E-Biking: With great power comes great responsibility

HOOD RIVER — Some families in Hood River County have discovered that bringing students to school by E-bike is fun and is like a red carpet to drop-off your kids at school. Older students have discovered that E-bikes give them independent travel to school and afterschool activities, which frees up caregivers to work. There is no doubt that E-bikes are life-changing in hilly communities like Hood River County, replacing cars on the street with happy humans.

Spiderman’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” E-bikes are powerful and heavy. A car or truck weighs 5,000 pounds on average, so learning to drive is incredibly important to protect the passengers and other street users. While a typical E-bike pales in comparison at 50 pounds, biking education is of the same importance. Even more important is safe infrastructure for (E-)biking. Our Safe Routes to School Manager Megan Ramey works with the City and County to install a network of bikeways and sidewalks while providing biking education in PE classes for grades 5-8 students. This month, she will trade best practices around youth and E-bikes at the Fort Collins National Safe Routes to School Conference.