To be clear, we’re not suggesting that people in Wellesley haven’t had close calls with e-bike riders. We’ve seen the online rants and pleas for young people on e-bikes to be careful and for parents to be aware of what their children might be up to on two wheels. Mrs. Swellesley herself has seen questionable and dangerous shenanigans in Linden Square. We know the town has published information online about e-bike and e-scooter safety at a time when e-bike rules are evolving, and has begun posting signs to encourage respectful and safe riding.
Having covered all that, plenty has been said ABOUT the young people and their riding antics in Wellesley. But what say these teens?
A Wellesley High freshman with a Class 3 e-bike reached out to us this past spring asking if we’d be interested to hear their side of the story. “I am one of those riders, and understand many people have vast and polarized views on what kids/teens should and should not be allowed to do. A few of us use our bikes to run errands, socialize and often grab food—just normal things. We do our best to be respectful to people driving and walking, follow rules, and avoid causing issues. These bikes are a large part of many of our lives…”
I took this teen up on his offer to listen, and met with a couple of his friends, Ty and Saif, near the Hunnewell tennis courts. The students, now rising sophomores at Wellesley High, rode over on their bikes, both wearing helmets.
(On my way there, driving, I was passed three times by a grown man on a bike who blew through three separate red lights.)
While the teens I met with live in Wellesley and ride their bikes to school, they spend a lot of their bike time in Natick, where there are e-bike and mountain bike-friendly trails. They say only a handful of Wellesley High kids have e-bikes like theirs, though they know of more who are working on their parents to get them. Natick is a hotspot for teens with e-bikes, they say.
The teens say they were among the first e-bike owners at the school, though see lots of middle schoolers with them now.
“I know at least 15 kids who got them in the last few months,” said Saif, who upgraded in December from a regular e-bike with pedals and a small motor that maxed out at 20mph to a Talaria e-dirt bike that can go faster. “I’m sure there will be more, too. At least five of those cases were parents buying them just to get in front of the tariffs since the bikes are made in China. The prices are already fluctuating wildly.”
Saif got his bike partially as a gift, and partially by paying for it through a power washing business run by local teens. It wasn’t easy convincing his parents to let him have it. “I’m not sure how I convinced them, and these online posts about kids being dangerous aren’t helping,” he says.
Ty got his e-bike (really an e-moped with pedals) last summer, and before that tooled around on an e-scooter. His mom prefers him using the bike to the scooter, he said.
Bikes like these can go for a couple to a few thousand dollars.
Both students say they mainly use their bikes for transportation, as they’re too young to drive a car. They generally keep their bikes off the main roads since they never know if drivers will see them, they say.
The teens say they’ve never had trouble with police, who have told them they’re fine on the streets as long as “we’re not doing tricks,” Saif said. They’ve seen younger kids doing tricks at Linden Square and acknowledge “it’s not a good look.”
“There should definitely be rules and limits,” said Saif . “We’re young, but kids who are 12 or 13 with these bikes, that’s crazy.”
The Wellesley Police Department has seen an increase in calls about e-bikes in recent months as the weather has warmed. Often the riders are gone by the time the police arrive.
“If we encounter a youth on an e-bike that can travel at rates of speed over 20 mph we educate the youth and talk to their parents about the laws,” says Lt. Marie Cleary. “We are focusing on educating the kids driving the e-bikes on safe driving and where the e-bikes can and cannot be ridden. If we encounter the same youths multiple times we will reach out to the parents to let them know what is going on. We have increased patrols in areas where e-bikes are most frequently reported (Hunnewell Fields, Sprague Fields, Linden Square and around the WHS). We want to ensure the safety of the public as well as the e-bike riders. We encourage residents to notify us when they witness anyone riding an e-bike in an unsafe manner.”
Metal and electronic signs are now posted at Sprague Fields to encourage safe and respectful bike, e-bike, and e-scooter riding (e-bikes are not allowed on Wellesley fields or natural trails). The students we were in touch with recalled encounters with a couple of pedestrians who have told them they need to learn a lesson by getting driven off the road. “We were not flying through there by any means,” said Saif , who added they now avoid the area on their bikes.
Saif says his bikes have also allowed him to meet people he otherwise never would have and who have become friends.
“It’s a great tool for socializing,” he says.
