Look on the bright side - sooner or later those things will burst into flames while charging the batteries (and hopefully won't burn the house down).
This is why we need to push the e-bike industry towards LiFePO4 batteries. EVs are already moving in that direction.
I was talking mostly about the kids on the E- scooters. Adults add their own craziness and recklessness. I both bike and drive and get to see both sides. It’s not an either or case to lay the blame.
I've seen both sides of the coin. I see a lot of kids on e-bikes, dirt bikes, and those stupid ATVs doing all sorts of really dumb things. Then again, drivers have gotten much worse as cars have increased in power. Now they use the power to squirt into any opening in traffic. I also see a fair number driving on sidewalks to gain a few places in the queues at red signals. Maybe it's time to limit acceleration rates when driving on local streets, and to govern to the speed limit on those same streets. Allow wide open power only on highways or entrance ramps. You don't need to get to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds on NYC streets.
Drivers in NYC violate traffic laws like crazy. More and more are passing red signals. Nearly everyone speeds. Many don't yield to pedestrians when turning. It's a free for all.
I hope you finish it soon and that one of the big bicycle companies buys the patent off of you. Ironically, you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned that some drivers hit bicyclists because they honestly can't see them. A problem that could easily be greatly reduced if riders didn't insist on wearing all-black, not wearing reflective vests, not having installed a headlamp, along with a rear red bike-light, and reflectors on the wheels.
While lights should be used when riding after dark (I have north of 600 lumens with both my headlights on, plus a rear flasher), a good cyclist rides so that their safety doesn't depend upon others seeing them.
I don't bother with wheel reflectors. They tend to unbalance the wheel, plus they're not as effective as many think. Lights are the key to being seen.
It is ridiculous holding drivers fully responsible if a reckless bicyclist peddles out in front of them by blowing past a red light. Which I see all the time. The Law is one thing. But from a pragmatic perspective, whose going to take the worst of it in a collision between a bike and a car? The law says drivers are always responsible. Well, what good is being right if a bicyclist ends up being literally dead right?
NYC needs to legalize yielding at stop signs or red signals precisely so police can go after those who *don't* yield. Also, if this behavior were legalized, any group teaching new cyclists would show them how to properly pass red signals. Right now those same groups won't touch that with a ten foot pole lest they be accused of encouraging illegal behavior.
For a bunch of reasons it's far safer for cyclists (and pedestrians) to go on red, but they also need to learn to do so safety (as well as when NOT to do it). I pass red signals all the time. I haven't even had a near miss, never mind an actual collision. I generally start scanning the cross street when I'm a block away. If there's a lot of cross traffic, I know I'm not going to be able to safely pass that red signal, so I just coast to the intersection. I try to adjust my speed so I hit the intersection just as the signal flips back to green, thereby avoiding a full stop. If traffic is light, I reduce speed to 8 to 10 mph before I reach the intersection. I cover my brake, continue to scan in both directions. Right before entering the intersection, I make my go/no go decision, depending upon what I see. If it's clear, I accelerate rapidly through the intersection to clear it as quickly as possible. If not, I slow or stop as needed to let anything coming pass, then accelerate through the intersection. This stuff isn't hard to teach novice riders.
Bottom line, there's zero reason for cyclists to blow red signals without slowing or looking. They're putting their own lives in jeopardy.
On another note, and I see this often, it's "red signal", not "red light". Or using railroad parlance, stop aspect, although most people don't get that one. Red light is something you see outside a bordello.
