Commuters who ride e-bikes, e-scooters, One-Wheel's, along the Embarcadero: Please heed the traffic lights and slow down! E-bike on pedestrian accident today - Embarcadero & Folsom
Walking home this afternoon (middle of rush hour), we came upon a poor young woman who apparently was in an accident with an e-bike at the intersection of the Embarcadero and Folsom (bay side). She was propped up on the lamp post trading contact information w/the e-bike rider. They eventually went to the fire department one block away and thankfully, she was able to walk under her own power albeit maybe a bit disoriented.
With RTO there's been a definite uptick in commuter traffic to the commercial parts of SF. Combine the increased number of commuters, the easy access to e-bike and scooter options – that don't seem to have any reasonable speed governors on them – and the mindset that "traffic lights don't really apply to us on the Embarcadero," it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt. As a resident near this intersection, I've seen – and been a part of – many near misses with an e-biker / e-scooter who thought it was perfectly ok to go against a light with pedestrians in the crosswalk. This also happens along the shared pathway: e-bikes traveling at high speed ignoring the parents pushing a baby stroller or elderly person that they just whizzed by w/little regard for saftey.
Another anecdote from the Saturday farmers market a couple of weeks ago. There's a guy who will occasionally ride one of those InMotion One Wheels along the Embarcadero (w/a bicyclist chasing him - I presume to film as he slaloms through people). He was walking it in front of the market that day since it was way too crowded. One of the vendors asked him "Hey, how fast does that thing go?" His response: "Up to ~50 mph!" Of course, he's in full protective gear (helmet, etc.).
Reminder: while the Embarcadero is indeed a shared pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists, this does not include e-bikes, and any motorized forms of scooters, electrified OneWheels, etc. If you're making the decision to ride one of these at speed, you're putting others in danger. Knowing that you kind of already know this and yet continue to do it, the other way to think about it is this: you're only one small mistake away from a financially catastrophic lawsuit when you do hit someone. Or worse, a criminal conviction (search: "SF pedestrian bicyclist crash Mission & Embarcadero" and/or replace "Mission & Embarcadero," with 'Castro'). Please be safe and slow down. It really isn't worth it.