Enough.
Enough ambulance sirens.
Enough frantic phone calls.
Enough emergency rooms.
Enough parents praying beside hospital beds.
Enough saying, “What a tragedy,” only to move on until the next one.
The latest devastating e-bike crash should be the final wake-up call. If it isn’t, then we have learned nothing.
This is no longer about one accident. It is about a growing public safety crisis that has been allowed to spiral out of control.
The uncomfortable truth is that every single one of us shares responsibility.
Parents: Stop buying e-bikes for your children.
Not next year. Not after camp. Not after another child is critically injured.
Now.
Ask yourself one question: Is getting to yeshiva five minutes faster worth even the slightest chance that your child may never walk again? No expensive gift, no social pressure, and no argument that “everyone has one” is worth gambling with a child’s future.
Being the parent who says “no” is far easier than becoming the parent sitting in an intensive care unit wondering if your child will ever come home the same again.
Yeshivos: It is time to lead.
Every yeshiva should immediately adopt a policy prohibiting students from riding e-bikes to school. Do not allow them on campus. Do not provide parking for them. Do not ignore the issue because it is controversial.
Schools have rules for dress, attendance, phones, and behavior because safety and education matter. Student transportation should be treated with the same seriousness.
Leadership sometimes means making unpopular decisions before tragedy forces your hand.
Retailers: Stop marketing these machines to children.
If a teenager cannot legally drive a car, why should anyone be eager to sell them a machine capable of traveling at high speeds through busy streets? Selling responsibly means recognizing when a product poses significant risks for inexperienced riders.
Law Enforcement: This is the time for proactive enforcement.
If riders are speeding, weaving through traffic, ignoring red lights, riding against traffic, operating illegally modified e-bikes, or violating existing traffic laws, take action before someone gets hurt, not only after another ambulance is dispatched.
Visible enforcement changes behavior.
Warnings save lives.
Accountability prevents tragedies.
Elected Officials: The time for press releases has passed.
The public does not need another statement expressing concern after the next devastating crash.
We need hearings.
We need legislation.
We need stronger safety standards.
We need a serious review of whether current laws are keeping pace with today’s high-powered e-bikes.
Consider age restrictions. Consider licensing requirements where appropriate. Consider tougher penalties for illegally modified bikes. Consider stronger consumer safety requirements.
Do something.
Community Leaders: Speak up.
Silence is not leadership.
Rabbanim, askanim, school administrators, youth leaders, and organizations should make this issue a priority. Conversations from the pulpit, in classrooms, and at community meetings can help families understand the risks before another life is permanently changed.
And to everyone else who says, “Accidents happen.”
Yes, they do.
But when the same type of devastating incident happens again and again, we have an obligation to ask whether more can be done to reduce the risk.
No single policy will eliminate every crash.
No law will prevent every mistake.
No editorial will solve this overnight.
But refusing to act guarantees that another family will receive the phone call every parent fears most.
When that day comes, we cannot honestly say nobody saw this coming.
We have seen it.
We have reported it.
We have mourned it.
Now it is time to confront it.
Because the next tragedy is not a question of if.
If nothing changes, it is only a question of when.
Monsey Scoop Editorial Team
💯 it’s פיקוח × ×¤×© we must stop it ASAP it’s really dangerous
Everyone needs to change except for the reckless Monsey drivers crashing into e-bikers.
💯!! However, two wrongs dont make a right. But yeah, the reckless drivers are out of hand. No courtesies, always in a hurry, as if all that matters is getting ahead of another car, trying to pass, cut, speed…. WHAT FOR?????
Kol hakavod to the Editorial team!
Beautifully written, thank you!!
I agree I agree that e-bikes can be very dangerous, especially when they go over 20 mph. But the real issue is not only e-bikes — even regular bikes can be scary and dangerous when kids ride recklessly.
There needs to be a serious system to teach basic road safety: always ride with the direction of traffic, never against traffic, never cut in front of cars, and learn the proper way to make turns. Drivers also need to know how to watch out for bikes and scooters.
The device is part of the problem, but without road-safety education and safer streets, the same danger will continue with e-bikes, scooters, and regular bikes too.
BTW, I wrote the above commetn but tonight I almost knocked down a boy on an e-scoter he turned straight in form of me, with out any prior warning, no reflector – so i guess it is a problem
Everyone knows but still does Nothing
WAKE UP BEFORE IT IS TO LATE!
Law enforcement and Politicians have BLOOD ON THEIR
HANDS FOR NOT DOING ANYTHING!
I think that the e-bike and e-scooter inventions seemed like a great problem solver when they emerged. Non driving bochurim can get to and from yeshiva without paying taxis or waiting for rides or hitching. What seemed like a great idea at the time, turned out to be very dangerous. Children bike riding on side roads for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon while needing caution and hashgacha, are not the same as people using it as their mode of transportation and especially in a rush. I don’t even allow my son to ride his bike when people are rushing by car (close to shabbos etc). Bochurim are not trained to use these as a mode of transporation amongst trained car drivers. There are signaling rules even for n=bikers that are rarely used or understood. May we all stay safe !