Parents are actively sending their kids to play in traffic on a daily basis

COMMENT: "How many teenagers will be receiving one of these contraptions for Christmas?" 

There’s a reason parents are always nagging their kids about road safety - failure to do so can have devastating consequences.  

Which is why it absolutely baffles me that so many parents are now actively sending their kids to 'play in traffic' on a daily basis - and stranger still, paying top dollar for the privilege. 

Yes, I’m talking about e-bikes and no, I’m not a fan. 

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A disaster waiting to happen

Since exploding in popularity during the pandemic, e-bikes and e-scooters (currently illegal for public use in NSW but not in other states) have become the hottest item on every teen’s wishlist.

I have the dubious honour of living opposite a high school and can vouch firsthand the number of teens using e-bikes for their school commute has skyrocketed over the past 5 years, to the point where the school recently changed all their ‘drop and go’ signage to rules about e-bike safety.

Which, hilariously, the students then chain their bikes to. 

While it sounds innocent enough, I can tell you the combination of teenagers and electronic vehicles of any kind is a disaster waiting to happen. We even have proof. 

Image: iStock

According to an inquiry by the NSW Parliament published in August of this year, we already know:

1. E-bike riders are more likely to sustain and cause internal injuries, concussions, and fatalities than other bike riders. This is because e-bikes are both faster and heavier. 

2. Poor adherence to road rules is a significant issue, as is adherence to mandatory helmet laws. (Hardly any of the teens I see wear helmets, and even less have their chin straps fastened.) 

3. Young e-bike and e-scooter riders are more likely to engage in risky behaviours such as over-speeding, running red lights, and illegal manned riding, which includes carrying passengers illegally.  

And yet, how many teenagers will be receiving one of these contraptions for Christmas?  

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Naughty or nice doesn’t matter. Alive and well does.

It seems insane to me that we make our children clock up over 100 hours in a car before they are able to sit for a provisional driver's licence, yet we can send those same children onto the same roads without contracts, licensing, registration or insurance.

And yes, while there are some laws in place regarding e-bike use, we also know these rules are rarely enforced. If you gave me a dollar for every time I’ve seen a helmet-less kid cruising down my street, texting a mate while dinkying another on the back, I’d be able to buy a bike of my very own. 

We've seen it with social media and we're seeing it now on our roads: technology is advancing faster than the legislation can keep up with, and it’s this generation who are falling through the cracks. 

The only people who can take control of the situation in the meantime are us, the parents.

Please, for the love of those sweet brains in those sweet unfractured skulls, do not buy your children an e-bike this Christmas. Naughty or nice doesn’t matter. Alive and well does. 

Originally published as Parents are actively sending their kids to play in traffic on a daily basis