LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – More people now use electric bikes and scooters to get around – including a lot of kids in the Las Vegas Valley.
Unfortunately, more riders mean more crashes.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police handled just three fatal crashes involving e-bikes or scooters in 2024. So far this year, they’ve responded to nine. That’s a 200 percent increase.
So, how do you prevent yourself, or your child, from becoming part of the growing statistics?
FOX5 turned to an expert for advice.
“You can be the safest rider in the world, but you can never predict what other people are going to do.”
Joe Cantalacio says that’s the biggest problem facing e-bike and scooter enthusiasts. The electric vehicles make getting around fun, but offer no protection at all for their riders from cars that may or may not see them.
“The only protection you’re going to have is your helmet, your gloves, your knee pads, your elbow pads and whatever else you choose to wear for protection,” he tells us.
Cantalacio grew up riding scooters, bikes, and motorcycles. He now sells the electric variety at this shop on Valley View Road. He tells us awareness is among the keys to safety.
“When I’m out there riding, I pretend I’m literally invisible. Like I don’t assume that that person pulling out, looking right at me, is looking at me, because 99 times out of a hundred, they’re not, they’re looking past me.”
He also urges riders to go with the flow and follow the rules.
“I always recommend that you go with the flow of traffic, stay in the right lane, at the right side of the right lane, don’t be in the bike lane if you’re traveling at speeds of 30, 40, 50 miles an hour depending on the speed limit – obey the speed limit laws as well. Don’t ever blow red lights, yellow lights, even when the light turns green, I wait.”
For Cantalacio, the risk just isn’t worth the consequences.
“I just don’t gamble with it, it’s one thing that you can’t get back is your life, you know?”
He urges parents to consider those risks when deciding to buy their child an e-scooter or bike.
“If they’re a younger child, you know, make sure the size of the machine’s not too big. Often times you see it with bicycles, kids are riding bicycles that are way too big for them – can’t even put their feet on the ground – it’s not a safe avenue to take, you know, with a bigger bike like that.”
Parents should also think about the vehicle’s speed and power, as well as their kid’s abilities.
“You wouldn’t give your 15, 16-year-old kid with a permit a Lamborghini for their first car, maybe some people would, but it’s probably not the best idea,” he jokes.
“So if you’ve got yourself and 11, 12-year-old kid and they’ve never had a machine like this before, start them off on something more basic, more beginner, that he can grow into.”
Cantalacio will host an e-scooter and e-bike training session at his shop — WheelZenRide — on Saturday, May 3rd from 9 am until eleven. He’ll go over basic maintenance, then lead a group ride to demonstrate property safety on the road. It’s free and open to the public.
E-bike & E-scooter training
Saturday, May 3, 2025
9 to 11 a.m.
WheelZenRides
3863 Valley View, Suite 1
(702) 992-3750
Copyright 2025 KVVU. All rights reserved.
