Jennifer Robbins holds up a diagram to a new owner of an electric bike, a 13-year-old who just got a Christmas gift that can reach speeds upward of 25 mph.
Robbins explained the basics most driving adults know, but many kids do not: What dotted lines on the roads mean, who has the right of way, what direction to navigate roads on – information that could mean life or death for a youngster gearing up to hit the roadways.
Robbins, in the past two years, has earned the moniker “the e-bike lady” for her persistence in getting kids educated before sharing the streets with vehicles – a valuable service in recent years as a surge in electric bikes has been followed by an increase in hospital visits.
And she does it all for free for anyone who has an hour or so to show up at the parking lot of Marco Forster Middle School in San Juan Capistrano.
Robbins started doing the lessons after seeing complaints about e-bike riders – some with photos of kids doing reckless things near cars – all over social media.
“But no one wanted to do anything about it,” said Robbins, who lives in San Juan Capistrano, one of the many cities that has seen a rise in popularity of e-bikes in recent years. “Anybody can do what I do. It’s not rocket science.”
She said she reached out to the Bike Coalition of San Diego to start gathering information. She sifted through the DMV handbook to see what information would be important. She put together packets and started reaching out to e-bike companies so they could tell new riders about her.
“At the end of the day, I’m trying to make conversation and pass along what I’ve learned,” she said. “The more we talk, the more we can do.”
She’s had tough learning lessons with her own two teenage kids, both e-bike riders who have been hit by vehicles. Her daughter, 15, sustained a severe concussion after her head hit a curb and she didn’t recognize Robbins for three days, her mom said.
Still, Robbins is an advocate…
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