. This isn’t someone who was a car who is now an ebike. This is someone who was feet or four or two wheels who is now doing 25mph on the sidewalk with no insurance. Once again, infrastructure is stuck catching up with technology, and that’s normal, but we are in the middle of it now.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          17 months ago

          I don’t live in NY, but I used to drive everywhere because the buses are slow AF (1hr+ to go less than seven miles) and I’m not walking 14+ miles up hills to see friends and family. Ebikes are used here to get up steep 18-28% grade hills. Because of ebikes, I’m able to run errands that I used to have to drive to, for pennies in electricity instead of $70 in gas and $30 in parking. The vast majority of all bikers stick to the bike lanes where available and obey the 15mph limits unless they are in lycra. But lycra types aren’t riding ebikes anyways, lol. Incredibly, one of our family friends got pulled over for getting clocked at 40mph on a traditional road bike.

          It’s really annoying, though. If I ride in the street, I get honked at by cars for “going too slow” as the ebike can only do 20mph sustained. If there are no bike lanes, biking on the sidewalk is the only safe option on stroads and 35mph bridges. There’s this massive gap in infrastructure where bikes usually get tossed the scraps of “just use the bridge sidewalk even though it’s only 24 inches wide”.

          Cars routinely park in the bike lanes here, too, forcing most riders into the street because of Amazon drivers or people pulling into hotels and putting their hazards on. Some riders specifically avoid the bike lanes here because they get the worst lights at traffic stops (eg, one 15 second light every few minutes while cars and pedestrians get green lights and crosswalks for much more time, incentivizing people to ride with cars or crosswalks).

          I think the most relevant solution is to significantly step up funding to ensure that most roads have wide sidewalks and generous, barrier-protected bike lanes where people cannot get doored and landscaping isolates pedestrians from the bike lanes. If Japan, France, and the Netherlands can do it, so can we.

    • @stoly
      link
      English
      77 months ago

      I don’t see the problem. People can go faster without polluting. That’s a good thing. You can get a lot more people on the road safely this way.

  • @dustyData
    link
    English
    137 months ago

    NYT takes money from companies to run smear campaigns and manipulate public opinion. I have no evidence but I have no doubts either.

    • Rozaŭtuno
      link
      fedilink
      English
      187 months ago

      It’s an open secret they take money from oil companies to write sponsored articles that look like independent opinion pieces.

  • @The_Tired_Horizon
    link
    English
    117 months ago

    The Telegraph here has done the same for Ebikes and Escooters. But mostly cyclists. Its been weeks of these articles. They’re not alone either, the Mail, Express and Sun have done the same. Its to create the illusion of your Government tackling a problem that doesnt really exist, as ours announced they’d be “bringing in new measures” recently only to launch a General Election a couple of days after.

    • @UnderpantsWeevil
      link
      English
      37 months ago

      They’re too damned popular. And too damned affordable. And way too much newspaper/tv ad revenue comes from automobiles. Someone’s got to put a thumb on the scale and get people back into SUVs.

  • @Cosmicomical
    link
    English
    97 months ago

    It’s certaily e-bikes that make nyc a nightmare

    • @xylogx
      link
      English
      37 months ago

      Just consider all the people annoyed by ebikes. Clearly cars are much more sane and rational. I mean what is a few thousand lives compared to some good old fashioned outrage.

  • @UnderpantsWeevil
    link
    English
    87 months ago

    The NYTimes continuing its long and storied tradition of panicking its readership over the prospect of seeing a young or poor person.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    67 months ago

    When there’s no more petrol cars, this is what most people’s “electric vehicles” will look like.

  • @AA5B
    link
    English
    67 months ago

    Dude, we’re just now getting infrastructure for bicycling, and that’s been like 300 years.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    2
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Ebikes would’ve been great in like 2018 before governments started regulating them to make them not as good. I don’t even know what’s going on these days in ebikes politics but I dismissed them as something I’ll never buy when they started putting remote speed limiters in them. I’ll just peddle myself on a cheapo bike.

  • @Jimmyeatsausage
    link
    English
    17 months ago

    This is pure pedantry, but the e-bike was actually invented sometime between 1895 and 1987 (depending on the source).

    They definitely weren’t popular until the 21st century, but the idea’s been around a long time (just like electric cars).