Editor,
Thank you, Herb Perez, for his guest perspective “Why Foster City’s children need e-bike education now,” shining a light on safety for kids who rely on e-bikes to get around. E-bikes are an important transportation innovation that increase adolescent independence while reducing auto congestion and air pollution in our neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, the focus on education ignores the root cause of rising traffic violence — our streets are not safe for those who walk and bike. Auto-related deaths have long been the No. 1 cause of death for American kids and adolescents (although recently surpassed by gun violence) — even before e-bikes. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, education programs have demonstrated little success in reducing crashes. Separation of cars and kids on bikes (protected bike lanes) and reducing vehicle speeds (road diets) are the most effective countermeasures. Let’s focus our time and money on programs that have been proven effective.
Furthermore, we need to stop scapegoating e-bikes (and their riders), especially those who follow the rules. Mr. Perez mentions the recent crash in which an SUV driver killed 4-year-old Ayden Fang on a sidewalk. According to Burlingame Police Department, the e-bike riders were driving legally when the teen SUV driver failed to yield to them before driving onto the far sidewalk. This tragic crash had nothing to do with e-bikes. As with most crashes, street design (visibility) and driver error (failure to yield) likely contributed to the crash.
We need an “all-of-the-above” strategy, but let’s be smart about it.
Mike Swire
San Mateo
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(1) comment
Thanks for your letter, Mr. Swire, but if a focus on e-bike education is not a focus, how does one learn the rules of the road? And does that non-focus apply to drivers, also? You cherry pick an example of an accident where the driver is allegedly at fault. What about other accidents? You say, “As with most crashes, street design (visibility) and driver error (failure to yield) likely contributed to the crash.” Where’s the data to support your assertion? You say our streets are not safe for those who walk and bike? Not true, I’d say just about all streets are safe for those who walk and bike. Where’s the data? Exactly. Let’s obtain data to make informed choices. Perhaps we should track the number of cyclists, regular and e-bikes, on roads; who is at fault during vehicle/bike collisions; the age of vehicle drivers/bike riders; floating a cyclist tax to pay for bicycle infrastructure, etc.
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