Indeed, and what with the limiting factor of cost,are 'the kids' really going to start mowing down old ladies on fast e-bikes?
Even a kit is expensive, once you take a decent battery into account. When the builder has taken all the time and care to assemble it, I think they're rather unlikely to take too many risks with what has naturally become their pride and joy.
I agree with this in the
present time and with the current demographics of e-bikers. at the moment, people in their 30s and 40s
are "the kids"
and as I said most of us have grown up "enough" to know how to get away with certain things in a safer fashion..
IMO its not skint teenagers who are the real risk anyway but the 20 somethings in semi-skilled occupations, who often have a fair bit of disposable income despite recessions and who are much more more risk taking.
I know plenty of lads on the modified car scene or who own motorbikes who have taken risks with their "pride and joy" and had expensive prangs/hurt themselves and others, those who survive treat it as a rite of passage and if they haven't broken themselves too badly still find the cash to replace their vehicles.
When me and my mates were putting on unlicensed raves back in SE England in the day we had better disabled access and support than many church halls run by do-gooders as there was always a fair few 20-something lads in wheelchairs who had lost their legs in a car or bike RTC but still went raving... even some of the cops were both shocked and slightly impressed by how stubborn/determined people could be.
At the moment e-bikes aren't yet "cool" enough for many in this age group (same goes for normal pushbikes) but I eventually see things changing, probably coinciding with the time that faster/more powerful models become affordable, and with a Tory government in power less likely to stand for "any two-wheeled tomfoolery on the streets..."
