JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville bike shop owner talked about how to stay safe while operating an e-bike.
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Brian Bourassa is a Bike Technician at ZenCog Bicycle Company in Riverside. He talked about how bicyclists should view an E-bike.
“The speeds that they can do, 25, 30 miles an hour, can be very dangerous for someone who isn’t comfortable in that situation,” Bourassa said.
There have been 2 E-bike accidents in St. Johns County and one in Duval County, resulting in serious injuries.
Bourassa said there are ways for riders to protect themselves besides just knowing the rules of the road.
“You need to kind of assert your position. You need to be in the lane. If you’re off to the side, cars try to pass you. They get real close to you you get a car coming this way in the opposite lane and they’re trying to pass going this way, and all of a sudden your lane is like this big. You’ve got to be in the middle of the lane,” he said.
At a quick glance, electric bikes look just like a regular bike, but they pack power and sometimes you don’t even need to pedal to get the tires rolling.
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“So a lot of them will have a battery switch that you have to turn on, and then you just got to hit your power button on the controller, set your pedal assist, and then you can either hop on and start pedaling...,” Bourassa said.
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That specific bike goes about 17 to 18 miles and is considered a less powerful bike, but he said you should always wear a helmet and try not to do anything unexpected.
“Always yield to cars, regardless of who has the right of way, because if you’re not in front of the car, they can’t hit you, So maybe you know, if the situation demands, let the car go,” Bourassa said.
