Have you ever seen an E-bike zooming across a road or sidewalk, or an E-bike almost hitting someone? Electric Bicycles or E-Bikes can be extremely unsafe and there should be stricter laws and more specific rules to better protect both the riders and the people around them. Many people have gotten extremely injured or have even died from E-bikes. Teens especially get hurt from E-bikes in recent years.
However E-bikes can be helpful. They are environmentally friendly compared to cars and they also let people commute longer distances. These are some reasons why E-bikes are so popular. The problem with E-bikes is that they are more crash-prone than normal bicycles. This along with the fact that the naming and styling of E-bikes make them more appealing to children that are on average more reckless than experienced adult riders. E-bikes having common and regular accidents, while also being more deadly than regular bicycles makes them a new danger for everyone.
E-bikes are immensely dangerous if they are not used properly. Most E-bikes exceed the legal limit of 750 watts, which technically makes them illegal non-registered bikes. People are supposed to use Class 1 bikes on sidewalks and roads, while most people use illegal, powerful and dangerous trail bikes. E-bikes are also much harder to control especially when going downhill and going at high speeds. This problem with E-bike injuries is especially apparent in California in the last four years.
Many people say that E-bikes are much heavier and bulkier, meaning that in the case of an accident, there will be more damage. Some rules that are already enforced for E-bike are speed limits, limited driving spaces, helmets, etc. Regardless of the consequences, many bikers ride anyway. Injuries from E-bikes generally consist of head injuries. BDJ says “The rate of head injuries is likely associated with the fact that helmets are only required for e-scooter riders under 18 years of age.” E-bikes while being a useful tool also need more laws put in place for them for safety.
In California itself over 100 deaths have occurred in the past 4 years regarding E-bikes and have spiked 430% during these 4 years. California has a very high accident rate when talking about E-bikes. In fact there have been about 2300 E-bike accidents in 2023 alone. This could be due to the fact that many people do risky stunts on the internet that endanger their health and safety, as well as the safety of others. They do these stunts for popularity. E-bikes cause more damage than regular bikes because of their build.
Overall E-bikes can be very dangerous and more strict safety laws should be put in place. E-bikes can gravely injure and may also kill people. E-bikes can be useful and helpful for many people, but they still are life-threatening. One example of this situation is a Youtube influencer named Surronster, he often performs life-threatening stunts on open roads, putting many pedestrians in perilous situations. E-bikes need more laws for them to be viable safe rides from place to place.