A California school district wanted electric bikes away from its younger students' campuses. The bikes did not necessarily disappear. Some of them moved
District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s office said injuries involving e-bikes and e-motorcycles in Southern California had increased 430% over four years. The office has also pursued cases against parents accused of knowingly allowing children to operate electric motorcycles illegally.
I see these electric dirt bikes everywhere, kids usually aren’t wearing helmets, and they’re pretty reckless with them. These are “bikes” that do not conform to e-bike standards for riding on the road without licensing. Fun, yes, but an accident waiting to happen. I think the school overreached, and should allow ebikes that conform to legal requirements to ride them unlicensed, but they are fighting a legitimate problem. They should have police there ticketing and impounding the illegal bikes and let the parents sort it out. I’ll bet many of the parents don’t even know their kids are illegally riding what is effectively a motorcycle, and there is no insurance to cover their liability.
I find statistics about how e-bike accidents have surged by X% irritating. They are often cited by people who want to see them banned, but there is never any context included. How much has ridership itself increased? What percentage of these involved unlicensed e-motos? What proportion of these accidents showed definite fault on the part of the cyclist? How do the figures compare to scooters (e or not), regular bikes, skateboards, inline skates, etc.
I’m not saying there isn’t a problem. More regulation/education/infrastructure may be needed if there is an obvious trend in say total hospital visits surging since children got access to e-bikes or e-scooters. But it’s never framed that way in articles. They always read that e-bike-related accidents are on the increase. That alone is hardly surprising when they were much less available in the first place a decade ago.
When I see stats like that it just reminds me how disconnected most people are. I don’t doubt for a second that injuries related to them have increased, but many more ebikes/scooters/eucs/etc. are there on the road now vs 4 years ago? I’d be willing to bet it grew by a few million (just from a cursory Google search it claims 4.5-6 million more on the road than in 2022).
It’s like how they say ‘90% of accidents happen within x distance of home’; no shit most the accidents happen where I’m most likely to be.
So enforce the laws and get those illegal e-motos off the road. Also ticket the parents of children who refuse to use a helmet. If it’s good enough for Tony Hawk, it’s good enough for you.
I’d say you should be mad at the school district; they’ve failed to distinguish and instead put in a blanket ban on electric bikes/scooters of all types, legal or not.
Some kids/parrents break the law and ride unsafely or use devices that exceed legal standards, so nobody gets cheap convenient and efficient transport. - School District
From a quick search we had like 1.5-2 million ebikes on the road in 2022 and between 6.5-8 million now so I’d say there are around 400% of the total ebikes on the road from 2022, being ridden now. Over the past 4 years the average age of riders seems to be getting lower too… Maybe that is playing into the numbers a bit.
I can’t speak to what they are or are not saying, but bicycles (electric and manual alike) often get blamed when they are not at fault, that is an undeniable trend.
Fuck carbrained assholes. The kids are trying to help, and they want to ban the “newfangled machine that we didn’t have as kids.”
To be clear this is directed at the school board more than the residents of the neighborhood.
I think it’s a bit more complicated than that.
I see these electric dirt bikes everywhere, kids usually aren’t wearing helmets, and they’re pretty reckless with them. These are “bikes” that do not conform to e-bike standards for riding on the road without licensing. Fun, yes, but an accident waiting to happen. I think the school overreached, and should allow ebikes that conform to legal requirements to ride them unlicensed, but they are fighting a legitimate problem. They should have police there ticketing and impounding the illegal bikes and let the parents sort it out. I’ll bet many of the parents don’t even know their kids are illegally riding what is effectively a motorcycle, and there is no insurance to cover their liability.
I find statistics about how e-bike accidents have surged by X% irritating. They are often cited by people who want to see them banned, but there is never any context included. How much has ridership itself increased? What percentage of these involved unlicensed e-motos? What proportion of these accidents showed definite fault on the part of the cyclist? How do the figures compare to scooters (e or not), regular bikes, skateboards, inline skates, etc.
I’m not saying there isn’t a problem. More regulation/education/infrastructure may be needed if there is an obvious trend in say total hospital visits surging since children got access to e-bikes or e-scooters. But it’s never framed that way in articles. They always read that e-bike-related accidents are on the increase. That alone is hardly surprising when they were much less available in the first place a decade ago.
When I see stats like that it just reminds me how disconnected most people are. I don’t doubt for a second that injuries related to them have increased, but many more ebikes/scooters/eucs/etc. are there on the road now vs 4 years ago? I’d be willing to bet it grew by a few million (just from a cursory Google search it claims 4.5-6 million more on the road than in 2022).
It’s like how they say ‘90% of accidents happen within x distance of home’; no shit most the accidents happen where I’m most likely to be.
Year 1: 8 ebike injuries Year 2: 24 ebike injuries
Report: EBIKE INJURIES ARE UP 300%!!!
First of all, I agree that powerful e-motorcycles being misrepresented as bicycles is the vast majority of the problem here.
That said, even legitimate Class 1 and 2 e-bikes aren’t legal to operate by people under age 16 in some places.
So enforce the laws and get those illegal e-motos off the road. Also ticket the parents of children who refuse to use a helmet. If it’s good enough for Tony Hawk, it’s good enough for you.
Injuries involving ebikes increased 430%? Sounds alarming. How much has ebike use increased over that period?
Another interesting statistic would be how frequently kids are out side and/or active.
So we should be mad at the article for not distiguishing
I’d say you should be mad at the school district; they’ve failed to distinguish and instead put in a blanket ban on electric bikes/scooters of all types, legal or not.
Some kids/parrents break the law and ride unsafely or use devices that exceed legal standards, so nobody gets cheap convenient and efficient transport. - School District
Had the number of affordable ebikes also tossed 430%? I wouldn’t be surprised. I hate ebikes but I prefer kids riding those to being in cars.
From a quick search we had like 1.5-2 million ebikes on the road in 2022 and between 6.5-8 million now so I’d say there are around 400% of the total ebikes on the road from 2022, being ridden now. Over the past 4 years the average age of riders seems to be getting lower too… Maybe that is playing into the numbers a bit.
Those are car crashes. The cara hit them, then we blame the bikes
Are you saying that a bicycle can’t be at fault?
I can’t speak to what they are or are not saying, but bicycles (electric and manual alike) often get blamed when they are not at fault, that is an undeniable trend.
Clearly it’s a snowboarders fault.