HONOLULU (KHON2) — December will mark 15 years since teenager Zachary Manago was killed by a drunk driver while biking in Wahiawa.
Every year, the Hawaii Bicycling League, the Manago ohana and fellow bikers come together and honor his legacy while pushing for safer streets–something they’ve been able to accomplish over the years with more bike lanes across Oahu.
Now they are looking at ways to make it safe for e-bikes too.
“This is an ongoing challenge, I think everyone has seen this year we have rising numbers unfortunately on our roadway fatalities,” said Travis Counsell, Hawaii Bicycling League executive director.
According to each county’s police data, there have been 36 traffic fatalities so far this year. The most recent fatality was on Hawaii island involving a motorcyclist who died Friday night.
There have been four bike deaths this year – one involving a young girl on an e-bike.
“We want to highlight that we’re unfortunately heading in the wrong direction when it comes to our road users,” Counsell added.
Following Zach Manago’s death, his family and the bicycling league pushed for bike lanes, and are now looking at how e-bikes can be more safe too.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Daphne Manago, Zach’s mom. “I wanted to share a message with parents to remind their children, no matter how old they are to be responsible riders, wear a helmet, be visible.”
With the growing popularity with e-bikes, bikers say cycling education and etiquette could go a long way.
One bill is still moving at the legislature which would define different e-bikes and electric motorcycles, prohibit children younger than 15 from riding certain e-bikes, and require helmets for teens just to name a few.
Written testimony from Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children said it has seen a significant increase in pediatric injuries from e-bikes, and the number of children being treated at their trauma center has more than doubled between 2022 and 2023. They added that e-bike injuries were the second most common cause of injury by mid-2024.
“A lot of the riders aren’t taking the proper safety precautions and it’s easy to forget when you’re that young what some of the repercussions are when riding some of these e-bikes,” said Nicholas Manago, Zach’s brother. “Because it’s not just their safety, but it’s also the impact it will have on the other users of the road.”
And the biggest impact could be losing your life or the life of someone else.