Dear friends,
I just read an article in The News York Times (“A Dangerous Combination’: Teenagers’ Accidents Expose E-Bike Risks”) about the recent e-bike tragedy in Encinitas. This is not how we want to receive publicity.
But I, too, have seen multiple e-bike riders trying attempting wheelies on busy roads.
One boy riding an e-bike south on El Camino Real was traveling faster than vehicle traffic with both hands in his pockets. A young girl on the same busy street was texting while riding an e-bike.
Many students run the stop signs downhill on Mountain Vista Drive, especially after class to gather at the 7-Eleven, some with no feet on the pedals and no hands on the handlebars. Some were riding on the wrong side of the road and not signaling or looking before cutting across two lanes of traffic.
In Leucadia, I saw a young boy, maybe 10 years old, on a small e-bike leaving the 7-Eleven with a large drink in one hand. At least he was wearing a helmet.
A few days after the City Council passed the emergency e-bike measure, I took a photo of a father riding an e-bike downtown with a toddler perched on the handlebars.
Let’s get Encinitas in the news for developing and implementing the most comprehensive e-bike education and training program in the state, if not the U.S., as a model for other communities, and let it serve as our legacy.
Mark Wisniewski
Encinitas
