On Easter weekend, as we reported earlier, a 10-year-old riding an e-bike in a bike lane was struck by a hit-and-run ATV doing wheelies. He was hospitalized and suffered brain injury. He is not alone. Hospital emergency rooms report a spike in injuries from e-bikes crashes. The question is: How do kids get e-bikes?
An answer that is beginning to emerge is troubling. For Capital Bikeshare and for Lime and Lyft to get operating licenses to rent bikes, they had to create an access program that allows free rides for SNAP and Medicaid recipients. The result is kids on DC streets on e-bike joyrides. The Capital Bikeshare website reports an age limit of 16 to rent a bike, but it doesn’t seem to matter. https://capitalbikeshare.com/pricing/for-all
With bike lanes, rebates and pilot projects, DC promotes and even subsidizes e-bikes. Now apparently through the careless administration of vital food and health programs, DC is making our streets more dangerous, not safer.
It is time to act. DC Safe Streets Coalition is petitioning the DC Council to regulate e-bikes. DC will not do it without us. It is up to us. Please review our E-bike petition and sign it. https://c.org/GVFzcRN8kP
Nick DelleDonne
DC Safe Streets Coalition
703 929 6656
Aug/ 17, 2026