Rules of the Road

Friday night, around 9:30. A crash. Sirens. Paramedics. Teens gathering, two sitting on a curb comforting one another. Teens streaming past on e-bikes.

It's all over social media, one shared. Another said the rider had been pinned under the vehicle. (A large GM model, with evident front-end damage.) Said he'd been riding a Super 73 e-bike (which, if you look it up, resembles a regular motorized dirt bike—not a traditional bicycle). “Minor injuries,” a neighbor later asserted. (Hard to believe, honestly.)

I don't know what happened. Looking at the road markings left by the police who responded, and being familiar with the signals at that intersection, I can hazard a guess.

Northbound e-bike rider saw the traffic signal flip from yellow to red.

Southbound driver, waiting to turn left, got the green arrow and proceeded.

E-bike rider assumed the driver also had a red light and chose to run the light, not expecting the vehicle to turn.

All road users need to respect the rules of the road. Which requires knowing the rules of the road.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that kids are riding powerful, heavy electric-powered “bicycles,” mixing it up (at speed) with vehicles on the road without the requisite knowledge. I nearly collided with a pair of them recently, myself.

In my case, I had paused for oncoming traffic before I could make a left turn onto a side street. Two boys, side by side at a stop sign, suddenly pulled out as I initiated my turn. They managed to stop; one nearly toppled over. Would they have done the same on a pedal-powered bicycle? (I doubt it.)

Regulations won't fix this. Enforcement won't fix this.

Teach your children. Ride smart.