2025-2026 Group 1 - 1st Place Essay by Destiny Moss

Did you know that from 2017-2022, e-bikes were linked to about 53,000 ER visits and 104 deaths? In 2022 alone, e-bikes were linked to 24,400 ER visits (Agran, Phyllis). An e-bike is a bicycle that is equipped with an electric motor that can be activated to assist in pedaling, (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/e-bike). Most car crashes involve adults, but e-bikes don’t have an age limit in every state, which means of the 53,000 ER visits, some could be people under the age of 18. If you require an age limit, you could limit the amount of children getting harmed in e-bike accidents. 

The first reason e-bikes should require an age limit is because of safety reasons. As discussed in the introduction paragraph, e-bikes can lead to crashes that result in ER visits or death. However, that is not the only safety concern that involves e-bikes. E-bikes have a battery that can cause fires and explosions (Agran, Phyllis). That should be self-explanatory as to why that is a safety hazard. For example, in New York City alone, in 2023, there were about 216 fires and six deaths (Chub, Anastasiia). Put this in perspective, NYC is a single city in the United States. If there were 216 fires and six deaths, imagine how many fires and deaths there would be in the whole country.

The second reason there should be an age limit on e-bikes is because of children’s inability to operate at high speeds correctly. A Class-3 E-Bike travels around 28 mph, and Class-1 and Class-2 E-Bikes travel about 20mph, while the average pedal bike goes from 10-12mph at max speed (Layhe, Andy). That’s at least a 10-mile jump in speed, which is a pretty big jump. Assuming a car goes about 50 mph, an e-bike is going only 22-30 miles slower. Therefore, that means that children as young as eight could have access to a vehicle that isn’t much slower than on average, what a car travels. 

The last reason e-bikes should have an age limit is because of a child’s inability to make mature and rational choices in a short amount of time. When people experience a car accident, they normally say that it “felt like it all happened in a split second”. In a car though, you have a bit more protection and you know how to calmly press the brake. On the other hand, think about an 8-year-old or someone around that age, they’re more likely to “freeze-up” than an adult would, which in their case, isn’t good because they don’t have the protection of a car. 

E-Bikes should have an age limit. The reasons why e-bikes should have an age limit are safety, speed, and the average child’s inability to make life-or-death choices within a matter of seconds. Putting an age limit on e-bikes could lessen the amount of accidents and deaths. After all, would you want to be a parent and receive the news that something happened to your child because of e-bikes not having an age limit?

Bibliography

Agran, Phyllis.  “Are electric bikes(E-Bikes) safe for children?” 12/2/2025.American Academy of Pediatrics.https://www.healthychildren.org/English/tips-tools/ask-the-pediatrician/Pages/are-electric-bikes-e-bikes-safe-for-children.aspx#:~:text=Other%20e%2Dbike%20safety%20risks&text=There%20is%20a%20higher%20risk,to%2024%2C400%20emergency%20department%20visits

2/7/2026. Merriam-webster. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/e-bike)   

Chub, Anastasiia. “E-bike battery fire statistics 2025”. 12/10/2024. Whizz. https://www.getwhizz.com/blog/battery/e-bike-battery-fire-statistics?srsltid=AfmBOopibCGLcnNLxwOCMmFS33P1cMawnyRPlE7XIq6-Z9VSLDQ4Z_0R.

Layhe, Andy. “What’s the Average Cycling Speed - and How to Improve It?” 11/6/2025. Rouvy. https://rouvy.com/blog/average-cycling-speed.