BOSTON — As state and local officials investigate the fatal crash of a teenager on an electric dirt bike in Stoneham, House Speaker Ron Mariano on Monday expressed an interest in beefing up enforcement and potentially installing new licensing requirements.
A 13-year-old boy struck a Toyota Corolla last Friday afternoon as the car was making a left turn, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office. The boy was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Mariano called the crash a “tragedy.”
“But we have begun to look at making sure that the rules that are in place are enforced, and if they have to be expanded or training has to be insisted upon, then we begin to do that — to license these folks that ride these bicycles,” Mariano said. “Because if you drive around the City of Boston, I’m sure you’ve been cut off or you’ve been frightened by these folks who are trying to make deliveries and pay very little attention to the traffic pattern or the traffic laws.”
Certain categories of e-bikes do not currently require rider licenses, according to MassBike.
Ryan’s office said its investigation includes the Stoneham Police Department, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section.
“We want to get to the bottom of it,” Mariano said. “We want to look at ways to make it safer and make sure that folks follow the laws that we have on the books.”
