E-Bikes: A Terrible Coda, and a Very Small Idea

Last spring I posted a three-city series on e-bikes, suggesting in the third entry that — especially in cities like my hometown of Davis, with its flat roads and “bike paths” (which are actually pedestrian paths where the occasional cyclist pedals, hopefully slowly) — we should age-gate anything with a motor, ranging from “pedal-assist” bikes to full-on throttled e-motos.

Boy, do I wish this Substack were more widely read.

Because a few weeks ago, on an intersection of path less than half a mile from my house, a high schooler on an e-bike collided with a woman on a traditional bike — and she died by the time an ambulance arrived.

So it happened. A fatal e-bike accident. In our college town, on a stretch of path that runs along Community Park and Davis High School’s athletic fields, a stretch that I’ve personally ridden hundreds of times, and that my kids have walked and ridden themselves.

One life ended far too early — the victim was 60 years old — and one forever changed: I mourn for both cyclists involved; yes, that includes the student, the kid, the one who was surely riding not out of malice or even recklessness, but who now has an unfathomable weight on his shoulders.

I know little else about this accident; little has been published. I don’t know if the student’s bike was a Class 1, offering a bit of a boost, or a full-blown e-motorcycle. Perhaps — perhaps — a traditional bicycle would have wrought the same terrible outcome.

But I doubt it. E-bikes of even the simplest kind are heavier, by definition faster, and harder to control. The beefier ones — which I’ve indeed seen on our bike paths — are comparative tanks.

This is easy for me to write now: My kids finished high school just before the e-bike wave crested over Davis (where the phenomenon reached quite late). But I’ll write this admonishment nonetheless, however preachy it might come across: Parents, you can say no to your child’s pleas for an e-bike.

E-bikes aren’t mobile phones: While an analog bike may not be as cool as an e-bike, there’s no technology excluding your child from spending time with their friends should you give in to those pleas. (Though I believe we should age-gate social media as well. A screen-free childhood, much of which is spent on a traditional bicycle? Yes, please.)

Give your child the gift of confidence earned through type-2 fun; show them that a bit of effort — in a place as flat as Davis, a bit — makes the destination that much more of a prize once reached. And maybe…save a life while you’re at it. It could be your child’s life saved, or saved from awful, awful regret.

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I’ve started to feel so strongly about this age-gating idea that I’m thinking about creating stickers — little aphorism/reminders of the joy that can be found in pedaling an analog bike. Here are some ideas:

• Ride an analog bike.

• Your kid can pedal.

• Einstein rode an analog bike.

• My pedaling doesn’t need assistance.

• Real bikes don’t need charging.

• Powered by breakfast.

Any other ideas? Post them in the comments below.