Attention parents — it’s time to be responsible and shut down your kids’ illegal e-motorcycle riding

Enough is enough, parents. You need to be responsible. It’s time to take away that e-motorcycle pretending to be a bicycle and hold your kids accountable for their bad behavior. And law enforcement, it’s time to lower the boom and end this now.

I think we’ve all put up with this for long enough. We’ve seen this bad behavior go on for years. It started with one or two kids doing wheelies in parking lots or going too fast on our neighborhood streets, to now full street takeovers and complete disregard for safety, the law, and simple common sense.

This must end now, and that only happens if parents grow a backbone.

I still can’t believe what I witnessed last week.

I was driving on one of the busiest highways in Snohomish County, 132nd St. S.E., a road that connects I-5 to SR 9.

20 teens take over road on illegal e-motorcycles

It was the middle of the afternoon when a group of nearly 20 young boys, teens, or under, completely took over the westbound lanes riding their illegal e-motorcycles. And yes, they are illegal. I’ll get to that in a minute.

They were passing cars illegally, running red lights as a group, and running from the cops. Two Snohomish County deputies were in pursuit, with lights and sirens, trying to get them to stop. The group just blew them off and kept going.

This is what the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office told me in a statement:

The deputy activated his emergency lights and pulled across the intersection to attempt a traffic stop on the group,” authorities stated. “The riders all looked at the deputy and refused to stop and accelerated away, westbound on 132nd St. S.E. The deputy activated his siren and pulled behind the group to again signal them to stop. The riders looked back, and several pulled out their phones to record and did wheelies while disregarding the deputy’s signal to stop. The bikes all appeared to have no registration plates.

The deputy did not initiate a pursuit but instead deactivated his lights and sirens. The group ran a red light at 19th Ave. S.E. to go northbound, and then proceeded to ride in a reckless manner, passing illegally and running stop lights at multiple intersections. The group split apart and the deputy lost sight of them near 129th Pl. S.E.”

I understand calling off the pursuit for safety, but come on. Someone has to crack down on this.

And that’s why I am looking directly at you, the parents who likely bought these illegal bikes for their kids. The law has changed. As of June, no one under 16 years old can ride a Class 3 e-bike. Those are electric bikes, really motorcycles, that have no pedals.

Under the new rules, e-bikes can have no more than 750 watts of power and go 20 miles an hour or under without pedaling. Anything else is a motorcycle, and riders need a motorcycle driver’s license to ride them.

It’s time for parents to educate themselves on the new law and make the tough choices. Take those illegal bikes away. I’d rather have an angry child than a dead one.

And parents, you might want to remind your kids that it’s not cute to disregard and run from the cops, take over streets, and run red lights. I know it’s super cool on TikTok and YouTube.

But that’s only going to end badly. Maybe not today. But someday.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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