HaRav Yaakov Bender, the longtime Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Darchei Torah and one of the most influential voices in chinuch in the United States, has issued a blistering warning to parents regarding the growing danger of electric bikes and scooters, saying that allowing children to use them is “akin to giving a gun to a child.”
In a sharply worded letter to parents, HaRav Bender expressed frustration that despite repeated tragedies and warnings, some parents continue to allow their children to ride electric bikes and scooters to yeshiva.
“I am at my wits’ end that there are still parents who allow their children to bring electric bikes and scooters to the Yeshiva,” he wrote.
The Rosh Yeshiva pointed to the recent fatal collision on the Queensboro Bridge in which two e-bike riders lost their lives, as well as other deadly incidents involving children riding scooters in Jewish communities.
“Jewish children on scooters have been killed in other communities. Other children have been maimed,” he wrote.
HaRav Bender placed responsibility squarely on parents who permit their children to use the vehicles, calling it “pure negligence on the part of the parents.”
“I believe in making children happy—but allowing a child to ride an electric bike or scooter is akin to giving a gun to a child,” he stated.
In an extraordinary step, HaRav Bender revealed that he has personally confiscated numerous electric bikes and scooters brought by students to yeshiva. According to the letter, some children have been leaving the vehicles in nearby backyards rather than bringing them onto campus in an attempt to evade school rules.
“In my office, I now have a collection of electric bikes and scooters that were ridden to Yeshiva and then placed in backyards of homes down the street,” he wrote.
The vehicles are being kept under lock and key, he explained, to prevent students from retrieving them and continuing to ride them.
Acknowledging the intense pressure many parents face from children seeking the increasingly popular vehicles, HaRav Bender nevertheless urged parents not to give in.
“I understand that every single child asks for these toys, but parents who give in are ignoring the (chas v’shalom) consequences,” he warned.
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15 Responses
they aren’t toys, they’re (small) motor vehicles. they and their riders need to be licensed and required to obey traffic laws just like cars.
כל הכבוד
The city has speed.limit restrictions and even stricter ones in school zones but these deadly things have no restrictions whatsoever. They ride much faster than cars. They ride, along with traffic, against traffic and even on sidewalks with amazing speed. They don’t get summonses for speed and infractions and they carry no insurance either. They are a serious danger indeed.
Rabbi Bender shlit”a:
You refer to the dangers to the riders from these vehicles. Our streets have become mean and dangerous. Walking down a sidewalk is every bit as much of a threat as walking or riding in the street. The delivery bikes and wagons are a fraction of the problem. With children, things are seriously worse. The danger is to every pedestrian. I have witnessed collisions with elderly persons engaged in normal walking. B”H I was never hit, but was nearly hit many dozens of times. When will Klal Yisroel wake up to the threat that is at least as serious as smartphones?
WOW!! A Rav who is willing to call out his own constituency. We need many more like him.
How is it different than letting an 18 year old drive a car. Remind us, how many Bochrim were killed in the last year in car accidents??????
Parents who want to keep their children safe should give the child a full motorcycle instead of a scooter. This way it will at least have safety equipment like signals, brake light, horn, etc and would have to follow the rules of the road. Sounds absurd but it’s safer than the ebikes and scooters.
“The Rosh Yeshiva pointed to the recent fatal collision on the Queensboro Bridge in which two e-bike riders lost their lives”
Correction needed – that collision was between one guy riding a speedy stand up scooter and a man riding a regular (non-electric) bicycle.
P.S. The Rosh Yeshiva is encouraging old-fashioned bicycles instead?
Even non electric, the amount of kids not wearing helmets is STAGGERING.
Right on target !!
Governments are much to blame; they claim, electro scooters/bikes are illegal, so they refuse to regulate them, ignoring the fact there a millions of them on the roads.
If they would make strict rules, age and speed limits, safety features (helmets, lights, HV vest etc) with rigorous enforcement, things would be safer for all concerned. But authorities burying their head in the sand!
Even regular non-electric bikes, far too many have no helmet, no light, nothing – pitch dark in the evening!
I echo wacky ways comment. I am not in favor of scooters and electric bikes, particularly the way they are ridden with reckless abandon, and do not allow my children to have them. However, many more people are killed in car accidents (and probably on swing sets and trampolines). Not everything that is unsafe needs to be forbidden. And that is all without exploring the issue of when parents are responsible for making decisions about their children’s actions as opposed to the school doing so.
Agree with R Bender shlita 100% but what about smoking and vaping, you can’t go anywhere these days without it, yeshiva bochrim, kids adults, shul, outside weddings, yeshivas, groceries. It’s the cool thing to do, especially Vaping, which people have become so addicted they can’t even stop! Why is it fair for people that smoke to do it in our faces with no respect. Scooters usually harm the person that’s riding them but cigarettes harm also people that surround them and the environment. Why aren’t the rabonim addressing this? Why do smokers not have respect for others- it’s as if they think we enjoy inhaling just like they do. Smoking causes cancer and other diseases, just over time. Why is it fair for people affected by asthma or other sensitivities to not be able to go to shul, weddings etc. Why has shuls and yeshivas become a place where people smoke without any rules, there should be more respect than a bar.
Furthermore, why is it normal hatzola members who are supposed to be role models and save lives are busy smoking? Why when you go to fund raisers and even hatzola they have a smoking bar? It’s an oxymoron for an organization that’s promoting health and life. Where are the mothers of these yeshiva boys and wifes of smokers? Why aren’t they condemning it?
Yasher Koach to Rav Bender!
I am older and am able to walk at a slow pace. This morning on my walk I counted at least 6 riders on these scooters zooming past me on the sidewalk. They go faster than a car. Some do not have helmets. If I was hit Chas V’shalom, I would not have made it. I hope it stops today.