Sumana Harihareswara testifies on benefits of pedal-assist e-bikes

Hi, my name is Sumana Harihareeshwara.

I'm in my mid-40s.

I live in Jackson Heights.

I'm here just as a volunteer, as a cyclist, but not a very good one.

And I want to tell you that street legal e-bikes help me, a not very good cyclist, bike more safely because they help me stop.

So on a conventional bike, every time I come to a complete stop at a stop sign or a stoplight and then push off again, it uses a little energy and that adds up.

And let's say a 25-minute ride from Jackson Heights to Astoria to help a friend with child care or go to a doctor's appointment, that's maybe like nine stops at stoplights and stop signs.

And I am not very strong.

I do not have calves of steel, you know.

I'm jeans, not lycra, you know.

No matter how much I try to do like protein and carbs ahead of time, it is going to tire me to make all those stops, full stops, and then come, you know, rolling again.

And that tires me out.

But then on an e-bike, it's so much easier to start from a full stop.

And if you've never ridden an e-bike, that is one of the game changers about it that we don't necessarily talk about enough.

So for me, pedal assist bikes take away any temptation to just like roll through a stop sign at an empty intersection because I can stop as much as I need to

and then still have the energy I need to do what I need to do when I get there, like help take care of my friend's five-year-old.

I don't need illegal high-speed devices.

20 is plenty to help me safely share our streets with pedestrians and drivers.

The only collision I've ever been in as a bicycle rider while cycling was that a driver of a car rear-ended me while I was stopped at a red light.

Look, you know, of course, separated bike paths help, and that would help change this.

But most of my rides, most of my miles, I am sharing the road with cars.

Street legal e-bikes help me do that safely.

Thank you.

Thank you for that perspective.

Next.