E-Bikes and Kids: Enjoyable, Harmful, and Not Going Away

I just lately obtained an e-bike to assessment as a form of tangential subject to my common automotive content material, which has been closely EV-focused of late. When my 13-year-old son discovered, he virtually bounced off the ceiling with pleasure. I promptly introduced him again to earth with my “stern face” and a studying of the riot act round what could be occurring when this e-bike arrived. “It’s a work project, it’s not for goofing around on, there are going to be strict ground rules in place, and no, for the 40th time, it will not be YOUR e-bike. “

Then the box showed up on our doorstep.

The young lad helped me move it to the garage, where we opened it up and put it together. At which point, he looked at me, I looked at him, we both grinned, and headed into the neighborhood to go for a spin. 

Turns out, I’m full of hot air when it comes to acting as though a shiny new e-bike won’t have me bouncing off the walls with the same level of excitement as a teenager. I say this as a word of warning to any parent out there thinking they’ll be able to resist the charms of these gizmos, which are both incredibly fun and wickedly dangerous at the same time. 

Out of the box, this particular e-bike goes 20 mph, but is advertised as being capable of 28 mph.

I was confused, but my son wasn’t. “Dad, you just need to download the app so you can unlock the max speed,” he defined as a part of a fast rundown on the world of teenaged e-biking. 

Along with studying about how straightforward it’s to go loopy quick, I used to be knowledgeable that there’s a crew of youngsters prowling the imply streets of Dover, New Hampshire who go by the title, “Bike Life.” These center college ruffians are free on e-bikes that go manner quicker than 28 mph. Wheelies down the center of the street are apparently frequent, and simply final night time I heard from a pal that one in all these wannabe Hells Angels crashed right into a automobile … on function. 

Now, teenage boy ranges of intelligence apart, this brings up a genuinely difficult development for folks. Kids getting reduce free on bicycles they haven’t any enterprise working. Really, it’s simply the subsequent “thing” that oldsters want to determine within the chaotic world of elevating children. Before this, there was the appearance of smartphones that, I’d argue, are simply as harmful to kids as e-bikes. Whether mentally, or bodily. Who hasn’t seen children stumbling round metropolis streets with their heads buried in a telephone?

So, what’s a father or mother to do relating to e-bikes and their children?

I can solely inform you what I did. First, I saddled up and went for a check trip. The attraction is instantly apparent. These issues are silly enjoyable, and I used to be hitting the pace limiter nearly immediately. After gathering myself, I let my son get on. We had a severe discuss concerning the risks concerned. Helmets are a given. Requests to not unlock high pace are delivered. And then I let him go. 

Like navigating the hazards of a smartphone, instructing them to drive, and having open talks about all the same old risk-related subjects of medicine, intercourse, and alcohol, I’d somewhat my children find out about these real-world eventualities from me — errors included — than fumble by it on their very own. So far, it appears to be working.