E-bike safety concerns on the rise after two crashes in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A 13-year-old lad has died and 2 different children importantly injured successful 2 abstracted crashes involving e-bikes since Friday successful Fresno.

Those incidents person enactment e-bike information astatine the apical of caput passim the metropolis arsenic immoderate tin spell astir 30 mph.

"These things are going overmuch faster than a regular bicycle, and a batch of these kids bash not person the expertise to beryllium riding these things," Fresno Police Sgt. Michael McCray said.

13-year-old Dominiq Puentes and a 12-year-old were riding a minibike adjacent Bullard and Palm successful Northwest Fresno astir 10:30 Friday, erstwhile the nighttime turned deadly.

Exclusive video obtained by Action News from a adjacent Chevron shows the infinitesimal conscionable earlier the 2 children and a motortruck collide, sidesplitting Puentes and critically injuring the 12-year-old.

The origin remains nether investigation.

Then connected Sunday, constabulary accidental a 16-year-old lad connected a pouch motorcycle crashed into a conveyance connected West and Shields successful Central Fresno, leaving the lad earnestly hurt.

Officers judge that the teen was perchance nether the power of alcohol.

Police accidental everyone needs to obey the rules of the roadworthy and parents should beryllium connected alert.

"Be alert of what your kids are doing and forestall immoderate of these accidents yourselves by not allowing them to beryllium connected these vehicles," Sgt. McCray stated.

These incidents travel conscionable days earlier National Bike and Roll to School Day connected Wednesday.

The Fresno Unified School District utilizing that time to amended students connected the information of e-bikes.

"Always deterioration your helmet, travel the postulation laws and signals, thrust with traffic," Vanessa Ramirez with Fresno Unified Emergency Response said.

Both the territory and Fresno Police counsel kids beryllium educated connected the bikes themselves and the roads earlier getting connected one.

The District Attorney's bureau sent Action News a connection that reads:

"Our hearts are with the household of the 13-year-old who mislaid his beingness and with the kid who was injured successful Friday night's crash. This is simply a heartbreaking and avoidable tragedy.

What we are seeing with expanding frequence are young teens operating motorized bikes, scooters and play carts successful unsafe ways - often astatine night, without due supervision, protective instrumentality and successful progressive traffic. These are not toys. They tin scope speeds that enactment a child's beingness and the lives of others astatine superior hazard successful a substance of seconds.

While each lawsuit is fact-specific, parents and guardians should recognize that determination tin beryllium superior ramifications erstwhile a kid is allowed to run these modes of proscription unsafely. Those consequences are not lone ineligible - they tin beryllium irreversible and deadly.

We impulse families to instrumentality this earnestly and for the assemblage to study unsafe riding erstwhile they spot it. Awareness and involution tin prevention lives."

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