MILES CITY — E-bikes have become a much more common sight in Miles City this summer — and so have concerns about how riders are using them.
"The e-bikes kind of started to get a little bit more popular and then it hit out of nowhere this summer," Ry Self said.
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As the number of riders grew, so did complaints.
"A lot of complaining against them not following traffic rules, not being safe, going a little too fast," Self said.
For Self, that gap in education was something she felt compelled to address. As a mom, a local business owner, and a community member, she said she noticed something missing.
"The biggest realization for me as a mom and a local business owner and just part of the community is no one is teaching their kids basic road safety," Self said.
She is now getting ready to host a class focused on bike safety, traffic laws, and how e-bikes fit into existing regulations.
"E-bikes fall under that category of the bike traffic laws," Self said.
One of the challenges she faces is that those rules vary significantly depending on location.
"Miles City has such different rules and regulations for it compared to Billings or Bozeman, and Bozeman, 16 and under have to wear a helmet. They're mandatory to have that helmet on if they're on a bike or an e-bike or anything and then here it's eighth grade level," Self said.
In Billings, The Spoke Shop owner Dean Cromwell has watched the e-bike industry grow rapidly.
"In 2019 e-bikes were about 10% of our revenue, and now they're about 50% of our revenue," Cromwell said.
For some residents, the core issue is a lack of awareness about how to ride safely around traffic. Jennifer Eastin said she has witnessed riders weaving through traffic and moving between streets and sidewalks.
"We were driving down Seventh Street, goes up towards a bridge, and there was two e-bikes going on the street, but they each had two kids on each bike you know and they were in and out of traffic and up and down off the sidewalks," Eastin said.
Eastin believes safety education — from both parents and the broader community — is the answer.
"I just really think it comes down to the parents and you know, even the community putting something together to show these are the things that you need to be doing, the precautions you need to be taking, the laws you need to be following," Eastin said.
For Self, the motivation behind her classes is straightforward.
"I'm just simply doing this for the kids and to teach them traffic safety and bike safety and then let them have all the fun that they want," Self said.
Self said that the class is Sept. 5, but the location is still pending.
