E-bike safety concerns grow following fatality in Bend

Earlier this month, a 15-year-old boy riding an electric bike died following a collision with a vehicle at an intersection on Highway 20 in Bend. The teen was not wearing a helmet and wasn’t legally allowed to operate the e-bike since he was under 16 years of age. It was the first fatality involving an e-bike in Bend, according to a recent article in the Bend Bulletin, which also described concerns that some adolescents on e-bikes are not following the rules of the road and engaging in risky or illegal behaviors such as not wearing a helmet and texting while riding. At a city council meeting last Wednesday, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler said the council would explore updating laws on bike safety, “including accounting for newer, faster e-bike models that have become more popular,” while taking additional actions to make cycling in the city safer. Michael Kohn, an environment and public lands reporter at the Bend Bulletin, and Jonathan Maus, editor and publisher of Bike Portland, join us to talk about this issue.