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.
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.


Easy, Effortless, Enough.
Old school bikes are cool