Riding into danger: The growing menace of electric bikes
A father is hoping his Facebook campaign against the danger of electric bikes in Israel will finally persuade the authorities to take urgent action
Israeli parents are at last waking up to the dangers of electric bicycles and scooters, thanks to a father’s furious post on Facebook addressed to “the morons whose child I nearly murdered this morning”.
Raziel Peer, from Jerusalem, was collecting his eight-year-old son from school. “Suddenly there was a boy aged eight or nine that just came straight out in front of me, without stopping or looking. And without a helmet…
“My own son was sitting in the car with me. He’s the same age. I can still hear his scream – Abbaaaa! Lo! [Dad! No!]”
Afterwards, says Peer, the little boy he hit simply ran off, leaving his bike laying crushed on the road.
“As a father, it made me so furious,” Peer told Israel’s Channel Two TV.
In his post, which garnered 52,000 “likes” he rages against the parents of the young cyclist: “Did your son bring children into the world? Did he get his degree after becoming an outstanding officer in the army? No! ..What were you two fools thinking before you sent him out into my path?”
Electrically-assisted bikes are growing in popularity across Europe. Globally, 35 million “E-bikes” were sold in 2015. In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, they are marketed as an environmentally-friendly way to allow everyone to enjoy cycling, irrespective of age or fitness level. In Israel, however, they have been embraced by a much younger clientele. Israeli children commonly travel to and from school independently, on foot or by bike. The E-bikes have fast become a must-have accessory for children and teenagers, and a deadly danger on roads and pavements.
The bikes are designed to reach a top speed of 25 kilometres an hour (15.5 mph), but many Israeli teens are adapting the motors to go much faster than this. They zip silently along roads and pavements, often with two or even three riders piled on to the seat.
Despite E-bikes being involved in hundreds of traffic accidents each year, the government has been slow to legislate and to enforce the rules. Back in 2014, a lowest age limit of 14 was set by the Ministry of Transport. In mid-2016, this was raised to 16. Bikes are not to be ridden on the pavements, and each one must have a horn or a bell, lights and reflectors.
In practice, however, these rules are simply not being enforced.
In two separate incidents in Beersheva, three teenagers were left severely injured and one was killed as a result of riding electric bikes in the city in the dark, reportedly without lights or helmets.
Shmuel Abuav, director general of Or Yarok (Green Light), the road safety organisation, says: “Electric bicycles have been proven as life-threatening to both cyclists and other road-users. Accordingly, the police and local authorities have a responsibility to take care of full enforcement of regulations and not to allow children to go on this dangerous tool.”
Senior doctors at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv have published their own campaign to try to get the message across.
“Parents must understand that you don’t give an 11-year-old an electric bicycle because of peer pressure,” says Dr. Oren Tavor, head of Paediatric Orthopaedics. “It’s a weapon.”
Every week, according to the orthopaedic doctors, they are carrying out operations on riders of electric bikes, as well as treating those who have been knocked down by the machines.
In Jerusalem, Raziel Peer hopes that his outburst will finally have brought the message home to parents not to buy these expensive gadgets for their children. “I got a lot of reactions from parents who said they’re taking away electric scooters and bikes from their kids,” he said. “And I got a call from a mother whose son is still in hospital.
“This is the reality. I think parents aren’t doing enough to say no to their children. And this is the result.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
