By admin 
TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — A large group of e-bike and dirt bike riders raised concerns among neighbors and police earlier this month.
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Police estimate between 100 and 200 riders, some as young as 10 years old, were involved in the incident on May 16. Riders were caught running red lights, taking over intersections and sidewalks, going into oncoming traffic and doing donuts.
A few kids were detained and a man in his 30s was arrested, police said.
“Between 100 to 200 people riding through the intersections,” Tempe PD Officer Lindsey Fernandez explained. “We had officers who turned on their lights and noted that later people were riding around their patrol car.”
While this particular situation appears to be a one-off, concerns about e-bikes and e-scooters are not new in Tempe or other communities across the Valley.
“My biggest concern is how fast they go; they just zip down like there’s no tomorrow,” Tempe resident Fred Jordan said. “I just hope I don’t get hit, you know, because I’m 68 years old and I’m retired and if I get hit, my body is not … I’m not Spider-Man anymore when I was in my middle 20s.”
Jordan said he goes on daily walks around Arizona State University’s campus and worries about getting hurt by someone on an e-bike or e-scooter.
“You don’t want to mess with these people; you don’t want to get in their way because they have that feeding frenzy mentality,” Jordan said.
Seth Graham said his 11-year-old son Killian has been asking for an e-bike, but he’s not convinced it’s a good idea.
“He’s been working me over like an attorney on a case, trying to break me down and weighing all the factors,” Graham said. “He’s 11, and 30 miles an hour is like 90 to an 11-year-old.”
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Killian said all his friends have e-bikes and they’re “super cool.”
In Tempe, riders must be at least 16 years old to ride an e-bike or e-scooter unless they have parental permission. Anyone under 18 must wear a helmet.
Data show there have been dozens of collisions with serious injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters in Tempe between October and March.
Tempe Councilmember Jennifer Adams, chair of the Motorized and Electric Mobility Device Safety Council Subcommittee that was formed last year, said the city is working on stricter regulations.
“In fact, the two days after we had our first subcommittee meeting, a scooter hit a bicyclist and flew off and hit his head and died, obviously, from a head injury. So people are getting killed by this,” Adams said.
The subcommittee hopes to have an ordinance in place by June that includes speed limits and helmet requirements for all riders, regardless of age.
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