sidewalk (the sidewalk, not the
road) at around 20 mph, made
eye contact with me as I was
halfway through turning across a
two-lane road, and proceeded to
get on the gas and miss my car
by inches.
They also flipped me off after I
yelled at them to learn how to ride.
God, I feel like a raging old
man.
The main culprits are, dare
I say it, teenage girls. Almost
always riding two-up, with un
-
strapped helmets, and the one
on the back is usually on her
phone while the rider in charge
hits the bike's top speed. Guess
how good even an Arai Corsair-X
is going to protect you if it's not
strapped on, let alone a plastic
Amazon bucket cap?
I've nearly taken two sets of girls
out as they think the street is their
own playground track. The lack of
spatial awareness on one occasion
even had the girl at the back rear-
end her friend when he stopped
(thankfully) at a set of traffic lights.
I had a laugh about that.
The consequences of slamming
into a turning vehicle at 20 mph
while on an e-pedal bike don't bear
thinking about. And I wonder if I'd
be at fault for whatever collision
they cause because these kids
have zero foresight and leave their
safety up to everyone else—just
like the motorcycle riders who
generally don't live past 21.
The blame for this epidemic of
kids who are given these loaded
T
hat's it. I'm over it.
I'm so sick of nearly
killing teenagers riding
e-bikes—many of which are es-
sentially small motorcycles—in
my neighborhood. The police
do absolutely nothing. The kids
riding them are usually riding
two-up with helmets that aren't
strapped on (and are probably
cheapies from Amazon that
wouldn't cost more than $20
anyway), and they don't even
heed basic road rules—they
deliberately flout them.
The latest episode happened
a couple of days ago when I
was turning into my street and
three kids around 13-15 years
old—two riding two-up and one
solo—came ripping down the
P142
CN IILOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
ENOUGH
ENOUGH
IS
At least Ryan's
helmet is done up.
Now to get him off
the phone before he
starts riding.
