Post by account_disabled on Feb 27, 2024 5:10:58 GMT -5
The growing popularity of electric bikes, regulators have been unable to keep up with a rapidly evolving market. Safety and law enforcement officials point out that many models marketed to children and teens exceed legal speed limits and are more like motor vehicles, requiring a license and registration to operate. For now, the power to decide what teens can and can't ride rests with a non-governmental authority: parents. Across the country, they are expressing a mix of excitement, regret and uncertainty about the trendy mode of transportation. Some parents who initially embraced e-bikes now say their enthusiasm has diminished with news of recent accidents involving teenagers. “At first, it was a blessing,” said Julie Wood, whose daughter Sawyer, 14, got an electric bike last spring. "She's a teenager and she wants to go everywhere." For Wood, of Boulder, Colorado, that meant less time transporting Sawyer in the car. But she had a firm rule that Sawyer wear a helmet. In early August, Sawyer crashed while riding his electric bike without a helmet.
He did not tell his mother for fear of disciplinary repercussions, even though he had headaches and nausea and did not want to get out of bed. Several days after the accident, he suffered a seizure and underwent emergency Jordan Mobile Number List brain surgery for a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage; He is expected to recover. His mother is now reconsidering how society should handle technology. "These kids don't have driver's licenses," Ms. Wood said. “As much as you want to believe they're riding a bike, it's just different. “They go very fast.” After news of Sawyer's accident spread around town, Scott Weiss, a Boulder resident and father of two teenagers, decided to sell the family's two electric bikes. “I want to keep you alive as long as possible,” he told his 14-year-old daughter. He said he would sell the e-bikes only to someone “college age” or older: “I don't want to sell them to someone who isn't prepared to make the mental judgments that need to be made.” The questions around e-bikes fit neatly into a modern topic in which powerful technologies such as cell phones and vaporizers are entering the market and being sold directly to consumers, without much research available on the impact on behavior and safety.
In the case of electric bicycles, some models can be reprogrammed to exceed the 20 mile per hour speed limit allowed for riders under 16 years of age; Therefore, they fall into the category of motor vehicles. The federal government has not yet figured out the best way to regulate them. That's fine with some parents who say the decision to let a child ride an electric bike should be made by an individual family and based on whether the teen is able to handle the roads and speeds. “I know my son and I know his athletic ability,” said one Southern California mother, who asked that her name not be used because she felt her opinions could draw criticism. His son has two electric bicycles, a Super73 that was given to him when he turned 13 and a Talaria that was given to him when he turned 14. “He lives on two wheels,” his mother said, adding that electric bikes were a source of fun for him. The teen has modified each of the bikes to go faster than he is legally allowed to ride them; in fact, the Talaria can reach 70 miles per hour. His mother gave him her blessing, she said, and even helped him cut a wire that eliminates the speed “governor” that normally limits the vehicle to 20 miles per hour. He posited that the companies designed the bikes to allow for the elimination of speed limits.
He did not tell his mother for fear of disciplinary repercussions, even though he had headaches and nausea and did not want to get out of bed. Several days after the accident, he suffered a seizure and underwent emergency Jordan Mobile Number List brain surgery for a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage; He is expected to recover. His mother is now reconsidering how society should handle technology. "These kids don't have driver's licenses," Ms. Wood said. “As much as you want to believe they're riding a bike, it's just different. “They go very fast.” After news of Sawyer's accident spread around town, Scott Weiss, a Boulder resident and father of two teenagers, decided to sell the family's two electric bikes. “I want to keep you alive as long as possible,” he told his 14-year-old daughter. He said he would sell the e-bikes only to someone “college age” or older: “I don't want to sell them to someone who isn't prepared to make the mental judgments that need to be made.” The questions around e-bikes fit neatly into a modern topic in which powerful technologies such as cell phones and vaporizers are entering the market and being sold directly to consumers, without much research available on the impact on behavior and safety.
In the case of electric bicycles, some models can be reprogrammed to exceed the 20 mile per hour speed limit allowed for riders under 16 years of age; Therefore, they fall into the category of motor vehicles. The federal government has not yet figured out the best way to regulate them. That's fine with some parents who say the decision to let a child ride an electric bike should be made by an individual family and based on whether the teen is able to handle the roads and speeds. “I know my son and I know his athletic ability,” said one Southern California mother, who asked that her name not be used because she felt her opinions could draw criticism. His son has two electric bicycles, a Super73 that was given to him when he turned 13 and a Talaria that was given to him when he turned 14. “He lives on two wheels,” his mother said, adding that electric bikes were a source of fun for him. The teen has modified each of the bikes to go faster than he is legally allowed to ride them; in fact, the Talaria can reach 70 miles per hour. His mother gave him her blessing, she said, and even helped him cut a wire that eliminates the speed “governor” that normally limits the vehicle to 20 miles per hour. He posited that the companies designed the bikes to allow for the elimination of speed limits.