Just curious if this is a problem just in my area (central Texas) or it's a national thing. I'm definitely not trying to be old guy with the "get off my lawn" attitude. I guess the new thing is these younger (say between 10-16) are riding these "suped" up dirt bikes / ebikes. They operate at super fast speeds and are driving them on lanes of travel on major roads. They are zipping in an out of parking lots in these packs of sometimes 10 kids. I'm scared to death one of these kiddos is gonna get killed. Again, I want them to have fun but it's getting dangerous as hell around here with them. Anyone else seeing an issue?

100% a nationwide issue. You are giving little kids, big kids, and adults a motorcycle that can do motorcycle speeds and then pretending like it’s a toddler riding on the sidewalk with regards to how it is regulated.

I’m not an over regulation guy but a motorcycle being ridden on the sidewalk is a bad idea.

These things are way too fast to pretend they are still “bikes”. Also unlike bikes they are easily twice as heavy if they hit you. Bad combo.

Mass is (shocking) looking to make it so they need to be registered and insured and the operator has to have a license to use them. One of the few things this state is doing right.

It should apply to e-scooters as well. We had a guy who was riding one with the accelerator all the way on, which means he was doing appx 30-35mph and went right into the side of a car. Nice broken hip at only 20 years old...

I’m not a “more rules” guy but these things blew up fast and treating them like a BMX bike is retarded.

It’s a known issue. I think, to an extent, it’s parents not realizing that the “bicycle” can do the speeds it can do.

I was shown an electric scooter when I lived in Miami Beach, which they said could do “45, in off road mode.”

When I was 12-14, that would have sounded like the best idea ever.

I'm honestly more sick of the jackasses on mopeds delivering for doordash and the like. They drive around traffic, run lights, drive on the sidewalk. I'd ban mopeds if I had my way.

Kids are getting injured too and oblivious parents are nowhere to be seen (i.e. at home in the air conditioning).

A few weeks back, a kid on his electric dirt bike had a collision with a car while riding on the city street at the entrance to my neighborhood. Fortunately, responsible adults provided first aid to the preteen until the ambulance arrrived, and contacted his absentee parents.

The police did collect video footage from nearby homes and I'm sure the automobile's insurance carrier will be very interested in the footage of the unlicensed, uninsured kid causing thousands of dollars of damage to the vehicle they insure.

It has become a major issue here. There has been a big increase in incidents with some resulting in the riders death. There were 2 separate incidences where teens died after driving e-bikes into cars without wearing helmets and most recently, pre-teen was leaving the school grounds on a small bike with a gas motor and was struck and killed by an 18 yo in a pickup up leaving school.

The only good thing is that, as far as I know, not one vehicle driver has been ticketed or charged in any of the incidents. I only wish the parents were being held accountable when appropriate. There is absolutely no possible scenario where the kid on the gas powered bike could legally ride that anywhere but private property. His parents and the school had to have known he was riding it to school and if one person had been responsible, the kid would be alive today and the 18 yo who hit and killed him would not have that scar for the rest of his life.

Came back from a night shoot a few months back a little after midnight and had one flying at me head-on going the wrong way down the street with no lights. 40mph zone, I was doing 45ish and immediately decelerated and started to brake. He pulled into the other lane (still oncoming) and zipped past me close enough he could’ve reached out and brushed the truck. I started to get back up to speed and he had evidently turned it around and came back from behind, went flying past me doing a wheelie. I had the windows open because it was nice out, he didn’t make a sound coming or going. Kid wasn’t any older than maybe 16.

I’m not a regulations guy, but based on this and a few other similar things I’ve seen just in my neighborhood, I foresee regulations coming. I want to upgrade my mountain bike with an e motor to assist my screwed knees and should probably get after it before it becomes much more of an issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
It’s a known issue. I think, to an extent, it’s parents not realizing that the “bicycle” can do the speeds it can do.

Like pedropcola posted, it is an issue everywhere. In CA, they banned modification kits for class 2 e-bikes, I think I saw a story a couple of months ago a L.A. father was arrested, he modified a bike for his 12 yo kid to go 60 MPH and he crashed and was seriously injured.

Last year in my neighborhood, I spoke to a couple of boys, maybe 13 yo, about their little e-bikes, they were fast. One of them admitted his dad modified the bike to go 40 MPH. These things are ridden on streets, sidewalks, walking trails, etc. In my neck of the woods, very few kids ride regular bicycles anymore.

Problem here as well. On the roads, sidewalk, bike lane, peoples’ yards, etc. Right way, wrong way, one way, no way. No stop signs, speed limits, nobody’s going to slow them down…

It's an issue here. There have now been several incidents where the teens have sped away from the police, but were later identified and caught. The police around here don't have much serious crime when they're in the neighborhood, and are known to be polite and generally old fashioned Mayberry sheriff when dealing with minor infractions. But running from the police resulted in bikes being confiscated.

There are new state laws restricting who can ride electric bikes capable of higher speeds, and what protective gear the riders must have.

The issue isn't kids having fun, nor not really that they are dangerous to themselves. The way they were riding around on public roads was dangerous to everybody around them.

Back in the 90's DC was plagued by packs of teens riding pedal bikes at high speed weaving through traffic and blowing rescue whistles as loud as they could. They mostly did this in downtown congested streets. My feeling then and now was that they were trying to establish some sort of "territory" for one or more illicit purposes. Very annoying. I saw many drivers react both fearfully and aggressively to these antics, both reactions ending up focusing attention on whoever dared to contest the gang's actions. I don't recall that it ever escalated to a deadly situation, but many drivers felt very threatened. After a year or so, it just kind of stopped. I have no idea why it suddenly became uncool, probably some rapper wrote a ditty criticizing it.

So it isn't a new phenomenon by any means, although I will allow that the use of e-bikes and other higher-speed vehicles magnifies the danger significantly.

Like all things, the new laws and regulations will only affect the one's that don't need it. The problem people will continue to do as they do now.

^ THIS is as old as time. The new wrinkle is we have catch end release, so it will really REALLY do nothing.

The kids driving these ebikes are having fun but seem unaware of the possible consequences. They fly down the paved trail I run on at blazing speeds and will practically brush against you without even getting off the accelerator. This is a paved trail through woods. If one of the scholars bumps a pedestrian and loses control the bike is going into the trees at 30mph. Of course, like most pedestrian paths this course is clearly posted as 'no motorized vehicles'.

Which sucks, because as I get older, the less inclined/capable I am to tackle steep hills. I've been eyeing some e-bikes (the wife wants ones with sidecars for the dog) but I don't want to have to treat it like a freaking car.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Like all things, the new laws and regulations will only affect the one's that don't need it. The problem people will continue to do as they do now.

^ THIS is as old as time. The new wrinkle is we have catch end release, so it will really REALLY do nothing.

Wise words cas. I’ve been enjoying the “Wild West” era of e-bikes and have built some fun rides and put a few thousand miles on them. Depending on the build they are a game changer for around town transportation.

I am not at all surprised by what is happening right now. If anything I expected it to happen a few years ago. I always knew the chuckleheads would ruin it for the rest of us.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:
Which sucks, because as I get older, the less inclined/capable I am to tackle steep hills. I've been eyeing some e-bikes (the wife wants ones with sidecars for the dog) but I don't want to have to treat it like a freaking car.

Worse yet - have it treated like a motorcycle. Not sure about AR, but Texas and many states makes someone jump through additional hoops to get a motorcycle license on top of my regular Class C license. For example, I had to take the 2-day course and pass both the written and driving portion of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation basic safety class to get my motorcycle endorsement. If I was under 18 (I'm not), Texas would still require a DPS skills test after the MSF course.

These e-bikes are capable driving speed limit of most city streets just like a motorcycle, but zero licensing or insurance requirements. Additionally, all motorcycles sold in US must meet US DOT Minimum standards such as braking stopping distances and performance metrics but these eBikes do not have the same requirement.

I was interested and purchased one of those 3600 watt stand-up scooters that can go over 30mph. The fastest I got it up to was 30mph and it still had more go and to me it was scary fast at that speed, especially with the little 12 inch tires. If I had hit any pothole I would have been thrown off the scooter. About a week later I sold it. God Bless

I was thinking about an upper end e-bike but backed off the idea, for now anyway. Some are much more like a moped than a bicycle.

I agree, regulations are a little weak in some areas. Can one legally drive a real moped on a bike trail? Normally no.