Courtesy of a link provided by Zendo Deb at 357 Magnum, we find this video report on the growing problem of e-bikes that are powerful enough to do highway speeds - but still require no license or training to operate them. I've seen this for myself more than once. These kids come hurtling down driveways or out of alleyways, going far too fast to brake or turn, and barrel right across one or even two lanes of traffic. I don't know how I've missed a couple of them - it was that close.
The video is from StacheD Training. The blurb reads:
Kids across the US are being seriously injured and killed while riding e-bikes — but in a lot of these cases, what they're actually riding isn't legally an e-bike at all. In this video, I break down a string of recent crashes in Metro Detroit, what the data says about who's actually at fault, and why some of these "e-bikes" are really unregistered electric motorcycles capable of highway speeds.
CPSC Report — E-Scooter and E-Bike Injuries Soar: 2022 Injuries Increased Nearly 21%
The comments below the video on YouTube are pretty sobering. Clearly, this is a problem that's only going to get worse, unless and until someone cracks down on the unrestricted availability of these unregulated e-bikes.
Peter
24 comments:
Darwin!!!!
X2
The world is full of Darwinian filters. These e-bikes are a new filter.
Yep, Darwin has a new 'toy'...
Actually, if they fit the definition of a motorcycle, they do require a license, registration, and insurance. Specifics will, I assume, vary in jurisdictions. Where I live, if any motorized vehicle is capable of going over 25 mph, then it needs to be registered and insured, and the operator needs a license.
You can hear the cop making exactly that point, among others. So does Stache.
The real problem, as it almost always is, is humans, particularly parents, in this case, making bad decisions, and not keeping an eye on their kids.
- jed
Or on sidewalks against traffic.
Yep! I'm in favor of letting natural selection handle things. Way too many laws on the books already.
--Tennessee Budd
Until the stupid little shit runs in to your car and the whiney parents want to sue you. I live in new orleans, 90% of the billboards are for crash lawyers. These weasels will sue the lamp post
First thing we hear, the e-bike did this, the e-bike did that! Thats the same bullshit that blames the gun for a crime! Its the stupid little shit riding it, no one else. No, I dont care about them, I dont give a fuck how many die or are maimed, stupid is supposed to hurt!
Around here, a lot of e-bikes don't even have pedals attached anymore!
Another thing that irritates the snot out of me: mass hordes of people riding dirt bikes and quad runners on the streets - especially at night. I've almost run over many of them because they're nearly invisible, and often doing wheelies or other nonsense so they don't see me. It looks like the cops are finally starting to crack down on it though - I don't see nearly as many as I used to.
We have packs of newly-arrived "yutes" running all around the area streets and sidewalks on these "cute toys." It's bad enough that the Usual Suspects refuse to use the million-dollar crosswalks at every intersection. Now you have to worry about being doxxed and boxed, should you have the misfortune of running over one of their Rocketing Retards.
We have them too--as young as 8 years old--running stop signs, speeding through blind curves, and passing cars. They're going fast enough to seriously injure or kill a pedestrian, and many residents of our neighborhood take daily walks. Not good.
A big part of the problem is that many people think of them as something like a moped or a Lyme scooter, but - somehow - less dangerous than either. And for some reason not requiring safety gear.
When I ride my motorcycle, I wear gloves, boots, safety-rated jacket and pants, and a full-face helmet because I’ve experienced firsthand what hitting the road at 30 miles per hour feels like. Thanks to my gear, I walked away with no more than a sprained shoulder and some minor scrapes, though the only part of my safety gear that survived intact were my scuffed-up boots.
If - when - these kids make a mistake they’re going to learn why caution and safety gear are a good idea. And their parents will blame everyone but themselves for the painful lesson.
I ride motorcycles - my first
In Georgia they are supposed to be limited to 28 mph via a governor. It is easy to adjust the governor. I saw one running 45 yesterday. He was in a 45 zone.
Suspect the (subconscious) thinking is along the lines of "these things are electric, therefore green, therefore good; we must not do anything that might discourage their use"
One word - "Dashcam".
This website has an excellent description of how they work and what to look for when buying one.
https://dashcamownersaus.com.au/buying-guide/
If a kid on such a bike drives out in front of you, then it may provide your insurance provider with the evidence needed to avoid a massive claim against you.
Phil B
Yay. More delays at the DMV. Y'know, dirtbikes can go just as fast. Regulate them like dirtbikes. And for God's sake let natural selection (mathematical impossibility though it is) do its work. More laws? Criminy. Just what we need.
In thge last two years, e-bike traumas have surged ahead of stabbingsm shootings, and all other motor vehicle accidents COMBINED, to become the Number Two likeliest causes of trauma casualties in our knife & gun club ER, trailing only head injuries from falls to old pharts taking blood thinners.
At one point, we had three of them at once, from three different accidents.
And I regularly see unhelmeted pre-teens on them doing wheelies in the mall parking lot, requiring only a few seconds to turn into another trauma tragedy.
One set of parents bought a shiny new one (and no helmet) for theior 16 y.o. He never made it to the ER, having driven full speed ay >50MPH right into a lightpole, internally decapitating himself by severing his spinal cord.
While his mom and dad watched him self-delete.
No without a helmet, a license, insurance, and being a full adult has any business on one. One youngster, driving at road speed on a sidealk, is currently facing vehicular manslaughter charges after killing an elderly pedestrian.
When the parents buying multi-thousand dollar vehicles, and handing the keys, not to "e-bikes", but "E-MOTORCYCLES" to teens and pre-teens. start getting perp-walked on criminal charges for that level of recklessness, the carnage will abate. Not before.
The Darwin Award is for when you self-delete. These juvenile menaces are killing OTHER people too. It's like handing live grenades and loaded pistols to toddlers.
It would only be Darwin if victims were allowed to shoot the buggers pro-actively, then go after mom and pop too.
Knowing my state "officially" considers these things e-motorcycles with all the licensing, registration, and insurance that entails, I would SO love for the PDs to actually enforce those laws with an iron fist and no velvet glove.
Impound the e-motos, if the rider's a minor charge the parents, and smack them with every applicable fine possible.
I've nearly been clobbered by adults on these things riding my e-BICYCLE on walk / bike paths when they come up from behind me or worse, in front on a blind curve going heck-bent for leather.
Problem is, nearly every PD has "no chase" policies for motorcycles, quads, and e-motos, so the terrors riding these things don't face consequences until they DO run a light / stop sign and either hit someone or get hit and turned into a smear on the pavement...
It's a warm, moonless, overcast night. No street lights. It's DARK out. My driver's side window is down as I'm about to pull out of a side street onto the main road. No cars in sight. I hear something barely audible and I pause. WTH is that? I can't see anything, no motion, no lights. No traffic. Maybe it's from a nearby building. Just before I start to take my foot off the brake, a kid on an electric skateboard thing flies past the front of the car. He's almost invisible. A split second away from an unfortunate incident... I sat there until my heart stopped pounding.
One factor that increases the crash rate is that most of them have dinky little tires, and the handling capabilities of these are very poor. Generally, the larger the diameter, the better the handling.
Piano wire.
@Anonymous 8:44P
h/t Capt. Virgil Hiltz!
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