Are E-Bikes Safe For Young Teenagers?

[Jeremy McCreary]

Kids are licensed to drive 5000 pound cars, so how can a 16 Y/O be denied an e-bike.

Sorry, not equivalent. A kid with a driver's licence has passed written and driving tests at an impartial DMV. This demonstrates some knowledge of traffic laws and at least a little common sense and training beforehand.

Then the kid's legally and financially responsible for any mayhem caused. The consequences to the kid himself/herself are largely out of the parents' hands.

But in many if not most jurisdictions, no such prep or accountability required for ebike use on public roads and bikeways. And you can see it quite clearly in the way some of the school kids around here ride.

But that's begun to change here in coastal north San Diego County. Several cities now require ebike training certificates for anyone who doesn't hold a drivers license — which of course is everyone under 16 in California. Holding a certificate means "Sorry officer, no one told me" no longer flies.

Since most of the ebike miles ridden by kids here are to and from school and activities, the school districts have also stepped up. No certificate or drivers license = no campus parking permit = impounded ebike if found on campus.

These measures went into effect in Carlsbad and Encinitas in the last 2 years. Have no data, but I think they've already had a positive effect. Some state lawmakers are trying to take this approach statewide. No go so far, but I really hope they succeed for the safety and benefit of all concerned.

Relying on parents to train their kids was an abject failure here. But the prize is worth some government intervention: Nearly all of these school kids on ebikes represent cars not on the road and that many fewer kids indoors on screens.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

All legal issues aside, if the kid shows responsibility and is mature enough to understand the ways of the road. I say go for it. Like driving a car, you won’t get in trouble if you obey the law and drive like a sensible person, not like all those HOONAGAINS rolling coal. A cop won’t pull you over if you simply are under age on an ebike. They just have so many other things to do.

 

[Chargeride]

A few nights ago I approached a nearby grass roundabout, or rotorary for our American friends, its quite large on a 50mph road, there were two kids riding around the centre on electric pitbikes, at night, no lights, and no adults to be seen.
Im am not exaggerating to say they were easily five or six and it was rush hour, god knows how they got onto it for starters.
I was so bizarre I went around twice,
Im looking at other drivers to hopefully get a wtf response, but dont get
involved is the new norm, and I joined them.
I mean thats social services involvement, luckily that government dept has given up.

 

[m@Robertson]

Some of you old farts don't seem to remember that at that age, if a kid isn't riding a bike, they are driving a car or riding a motorcycle. Being taught the rules of the road by a parent should be considered a given prerequisite for any transportation. Forget that as an excuse to deny the ebike.

What an ebike does is provide transportation that is a substitute for an automobile. We are seeing something unheard of in generations past: Youth not enamored of getting a drivers license.

Why more American teenagers are rejecting driver's licenses in favor of e-bikes

There’s a good chance that when you were a teenager, getting your driver’s license was seen as a rite of...

electrek.co

Even a Super73 is better than a car in all respects for society, absent the exercise factor. Scooter-type bikes would not be my first choice for a young rider, but they sure as hell would be better for them than a car.

Get the kid an ebike that is suited to pedaling. Don't be a fanatic about getting one without a throttle. Throttles are tools that are part of a system that many in the older generation refuse to understand or accept.

And of course, if the kid has no common sense and is a hellion, teach and get them settled down before you start handing off the keys to anything. Don't be afraid of the ebike. Be afraid of the teen-ager. Parent them and ensure they use their brain, and an ebike is a lower-powered, lower risk vehicle than what they would typically be given in the USA at that age.

Lastly, if you look at actual statistics for ebike use, they are in fact VERY safe (statistics show an increase in accidents as a raw number, but they are generally bereft of the context of how many ebikes are on the road vs. those accident counts). The dangers come from automobiles running them over which is the same danger for bicyclists. Now, there are plenty of shrill headlines, but thats media hyping the subject. Not statistical reality.

This is a pretty good take on said statistical reality. It gives real numbers (from the CPSC) on deaths, and circumstances. Video is tee'd up to the appropriate spot.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Don't be a fanatic about getting one without a throttle.

Make the kids fat, unfit, and riding dangerously without any effort. Why not an upright e-scooter?

I didn't want to take part in this thread. I think a kid should ride a traditional bike if they love cycling. I'm afraid kids want to ride fashionable things but not to cycle though.

 

[Chargeride]

TBH anything less is pointless

 

[indianajo]

Roundabouts give me the wiilies. Wife almost got struck our first day in Essex trying to cross an exit without looking to the right. Little **** car whizzed around a brick building our way about 60 kph. Figured out the next day Transport London had built an underpass to the underground station in the middle. Indiana built a traffic circle on State 62, tore down a 4 lane overpass to install it. I now have to ride 4 miles out of the way on the bike to avoid it on my way to summer property. Traffic never stops. I walked out state 62 in 2016 when I was stranded.
That jet bike, I avoid gas scooters and gas motor bikes because they are too noisy. Bet the jet bike rider is as deaf as a post.

 

[Chargeride]

Just the bleedin music on the video is bad enough

 

[m@Robertson]

Make the kids fat, unfit, and riding dangerously without any effort. Why not an upright e-scooter?

Like I said... don't be a fanatic. A throttle is a tool in the toolbox, just like the saddle, the handlebars and the pedals.

I didn't want to take part in this thread. I think a kid should ride a traditional bike if they love cycling. I'm afraid kids want to ride fashionable things but not to cycle though.

And what if they don't? There has to be a dose of reality taken here. In this country, children ride bikes, and when they grow up and become adults, they drive a car and leave the child's toy behind. Thats just the way it is. And unless purists pull their heads out of their asses and realize that one more bike is one less car, an opportunity to benefit society is lost. That ebike, pedaled or not, is still better both for the rider and for society as a whole.

 

[PCeBiker]

Stephan left his childhood behind when he became a professional.

He can't even do this anymore,..

I light my cigarettes while riding no-hands.
That takes both hands and both eyes off the road.
It's hard to light a cigarette at 20 mph.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

or not, is still better both for the rider and for society as a whole.

If not pedalled, in what terms is it better?

 

[Slaphappygamer]

TBH anything less is pointless

The more black you wear, the faster you can go!

 

[sc00ter]

I had a pedal start moped (Baretta 38, I just found a picture of it recently with me wearing a Troop sweatshirt looking gangster) when I was 14. I was 2 years under the legal age but I still rode it everywhere. I can honestly say it made me a better driver when it came to getting a first car (84 Dodge Omni!). Unless this kid is a fat, lazy loafer then why not? Ebikes are about freedom. Here I am in my 50's looking at emopeds next.

 

[gromike]

.... In this country, children ride bikes, and when they grow up and become adults, they drive a car and leave the child's toy behind. ....

I rode bicycles from 5 to 13. At that age we became cool, walked around smoking cigarettes and riding on the bus. Didn't even know an adult could ride a bicycle, because that never happened.
Bikes were for children, but then the first Earthday happened and bicycles were cool. Pumped up the tires of my old ten speed and away I went.

 

[chunk]

I had a pedal start moped (Baretta 38, I just found a picture of it recently with me wearing a Troop sweatshirt looking gangster) when I was 14. I was 2 years under the legal age but I still rode it everywhere. I can honestly say it made me a better driver when it came to getting a first car (84 Dodge Omni!). Unless this kid is a fat, lazy loafer then why not? Ebikes are about freedom. Here I am in my 50's looking at emopeds next.

Ha, cool, a real moped, I always wanted one of those, still do in fact. Here's me in the 70's on a Honda, a few years later I bought a used Yamaha RD350. What freedom that bike brought me. 50 years later and I still ride bicycles and motorbikes.

 

[m@Robertson]

If not pedalled, in what terms is it better?

Well, lets spend only 1 minute thinking of the ways:

• If you are hit by an ebiker distractedly listening to the radio or talking on their cell phone, it will be a lot less painful
• How many cars can you fit on the road? Now count the ebikes that take up the same space.
• How much carbon monoxide does an ebike emit versus an automobile?
• If everybody drives a battery-powered automobile? How much traffic reduction do we enjoy?

My one minute is up. Spend two minutes and you will come up with even more.

 

[m@Robertson]

Didn't even know an adult could ride a bicycle, because that never happened.
Bikes were for children

Yeah same here. It has only been in maybe the last 10 years that I have not been the ONLY grownup riding a bike on the street. The other adults who rode bikes did it for recreation only and were in the foothills, not the city (a nd getting run over by pickup trucks instead of SUVs).

 

[mschwett]

Sorry, not equivalent. A kid with a driver's licence has passed written and driving tests at an impartial DMV. This demonstrates some knowledge of traffic laws and at least a little common sense and training beforehand.

...

that's part of it - and of course they have insurance - but the bigger part is actually that if you put your kid behind the wheel of a 5,000lb SUV and they get hit by a car, the likely result is basically an annoyance. you get the car fixed, maybe pay your deductible, etc.

if your kid is careless on their bike and gets hit by a car, the likely result is catastrophic for the kid. not so much the car, which is why a small (but decently nonzero) percentage of drivers just do not give a *(%#*.

for me, it's not an e-bike if it isn't class compliant. limiting the discussion to that, the safety issue is not really an ebike issue, it's a bike issue.

my 13 year old daughter has a bike and we ride together all over the place. i do not yet allow her to ride by herself, but probably will in the next few years when she continues to demonstrate that she's actually paying attention while riding. as far as bike environments go, san francisco is better than most of the US by a long shot, but there are still dicey moments, the network of protected (or even unprotected) bike lanes is incomplete, and the behavior of bad drivers goes generally unregulated by a police department that doesn't really care about things like drivers running red lights. on the flip side, average vehicle speeds are in the 15-25mph range, not the 35-55mph range of many american cities.

so, to the OP: the answer is more "it depends where they'll be riding and how responsible, attentive, and diligent they are." again, this is assuming that it's actually an e-bike, not a moped or electric motorcycle.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

If you are hit by an ebiker distractedly listening to the radio or talking on their cell phone, it will be a lot less painful

If I am hit by a 70 lb moped riding at 20 mph on more, my survival chances are slim. Especially as it would happen on a MUP, where I should feel safe.

How many cars can you fit on the road? Now count the ebikes that take up the same space.

Will you agree that:

• It is America where most cars have a single occupancy
• It is the drivers' issue.

How much carbon monoxide does an ebike emit versus an automobile?

I think you meant carbon dioxide CO2 (carbon monoxide CO is killed by the catalyst). To ride an e-bike, you need electric energy. Unless it is generated in a nuclear powerplant, CO2 will be generated in a powerplant. Taken into account all the losses, more CO2 is generated in a conventional powerplant to generate electricity than produced by a car. Why didn't you mention the environmental pollution generated on the Li-Ion battery manufacturing and disposal?

If everybody drives a battery-powered automobile? How much traffic reduction do we enjoy?

The teenager wouldn't use the e-bike for their commutes. Besides, I don't think EV cars have ever been a good idea.

 

[PCeBiker]

I ride as though I'm invisible and give up my right-of-way to everything if I can by slowing down or pulling over and waiting for traffic or people to pass.

I'm always looking for someone to do something wrong and preparing to avoid them.

I have the luxury of being able to ride for over half an hour without seeing a single vehicle though.

my 13 year old daughter has a bike and we ride together all over the place.

You should get your daughter to teach you how to ride no-hands if you don't remember how.

It's good practice and helps you get an innate feel for your bike that helps with accident avoidance.

It's fun learning how to do an emergency stop.
I can skid my front wheel without going over the handlebars.