The sheriff of Volusia County has a warning for drivers and parents of young e-bike riders: vigilance is needed now more than ever.The rise of e-bike popularity means a slew of children have begun riding them to school, said Sheriff Mike Chitwood.Chitwood recently went to visit a 14-year-old named Hunter who was hit by a car while riding an e-bike on the first day of school in Deltona.”We’re lucky that he’s alive,” Chitwood said.Hunter had to be airlifted to a hospital and is now recovering after he was hit while crossing an intersection on Roble Lane and Howland.Chitwood said the young rider had stopped at the intersection as a car was stopped. When he began riding forward, the driver hit the gas and struck him.”I think he’s having a hard time understanding why the person who hit him never got out of the car, never turned the engine off and never responded to his replies,” Chitwood said.Now, he’s reinforcing a message of e-bike safety, and he said Hunter wants to help by creating a personal PSA to riders and drivers.”His father, when they bought him the e-bike, they had made the trek back and forth to school: here’s where the stop signs are. How many parents do that? Before he left for school, they had a little bit of an argument, he said, ‘You’re not taking that e-bike without a helmet,’” said Chitwood.The helmet very likely saved his life, he added.Chitwood said, with the speed of e-bikes, drivers should be hypervigilant of their surroundings.Riders of e-bikes should always wear a helmet and should obey the rules of the road to a tee.”Never assume the driver sees you. Never.””Sooner or later, the government’s going to have to get around to regulating these things,” Chitwood said.
The sheriff of Volusia County has a warning for drivers and parents of young e-bike riders: vigilance is needed now more than ever.
The rise of e-bike popularity means a slew of children have begun riding them to school, said Sheriff Mike Chitwood.
Chitwood recently went to visit a 14-year-old named Hunter who was hit by a car while riding an e-bike on the first day of school in Deltona.
“We’re lucky that he’s alive,” Chitwood said.
Hunter had to be airlifted to a hospital and is now recovering after he was hit while crossing an intersection on Roble Lane and Howland.
Chitwood said the young rider had stopped at the intersection as a car was stopped. When he began riding forward, the driver hit the gas and struck him.
“I think he’s having a hard time understanding why the person who hit him never got out of the car, never turned the engine off and never responded to his replies,” Chitwood said.
Now, he’s reinforcing a message of e-bike safety, and he said Hunter wants to help by creating a personal PSA to riders and drivers.
“His father, when they bought him the e-bike, they had made the trek back and forth to school: here’s where the stop signs are. How many parents do that? Before he left for school, they had a little bit of an argument, he said, ‘You’re not taking that e-bike without a helmet,’” said Chitwood.
The helmet very likely saved his life, he added.
Chitwood said, with the speed of e-bikes, drivers should be hypervigilant of their surroundings.
Riders of e-bikes should always wear a helmet and should obey the rules of the road to a tee.
“Never assume the driver sees you. Never.”
“Sooner or later, the government’s going to have to get around to regulating these things,” Chitwood said.



















