It’s the hot-button topic this year, and regulation and education has been trying to catch up. I’m all for more people riding bikes. If legal e-bikes get people who otherwise wouldn’t ride as far or as much out doing errands, commuting, hauling kids and recreating outdoors, I think they’re great! The problem we’ve all been seeing lies with the safe and legal operation of e-rides, which include scooters. The argument that a sports car can still drive 20 mph in a school zone, so an ebike shouldn’t be restricted according to power output unfortunately doesn’t hold up in the real world where enforcement of regulations can’t keep up. People aren’t perfect, and child and youth operators of e-rides lack even more experience and knowledge than adult operators. It’s the reason ER visits by youth e-riders have increased by 671% in the last 3 years. https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2026/07/29/e-bike-injuries-child-kids-safety-health-transit/90956259007/ So what’s the solution? Good question. First I think we need to know the regulations. There seems to be confusion among the public, and the purchasers of e-rides as to what’s legal, and where to ride. Also, in the case of children and youth, parents should make sure everyone knows the basics of the rules of the road and trails, and follows them. Accompanying young ones on a bike in the beginning to make sure would be even better. In the interest of general knowledge and not re-inventing the wheel, I’m including a link to several reports to give more background. The first is about safety from an ER nurse. The next is Nebraska Laws for E-Bikes, ATVs, Minibikes, and Other Similar Vehicles from the Nebraska chapter of the National Safety Council, and the last is from the California Bicycle Coalition, because it has good info and graphics if you keep scrolling.
But safety problems didn’t start with e bikes. Here is a bizarre safety PSA from 1963 called One Got Fat that shows us some of the same problem behaviors then as now. It’s a little ghoulish and is not a good example of what to do if a fellow cyclist is injured, but they’re not quite human, so I guess that’s their excuse. The quality is a little better on Vimeo,
but I’ll include the You Tube version, too.