Faculty, staff and partners during the “Wear a Helmet” Bike and Helmet Safety Assembly at Incline Middle SchoolVictoria Mastrocola/Sierra Sun
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – As e-bikes continue to rise in popularity, the risk of accidents in youth riders is rising with it. That’s why principal of Incline Middle School, Dan Lediard, is making bike safety a priority for students.
“In this community, because it’s so small, we see kids behaving erratically on their bikes – not wearing helmets, doubled up on bikes, running stop signs,” said Lediard. “Our whole goal today is to educate, and to avoid future accidents.”
With the help of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Renown Children’s Hospital, and the Village Ski Loft Lake Tahoe, three presentations were shown to students grades sixth through eighth on Tuesday, May 5.
Officer Joe Cambra is the school police officer for all three Incline Village schools. As he gathered with students at Incline Middle School, the topic was related to bike laws. According to Washoe County:
Legal e-bikes must have operable pedals, a motor under 750 watts, and maximum speeds of 28 mph (on flat land)
If there are no fully operable pedals but is instead equipped with foot pegs and propelled by a motor, it is classified as a motorcycle – not a bicycle. Therefore the operator is required to possess license and registration
Helmets are required on Washoe County School District property
Scooters under 100 pounds are considered street legal
Bikes, e-bikes and motorcycles must abide by the same laws governing motor vehicles
E-bikes can be ridden in the same places where bikes are allowed: streets, highways, roadways, bike paths and shared-use paths
Unless equipped with the corresponding number of seats, you cannot have more than two people on a bike
“I’ve seen, too many times, juveniles being injured on bikes,” Cambra told the Tribune. “All of it could have been prevented –whether it was with safety equipment or following the rules of the road.”
Officer Cambra spoke with students about bike laws in Washoe CountyVictoria Mastrocola/Sierra Sun
As of 2025, there were 25 e-bike related crashes in Washoe County, with the average age of the rider being 13.3 years, according to Renown Children’s Hospital.
In a UCSF national study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in July 2023, electric bicycle injuries increased by nearly 100% and electric scooter injuries increased by more than 45% annually. “There were nearly 2.5 million bicycle injuries, over 304,000 scooter injuries, 45,586 e-bicycle injuries and 189,517 e-scooter injuries in the U.S,” said the study, with Bike Tahoe noting these numbers are likely higher due to cities like South Lake Tahoe and many states who don’t record injuries that occur on bike paths.
During Renown Children’s Hospital’s presentation to the students at Incline Middle School, the significance of wearing a helmet was a key topic.
“How do we feel about helmets?” Jorge Montano-Figueroa asked the kids during his presentation. Montano-Figueroa is a pediatric injury prevention specialist at Renown’s trauma department, and he has seen the effects of accidents related to bikes and e-bikes first-hand. As several kids hesitated to answer, a few bravely raised their hands, and one student said honestly, “I just don’t like them.”
Other answers pertained to helmets hindering full visibility, not fitting properly or being uncomfortable. Having these conversations with kids is a vital step in educating them about the dangers of not wearing a helmet and what can happen if an accident were to occur.
“All these things can be a deterrent to wearing a helmet, but what I hope to do is show you the importance of it,” Montano-Figueroa said to the students. “I’m going to show you why. Let’s talk about why we should protect our brains.”
Montano-Figueroa went on to explain how each of the six lobes in the brain have different functions, what happens to a brain during head injuries, and then showed a real-life example of a 13-year-old boy in the community who got hit by a car on his bike while not wearing a helmet. Although the child survived, he suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Jorge Montano-Figueroa is a pediatric injury prevention specialist at Renown Children’s Hospital Victoria Mastrocola/Sierra Sun
Classifications for e-bikes and their helmet requirements:
Class 1 and 2 (15-20 mph): Use a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)-certified helmet, which is rated for impacts at these speeds.
Class 3 (Up to 28 mph): Use an NTA 8776 “Speed E-Bike” helmet, which is designed for higher energy crashes.
Out-of-Class E-Vehicles (Over 28 mph): Use a DOT-certified helmet, which offers motorcycle-level protection for motorcycle-level speeds.
Understanding the mechanics of a bike can help prevent accidents related to mechanical failures such as flat tires, snapped chains, and issues with cable brakes.
To assist with breaking down how a bike is supposed to properly function, Aaron “Elko” James, owner/manager of Village Ski Loft did a presentation in the middle school’s gym.
“These are important [topics],” James told the Tribune. As a long-standing member of the community, he’s been with Village Ski Loft for over 25 years and built the Holman Family Bike Park in Incline Village. “I like to bike and ski a lot, and that’s what we do.”
As the students at Incline Middle School spent the morning learning about bike safety, parents are also being encouraged to do their part in keeping children in the community safe.
Medical experts like Montano-Figueroa advised parents to “be involved, ask questions, and demonstrate. You are their biggest example,” he said. “Have open conversations with them, even about the hard things. I like to say that regardless of what the situation is, it’s better for kids to have a plan than for them to figure it out as they go.”
For more information on Washoe County bike laws, safety and etiquette, visit https://washoesheriff.com/general-information/staying-safe/ebike-safety.php.
South Lake Tahoe’s E-bike and scooter use laws can be found here: https://www.cityofslt.gov/2493/E-Bike-and-Scooter-Information
General rules for biking in the greater Lake Tahoe area are available here: https://tahoebike.org/bike-safety/.
For more information on Village Ski Loft Lake Tahoe, go to https://www.villageskiloft.com.
You can learn more about Renown Children’s Hospital by visiting https://www.renown.org/locations/renown-childrens-hospital.