Electric bikes – what every parent should know

Featured CHOC expert

Amy Frias Calderon, B.S.

Amy Frias is a health educator in the community education department at Children’s Health of Orange County (CHOC). In her 22 years at CHOC, she has worked in many facets of injury prevention, and health and wellness. She provides education for parents and caregivers as well as children. In 2012, she became the Safe Kids Orange County Coordinator. In this role, Amy collaborates with multiple community partners to create a network of resources for communities in need.

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Transcription

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to Long Live Childhood, a pediatric health and wellness podcast presented by Children’s Health of Orange County. Together, we can keep kids happy and healthy. I’m Melanie Cole. And joining me today is Amy Frias. She’s a community educator and Safe Kids Orange County coordinator, and she’s here to talk about e-bike safety for us. Amy, thank you so much for being with us today. First of all, tell us a little bit about e-bikes. How common are they? How dangerous are they?

Amy Frias, BS: Well, I’ll tell you that most neighborhoods will notice that we see a lot of e-bikes, of kids riding e-bikes all around. They became pretty popular during COVID, where families were trying to find things to do with their kids, and bike riding and doing things as a family, because everything else closed down. So, I think that’s when we saw the biggest rise in e-bikes. The bottom line is they’re a great faster way to be transported places and for people to go to and fro. But what’s happening is that we have to take into some considerations when it comes to kids and e-bikes.

Melanie Cole, MS : So, why don’t you speak about some of those? Because you’re right, and I am seeing more of them go past my house. Tell us a little bit about what you want parents to know if they’re considering purchasing an e-bike for their child or adolescent. Do we even purchase one for our child?

Amy Frias, BS: You know that there’s a lot to think about when it comes to that. But I’d kind of like to start with talking about what are some of the injuries that we’re seeing here at Children’s Health of Orange County and our trauma department when it comes to e-bikes. And we find these a lot with regular manual bikes as well, but we’re seeing concussions, issues of fractures and skull fractures and facial fractures. So, these injuries were most commonly caused by falling off an e-bike, colliding with a static object while riding an e-bike, or someone that was struck by a car, or someone that was struck by an e-bike. So, those are the types of things that we’re seeing.

Those injuries that we were seeing at CHOC are happening for kids as little as two, because they’re riding on the bike with their parent, all the way up to older ages. Sixteen is the highest age groups that we’re seeing these injuries happen. Kids can and teens can ride e-bikes, but there’s always precautions that have to be put into place. And it’s important for parents to understand their kids and know what they can do. Obviously, the kid needs to be able to ride a bike, pedal a bike. And they also need to wear a helmet and they also need to understand what the rules of the road are.

Melanie Cole, MS : Well, I’m glad you mentioned helmets. So, let’s start there for a second, because if we’re giving these to our littler kids. Now, kids today are kind of growing up, getting used to wearing helmets, right? They’re told that if they’re going to ride a bicycle, that they are wearing helmets. Is there any difference if the bike is electric than if it’s just a normal? I mean, are we looking at motorcycle-type helmets? Or bike helmets, are they sufficient?

Amy Frias, BS: The honest thing with e-bikes is that a regular all-sport helmet is appropriate. And these, are helmets that can be worn, whether you’re riding a bike, an e-bike, a scooter, a skateboard, anything like that. So, an all-sport helmet is fine to use on an e-bike. Anyone under 18 that rides any wheel-based sport is required by law in the state of California to wear a helmet. So like I said, it includes e-bikes, bikes, scooters, skateboards, rollerblades, all of those things, it is law that a child under the age of 18 has to wear a helmet.

Melanie Cole, MS : Is there any age limit on kids that can ride these?

Amy Frias, BS: Unfortunately, the way that e-bikes work, there’s a classification of them. So, I’ll kind of go over that a little bit. Class 1 is a low-speed pedal-assist e-bike. Each e-bike has a motor. So, class 1 is probably the one that requires the most work, if you will. It requires the most pedaling. And then, that little engine kicks in and helps. The max on that is 20 miles per hour.

Then, you have class 2, which is a low-speed throttle assist. And I don’t know if you remember mopeds, but that’s what it makes me think of.

Melanie Cole, MS : I had one, so I remember them, yes.

Amy Frias, BS: This one isn’t as fast because this stage two, class 2, also only goes up to 20 miles per hour. When you get into an age is when you get to class 3. A class 3, you are required to be 16 years of age to operate. And that is because it’s a speed pedal-assisted e-bike equipped with a motor and speed motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling. And that max power is 28 miles per hour.

There are no laws for age in California as of right now. I know there’s some talk in the world of, having laws go into place. E-bikes are so new that we’re actively identifying which areas need the most focus.

You have to look at your child individually. I would say personally, as someone who’s worked in injury prevention for over 22 years, I would not allow anyone under the age of 12 to even go on a class 1 or class 2 e-bike. Parents are going to make their own decisions, but they need to inform themselves about what these-bikes can do and also understand that the rules of the road for an e-bike are the same as a car.

They’re putting a lot of responsibility and trust on their children in giving them a bike that is much heavier, goes much faster. You obviously can see what would happen, an injury would be much greater than in a regular manual bike. These are all things to consider when you’re shopping or looking for a possible e-bike for your child.

Melanie Cole, MS : Is it just me or does 20 miles an hour sound really fast?

Amy Frias, BS: It is actually really fast. It would take a lot to pedal a manual bike. Twenty miles per hour if you’re going downhill, that is when you’ll probably reach 20 miles per hour on a manual bike. Yes, it is very, very fast.

And you have to think about the fact that if you multiply how fast you’re going and you hit an object and the weight of that person, that’s crash force on a body. And I see all the time on the news on crashes that happen with e-bikes and cars because e-bikes are one of those things where are you a bike or are you a car? You have a motor. You have to treat it as a car. But you also have to keep in mind you are still a bike and cars don’t always see you.

You have to be mindful of the fact that you have to watch out for cars. You have to follow the rules of the road and stop at stop signs and you have to stop at the red lights and you cannot ride on the sidewalk. It’s just something that you can’t do. So, these are all things that you have to consider because of the speed, because of the velocity that’s happening on these-bikes that can really hurt someone if you hit someone or if you hit an object. It takes the injury levels that much higher when you add speed to it.

Melanie Cole, MS : No kidding. You know, you’ve mentioned cars a few times. It sounds more to me like you’re buying your kid a motorcycle.

Amy Frias, BS: You know, I wouldn’t say it is a hundred percent, but it’s definitely a first step in getting a motorcycle, if you will.

Melanie Cole, MS : It certainly sounds like it and it sounds like something that is really dangerous because, gosh, you come up to a stop sign and if the child can’t stop very well, I don’t know. It just gives me the wiggles even thinking about these things, but I would like you to give us some safety tips. If you’re going to insist, if you’re a parent that really must buy your child one of these, then please give us your best safety and prevention tips.

Amy Frias, BS: Go to a reputable-bike shop. somewhere where they can tell you and explain to you what the big difference is between the class 1, class 2 and class 3 of e-bikes. Make sure your child is developmentally appropriate. If your child doesn’t wear their helmet when they’re riding their manual bike, chances are they’re not going to use their helmet when they’re riding an e-bike. You have to make that a rule. Just like putting a seatbelt on in the car. When you get on any wheeled-based sport, you put a helmet on your head. You have to protect your head. You have to wear the helmet properly. The helmet has to fit you.

You also just want to not ride with other people. One person on an e-bike. I remember getting in trouble for riding double when I was a kid. Now, I’m seeing three kids on one e-bike riding down the street. They’re not designed to have more than one person on it. Do they make e-bikes with two seats? They do, but that’s another area to consider when you’re purchasing an e-bike.

You also want to stay visible while they’re riding. You have to make sure that you are visible to cars when you’re riding an e-bike, that you have to be aware of cars, getting eye contact with drivers. Someone could turn right in front of you because they don’t see you.

You want to ride in the bike lane with traffic. And you want to choose bike lights that remain visible after dark. You want to make sure that you purchase the right equipment for that bike, the right lights, the right helmet, the right guides. Take care of your bike.

Read about not overcharging your bike or how to charge the battery properly and not overdo it, because these are all things that you have to be responsible for when you have an e-bike. You want to understand road safety. And I keep saying that, but it is so important that you stay alert. If you stay alert, you don’t get hurt.

You have your eyes on the road, you’re not wearing headphones, you are not looking at your phone as you’re riding your bike, you’re not talking to your friend; you are not doing wheelies in the middle of the street, which I don’t know how people do that on e-bikes, but I’ve seen it. And you are paying attention to what you’re doing.

Injuries can happen at any time. And it’s not that you’re not a good bike rider. It could be anything that causes that. It just takes a second to be injured. And with the speed of the e-bike and the weight of the e-bike, it just is more chance of you being injured. So, it’s very important that you stay very alert when you’re on an e-bike.

And ask questions. You know, more and more they’re looking at requiring licenses for like a class 3. There’s talks and all sorts of things. So, you’re going to see laws come into effect on e-bikes. Again, they’re still so new that people are just catching up with them.

And the other thing to remember, and I do work with a lot of mountain bike enthusiasts and stuff on helmet safety initiatives, these e-bikes, you have to buy certain ones that can go on mountain bike riding. You can’t take a regular class 1 or class 2 e-bike and try to go mountain bike riding. You have to buy a specific bike in order to do those things. The bikes that we’re talking about today, those 1, 2 and 3 classes are street legal and you have to ride them like you would in a car, that you would ride with traffic, stop. You would do all the things that cars do, but also look out for cars while you’re at it.

Melanie Cole, MS : Wow, thank you so much for such great information. This is important for parents to hear, Amy. Thank you again. And for more pediatric health and wellness tips, please visit choc.org. Thanks so much for listening to Long Live Childhood, a pediatric health and wellness podcast presented by Children’s Health of Orange County. Together, we can keep kids happy and healthy. I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for joining us today.

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