{"id":1768,"date":"2024-01-19T10:04:03","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T10:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/19\/e-bikes-caused-record-deaths-fires-last-year-in-new-york-city\/"},"modified":"2024-01-19T10:04:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T10:04:03","slug":"e-bikes-caused-record-deaths-fires-last-year-in-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/19\/e-bikes-caused-record-deaths-fires-last-year-in-new-york-city\/","title":{"rendered":"E-bikes caused record deaths, fires last year in New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electric bicycles caused a record number of fires, injuries and deaths in New York City last year as Democrats continued to push for greater adoption of the device as a solution to global warming<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Overall, e-bikes sparked 267 fires which caused 18 deaths and 150 injuries in the city, according to New York Fire Department (FDNY)<\/a> data shared with Fox News Digital. The figures represent the highest levels of each statistic, with e-bike related deaths increasing 200%, fires increasing 21% and injuries increasing 2% in the city year over year.<\/p>\n

“As we rely more and more on micromobility vehicles to earn a living in our daily lives, we increase the risk of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries. And as mentioned, we had over 100 deaths in this city alone on these batteries,” Democrat New York Mayor Eric Adams said during an event on e-bike safety last year.<\/p>\n

“And one of the problems that we’ve noticed, when you look at those taped-up batteries, you see that they are refurbished,” he continued. “These shops are going inside attempting to refurbish the batteries and do it their own way. This is a safety issue.”<\/p>\n

DEMOCRATS’ FAVORITE GREEN MODE OF TRANSPORTATION IS CAUSING EXPLOSIONS, DEATH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Amid the uptick in e-bike fires and deaths, New York City leaders led by Adams<\/a> and FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh \u2014 who said last year that e-bikes are “incredibly dangerous devices” and called for additional regulation \u2014 have spearheaded a public education campaign about the dangers of the device and pushed policies to ensure safety.<\/p>\n

In March 2023, Adams unveiled the city’s Charge Safe, Ride Safe plan to prevent further harmful e-bike incidents<\/a>. Then, months later, he announced the city had been awarded $25 million in federal funding to install 173 outdoor e-bike charging stations. In December, Adams said his administration would soon launch a battery-charging pilot program for delivery workers.<\/p>\n

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“We know these fires can cause serious injury, and even death. We are grateful to our partners in city government for their out-of-the-box thinking on how we can embrace this new technology while also protecting lives,” Kavanagh said last month.<\/p>\n

The city government has also passed several laws over the last year to regulate lithium-ion batteries sold in New York City and implemented a policy to expedite investigations into potentially hazardous conditions involving lithium-ion batteries. And the issue led to New York Attorney General Letitia James issuing a consumer alert in June to warn New Yorkers about the “significant risks” associated with e-bikes.<\/p>\n

Still, despite the increased attention on curbing e-bike fires, the FDNY continues to report such incidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the most recent example, an e-bike battery exploded in a Queens bike store, causing a massive blast and two-alarm fire<\/a> this month. And just days prior, an e-bike battery fire caused an explosion in a public housing complex in the Bronx, killing one person and injuring six others.<\/p>\n

FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens previously said that the violent nature of lithium-ion battery-triggered fires makes them harder to quell.<\/p>\n

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According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), e-bikes are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which are prone to fires or explosions<\/a>. And as e-bikes continue to become more popular \u2014 the global e-bike industry is expected to grow nearly 200% to an estimated value of $118.7 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research \u2014 cities like New York are facing rapidly increasing numbers of battery fires.<\/p>\n

“As the use of lithium-ion-powered products is growing, the challenges with their associated hazards are on full display every day and in communities all across the globe. Lithium-ion batteries are one of the newer and emerging fire threats in our communities,” Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of outreach and advocacy, said during a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) panel discussion in July.<\/p>\n

NEW YORK CITY FATAL FIRE WAS CAUSED BY E-BIKE BATTERY, OFFICIALS SAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In October, the CPSC released a staff report showing that micromobility-related injuries have trended upward since 2017, increasing approximately 23% on average every year. One day later, CPSC Commissioner Mary Boyle announced the agency would begin considering regulations targeting e-bikes, which would likely be released in 2025.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Democrat lawmakers continue to push e-bikes as a key part of their climate agenda and effort to decarbonize the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

Last year, Reps. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif.,<\/a> introduced the Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment Act, which would provide Americans with an up to $1,500 credit on e-bike purchases. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced companion legislation in the Senate.<\/p>\n

“By incentivizing Americans to own and use e-bikes, we are allowing them the chance to help improve the quality of life in our communities and tackle the climate crisis in our country,” Panetta said.<\/p>\n

“Electric bikes are a phenomenal way to traverse our communities, combining the beauty of the outdoors with the ease and benefits of sustainable transportation,” added Schiff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Electric bicycles caused a record number of fires, injuries and deaths in New York City last year as Democrats continued to push for greater adoption of the device as a solution to global warming. Overall, e-bikes sparked 267 fires which caused 18 deaths and 150 injuries in the city, according to New York Fire Department … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}