A Brooklyn lawmaker is demanding that Lyft set up an age verification program to forestall riders beneath the age of 16 from renting a Citi Bike and even organising an account.
“We should be using these tools to prevent riders younger than 16 from making a Citi Bike account and getting immediate access to one of the 20,000 e-bikes in the fleet,” Councilman Justin Brannan mentioned in a July 24 letter to Lyft CEO David Risher. “We must protect our youngest riders on the road.”
Brannan, throughout an interview, mentioned he was spurred to contact Lyft after listening to from mother and father complaining about seeing children beneath 16 on e-bikes.
“I hear from parents who are worried about their kids. This is a potential disaster just waiting to happen –and it’s entirely preventable,” he additionally mentioned within the letter.
The councilman mentioned he’ll push laws to require motion if Lyft doesn’t voluntarily achieve this “before a 14 year old makes a Citi Bike account and is seriously injured or killed while riding an ebike.”
At the moment, the Citi Bike rental settlement says that people should be 16 years of age
or older to experience.
However there isn’t any methodology in place to confirm the age of riders. Anybody with a cellphone, electronic mail handle and fee methodology can create a brand new Citi Bike account in seconds, Brannan famous.
“Riders simply self-attest their age by manually inputting their date of birth. There’s nothing holding back a 14-year old — or someone even younger — from renting a 15 miles-per-hour bike with just a few taps on their phone,” the councilman mentioned.
Brannan additionally claimed the shortage of verification deviates from Lyft’s rigorous screening program for its automotive rideshare platform and even bike share packages elsewhere.
“This is preventable,” he mentioned. “To ensure rider safety in cars, Lyft has the tools to verify the ages of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of drivers on their rideshare platform.”
In the meantime in different markets the place Lyft runs the bikeshare community comparable to Mexico Metropolis, riders should use their cellphone to scan a type of identification to confirm their age when making a brand new account, Brannan famous.
Lime, which operates a scooter community in Queens and the Bronx, additionally requires new riders 18 years or older to scan a type of identification to confirm their age, and begin with “beginner mode” — slower speeds and a nighttime curfew.
or older to experience. Robert Miller
Brann cited statistics exhibiting a surge in reported e-bike accidents.
In 2023, 76% of biking fatalities in New York Metropolis have been on ebikes, or 23 fatalities complete. The ebike fatality charge quintupled from 2019 to 2023.
Final yr, a minor on a Citi Bike ebike slammed into one other rider, sending them to the hospital and destroying their bike. In accordance with media accounts, no police report was filed as a result of the rider was beneath 18.
In one other case, a 16-year-old sued Citi Bike after crashing and breaking her jaw whereas driving an ebike in Brooklyn.
“I believe that Lyft must take immediate action and close a dangerous loophole to keep riders – especially teenagers – safe. It has become common practice for teenagers in New York City to rent e-bikes and ride them at top speed without wearing helmets and without understanding how to safely ride them,” Brannan instructed the Lyft CEO within the letter.
“I was a teenager once. You were too. Maybe you were different from me, but I had very bad
judgment at that age. I thought I was invincible. A lot of things have changed since I was a kid
but teenagers doing dangerous things is not one of them.”
Brannan additionally requested that Lyft share crash and security information for conventional bikes and ebikes, damaged down by age, gender, and different demographic teams.
He mentioned Lyft may help forestall tragedies with a “quick fix” to its Citi Bike utilizing instruments it already has.
A Lyft spokesperson confirmed it obtained Brannan’s letter and is reviewing it.
A Citi spokesperson had no remark.
However the firm has had conferences with Lyft, as lately as final month, to debate e-bikes and issues of safety.
