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cddotdotslash t1_jb2yslf wrote

Meanwhile over at /r/MicromobilityNYC, there is a steady stream of people reporting that their apartments have banned these kinds of batteries and commenters there are sharing tips on how to secretly get around the ban.

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb32wj5 wrote

They’re hypocrites, they want everyone else to follow the laws except them. Traffic signs and lights are just suggestions for them. Asking them to contribute anything financially sets them off.

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[deleted] t1_jb3h64v wrote

[deleted]

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb3hrxi wrote

And guess what, as a driver I don’t like it either, but I also won’t defend their actions. I’ve said it before everyone can be assholes, pedestrians, cyclist and drivers, even bus drivers.

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[deleted] t1_jb3iflt wrote

[deleted]

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb3jj5s wrote

Show me the NYCCars sub or an offline group of car owners defending asshole drivers. As a driver I can attest we’re constantly cussing each other out in public.

Cyclist will defend another rider who engaged in road rage with a car and almost lost their life in the process.

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beer_nyc t1_jb435w0 wrote

> Show me the NYCCars sub or an offline group of car owners defending asshole drivers

Have you read the NY Post comment section?

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb4k01i wrote

The NYPost doesn’t represent NYC residents.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb4r5sm wrote

That’s a dumb argument because an asshole driver can kill you whereas an asshole bicyclist can knock you down

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb4wjdo wrote

That’s all the more reason why cyclist should be discouraging other riders from playing stupid games with drivers. Blowing a red light puts you in direct danger of getting hit.

Stop encouraging cyclist to bust mirrors, scratch paint, dent panels, purposely slow down in front of drivers. Shit like that should be downvoted, but it’s not.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb522jf wrote

I feel like you’re mad about an argument no one is making

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb543sz wrote

I feel like you’re not familiar with r/nycbike and r/micromobilitynyc or even live in NYC for that matter.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb5fetw wrote

Well I feel like you live in Ronkonkoma and are mad you can’t park your F-350. Just take the LIRR my friend

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb5gham wrote

I actually grew up here and live in the city. You think the entirety of NYC looks like Manhattan and it’s far from the truth.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb5gudu wrote

Queen’s boulevard has been ruined by cars just as much as 8th Avenue

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb5ppl9 wrote

How has it been ruined by cars? What was it like before cars?

The city could easily build paths underneath/above the roadway for pedestrians. Just like they do for the LIE and Van Wyck Expressway nearby.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb60406 wrote

Queens blvd. and several similar roads (Linden blvd, kings highway, etc) were proposed to be built around light rail however Robert Moses opted to design them so that public transit could NEVER be added. This design only served wealthier single family suburbanites who would then drive their cars everywhere, creating more traffic. So it’s not really what queens blvd was but more what it could have been.

Also pedestrian bridges are hugely inconvenient and tunnels always become disgusting/dangerous.

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb69t1t wrote

I actually like the light-rail option, reminds me of San Francisco’s Embarcadero Street. Which also has busy intersections. What’s stopping the city from adding the light rails now?

The tunnels underneath could be well lit and connected to the subway stations below like a lot of subway stations in Manhattan around time square, Rockefeller, Penn station and Grand Central station.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb70k5l wrote

Yes. The embarcadero is a nicer road than queens blvd. Queens blvd was built intentionally too narrow to allow the eventual addition of light rail. Basically, they chose drivers slight convenience over transit users large inconvenience. The it only takes that train on the embarcadero 15 minutes to cover the entire length.

As for the tunnels: No! Since humans require fresh air and sunlight, if there are gonna be tunnels leave them for the machines

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elizabeth-cooper t1_jb4ywll wrote

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb529ww wrote

Sure but what’s the fatality rate? 0.01%?

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elizabeth-cooper t1_jb53anb wrote

The car accident fatality rate in NYC is <.01% so I'll agree that the bicycle accident fatality rate is lower than that. But the point is that it can and does happen. I also know an older person who broke her wrist being knocked down by a cyclist. A bicycle accident isn't a joke, especially for the elderly.

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Dreamtown_Comix t1_jb5d92j wrote

Sure but again the same is true of cars that not many times more so. Additionally if our infrastructure was more bike-centric pedestrians would know where to look out for cyclists

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onyourrite t1_jb39diw wrote

^ Thank you! I’m all for micro-mobility stuff and I’m sure a lot more people would be too if the users actually had some courtesy when on the road

The reputation cyclists and e-bikers and other riders have amongst a lot people are “those annoying assholes who go through red lights,” not to say that they’re all bad but that’s the general view of them from my experience

Also this issue of batteries exploding is just insane, how are these bikes and scooters still allowed on the street? Can you imagine the uproar if it was EV batteries or maybe the batteries within hybrid vehicles?

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HashtagDadWatts t1_jb3aehi wrote

Everyone goes through red lights here. Cars, trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, everyone. For some reason, self righteous internet comments just decide certain road users should be held to a saintly standard.

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HEIMDVLLR t1_jb3h58z wrote

Guess which ones have a means of being tracked down and ticketed for running said red light? I’m sure you know which one based on a certain link always shared to look up moving and parking violations.

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ELnyc t1_jb3buu2 wrote

Do people regularly drive cars on the sidewalk?

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ELnyc t1_jb3daah wrote

Strange how the existence of this article seems to imply that this is an unusual occurrence.

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Grass8989 t1_jb3ehtb wrote

Yea, people regularly go on targeted violent rampages with uhaul trucks. That’s totally comparable to unregulated e-bike batteries exploding.

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Jeff3412 t1_jb3wjnd wrote

I mean banning lithium ion batteries is pretty crazy. Imagine not being able to have a laptop or modern cell phone in your building.

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ShadownetZero t1_jb4euv5 wrote

They're banning ebike batteries, not all batteries.

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mostly_a_lurker_here t1_jb5gbte wrote

Still, a blanket ban of all ebike batteries is very silly.

Fires are also caused by space heaters being connected to overloaded extension cords, imagine banning all space heaters for that reason.

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ShadownetZero t1_jb5id7n wrote

Unless there's an easy way to identify these batteries (or an enforced way to prevent them from being sold) - a blanket ban is the only way buildings can really handle this.

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mostly_a_lurker_here t1_jb5y35r wrote

That's not true, some buildings' management already handle this without a blanket ban. You can allow people to register their devices with the building, check for reputable brands and UL-listed components, and educate with rules and flyers throughout the building (that define where to charge, how to not use extension cords, be present while charging, etc).

I would also say that it's pretty easy to identify crapware from reliable batteries. Fly e-bikes, generic AliExpress stuff, cheap conversion kits, you can see those outright. Brands such as Lectric, Ride1up, Rad Power, are all solid. Scooters such as Razer or Ninebot, good. No-name scooters and hoverboards, bad.

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phoenixmatrix t1_jbb08aq wrote

How do you track who has registered them and who didn't in a building of hundreds of people with constant guests coming in and out?

Its like buildings that require pets to be registered. They kindda check when you move in (maybe), but after that its essentially free for all, since its impossible for the building to keep track.

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phoenixmatrix t1_jbb01bj wrote

>Still, a blanket ban of all ebike batteries is very silly.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the ban, enforcing nuance in apartment rules is basically impossible because of the burden of proof required. It kindda has to be all or nothing, else its nothing by default.

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Jeff3412 t1_jb83dpk wrote

Then it doesn't really make sense.

If lithium Ion batteries are dangerous then they're dangerous. They're still dangerous even when they're in things basically everyone uses.

Edit:

For example here's some stories from the last month of phones that exploded:

https://www.truescoopnews.com/newsdetail/phone-leads-to-death-68yearold-man-dies-after-his-phone-exploded-while-talking-to-a-friend

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/green-township/watch-iphone-explodes-while-family-sleeps-we-were-extremely-lucky-to-avoid-a-house-fire

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/cellphone-explodes-in-his-pants-youth-falls-from-1st-floor-in-ahmedabad/articleshow/98193000.cms?from=mdr

The same dangerous battery tech is still dangerous when attached to smart phones.

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mostly_a_lurker_here t1_jbt8l7b wrote

This guy with the Shadow username blocked me because he had no arguments for his "blanket ban is the only solution" point. I think that says a lot.

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Grass8989 t1_jb31o5a wrote

I mean, that sub also openly advocates for destroying property so it’s not really surprising.

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janandgeorgeglass t1_jb34gug wrote

Like somehow wrecking people's stuff will magically get them to join your cause, lol 🙄🙄🙄

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ZweitenMal t1_jb3s543 wrote

We have a guy in my building and I worry about it every day.

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isowater t1_jb3r0fp wrote

That's such a disingenuous and hostile description of the sub. Vast majority there agree with banning illegal batteries. I haven't seen ONE upvoted post about hiding NON UL certified batteries. Blanket banning ebikes with great batteries are no different than banning your laptop with a great battery.

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TeamMisha t1_jb7lay0 wrote

Another post cherry picking from that and the bike sub like the top reply to this comment does often. We can do the same with this sub and its asinine comments about car culture. Can't we be more civil? What does this hostility achieve? Is your goal to paint all cyclists as evil? You went out of your way to find that post, why?

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heresmyusername t1_jb6gby7 wrote

As an NYC pedestrian post-Covid, I hate cars just as much as the next guy and I'm all for improved/protected bike access...

...but that subreddit is full of actual deluded freaks.

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robxburninator t1_jb6zu28 wrote

100%. I'm not sure anyone on there rides a bike, I think they just like fighting.

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phoenixmatrix t1_jbazjng wrote

Even if not so secretly. Our building has them banned (been in the leases from day 1 when they started leasing), and there's a bunch of people with them anyway. (They're even allowed if you park them in the basement, but people insist on having them in their units).

But if they refuse to comply, what can you do? Evict them? Sure, but that takes forever right now, and they know this.

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ELnyc t1_jb3bq68 wrote

Ugh I have been hoping mine will ban them but so far nothing.

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