E-Bikes: Safe or Unsafe for You and Your Kids?

Story by Kayla Adames. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

12-year-old Molly Steinsapir was casually riding a borrowed e-bike, when in a span of seconds, she went from happily riding to having fatal injuries. Now, if you have ever ridden a bike, you know that going down steep hills means extreme speeds, which require the assistance of a good brake system to reduce said speed. This was the fatal failure that led to Molly’s tragic death; the e-bike’s brake system was not responsive. Instead, the bike began to shimmy and Molly crashed. Even with a helmet on, Molly sustained severe head injuries and, after multiple surgeries, passed away.

Companies currently are dealing with a lot of threatening e-bike related problems, such as battery fires, making them have to rethink the way e-bikes are operating. But problems like brakes and such, while important, are overlooked by manufacturers for more “important” problems that might not even be fixed due to lack of care. This is due to the e-bikes being sold straight to the consumers, and not bike shops. So we can safely say that these e-bikes aren't the safest, and it’s understandable that parents are still skeptical about letting their kids ride these electric street bikes.

Due to accidents like Molly’s, parents are restricting kids from riding electric bikes. They are blaming the bikes weight and speed for accidents. But what do you think about e-bikes now and would you still use them knowing the risk behind it?

Kayla Adames is an 8th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.