https://electrek.co/2023/08/30/why-more-teenagers-should-ride-electric-bikes/
The debate around whether teenagers should be riding electric bikes is hotly contested, but there are some undeniable truths.
I love the author's energy. I'm tired of all this manufactured fear-mongering about ebikes. Every teenager on an ebike is one fewer teen behind the wheel of a car. Much harder to kill people with an ebike than a car, and ebikes are 100x less bad for the environment.
What people are against teenagers riding e-bikes?
How do they feel about electric scooters?
I'm going to need to see the overlap between people who hate this and people who hate bikers in general.
There was a nyt article a while back about the increased incidence of teenagers being seriously harmed while riding ebikes. The gist of it was with the class 3 bike they were spending more time at higher speeds, on unsafe roads, and making the usual poor teenager decisions.
I didn't come away from the article feeling like teenagers shouldn't get ebikes, but that there needs to be education about safe ridership. When you start consistently going as fast as a motorcycle, you need to start taking safety gear seriously.
What people are against teenagers riding e-bikes?
Me. I've seen too many kids nearly knocking people over, flying through busy intersections without looking, tearing around blind corners, and generally terrorizing my neighborhood. They're the perfect combination of immature and fast.
How do they feel about electric scooters?
Meh, as long as they're not blowing through intersections and almost causing accidents, they're okay.
overlap between people who hate this and people who hate bikers in general.
Probably a very big overlap, but at least normal bicycles aren't as efficient at facilitating teen idiocy.
Obviously irresponsible riding should be discouraged or penalized. But imagine the same people driving cars and you’ll see why we don’t want to discourage e-bikes.
Though the same people aren't driving, because they're well below the age of 16 and very clearly have no concept of rules of the road, right of way, and common sense
Some are, and the others may be soon, unless there are alternatives. Such as e-bikes.
And if they can’t, their parents may drive them around. Even if we assume their parents are safe drivers, this probably poses more of a public safety risk than a teen on an e-bike because of the inherent dangers of cars, or worse, SUVs and trucks.
Yes.
Bikers are out there running drugs and murdering people, cyclists are riding around cities doing their grocery shopping.
Not a teen, but I would definitely get an e-bike if I could just to get around my city. Especially since the places I would actually end up going aren't too far away and I don't go many places.
Only problem would be winter since I do not handle cold weather all too well.
From someone who rides his bicycle year round even in very cold weather (sub 0 degrees Celsius): Scarf, not to warm jacket, gloves is all you need (and what you will probably already wear in winter).
Cycling keeps you warm, you don't need much equipment against the cold.
That depends on how much power you are putting into it yourself versus what you have the battery add. On flat surfaces with no wind, I ride my eBike just like a normal bike with no power from the battery. Uphill into the wind? Yeah the battery is going to help me.
High pedal assist to minimize pedalling and maximize breeze. I had a summer internship where I commuted an hour each way on an ebike, even on hot and humid days like that. Honestly, I wasn't that sweaty by the end of it, as the breeze and pedal assist work wonders for keeping you cool.
How much of the year is the weather too bad for you to ride? 4? 6?
I ride my ebike almost every day of the year, winter included. It does get pretty cold here for about 4 months, but we don't get too much snow/ice. That said, even if the weather was too crappy to ride for 4 months of the year, that's still 8 months of the year that I can ride the bike, so very much worth the investment for me.
E-bikes give teenagers personal agency. In cities without good public transportation (i.e. most of the country), a teen can ride an e-bike several miles to get to school, visit friends, get to work or just enjoy some fresh air.
Lol. Whereas on a regular bike, you're limited to 1 mile or less.
So many people miss the amazing potential of an e-bike: This is a fully-functional transportation device that can increase the resources in a city that are available to teens while simultaneously teaching them responsibility and freeing up their parents. And it even comes at such a low cost compared to nearly every other form of transportation other than walking.
Lol. Other than walking and regular bikes.
American kids are lazy.
Ah, context!
Laziness is real. But I think the author maybe doesn’t quite appreciate how busy teens these days can be. E-bikes can save a lot of time over a traditional bicycle. Especially in the US where your destination may be an hour ride away if you live in suburban sprawl. This can make regular bikes less practical even for physically active people.
Yeah, I had a summer internship and bought a real cheapo ebike. Hour bike ride each way through suburban sprawl and with a fair number of hills. I simply wouldn't have done it on an non-electric bike. The electric made it 1000x more practical to go the distance and over the hills, especially in the heat.
It's reductive for people to pretend ebikes are purely about laziness, and it certainly doesn't help to look down on ebikes when they're actively bringing in a whole new segment of the population to advocate for better bike infrastructure.
Yeah, I see the point. I'm from Copenhagen where everything is flat and close and regular bikes are everywhere, so I guess I read it from a privileged position.
Can we give the hoodrats ebikes so they stop riding crotch rockets thru red lights on the wrong side of traffic.
