The lyrics of the Jan and Dean song “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena” might need a remix as e-bikes gain in popularity, and retirees take to the streets on two wheels. As the first e-scooter fatality hits the headlines, industry experts warn that regulations and infrastructure must catch up with mandates already established in countries across Europe.

“All of a sudden you have a granny that is 75 on her e-bike [going] super fast,” said Ewoud van Leeuwen (pictured), manager of Gazelle Bikes North America, the U.S. division of Royal Dutch Gazelle. “That’s something we really have to be careful with, because it’s a potentially a dangerous situation.”

Van Leeuwen spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the InterBike Marketweek event in Reno, Nevada. They discussed the global increase in e-bike sales and potential regulations and infrastructure for the new mode of transport.

E-bikes are the future

The U.S. represents a minuscule fraction of the global e-bike market, just 0.15 percent in 2016, according to a Statista report. But sales are booming, with a 50 to 70 percent growth in 2016 alone, according to a Cycling Industry News report. Leading the sales growth is the older demographic, as seniors jump back on their bicycles — with a little electric assist.

Royal Dutch Gazelle has been making bicycles for 125 years and sells around 300,000 bikes a year globally. “We see e-bikes growing year over year. This year we’re actually selling 100,000 e-bikes for the first time,” Van Leeuwen said.

While e-bikes are a fun, energy-efficient transportation option for many journeys, there are times when more traditional methods are needed. Blurring the lines between transportation modes, Gazelle is working in conjunction with the Volkswagen Group to create a mobility app that will analyze all factors to calculate the best mode of transport for any journey.

“So we give you a car, we give you a bike, we give you an app … and we give you a mobility pass on public transportation, and we just try to figure out what the best mode of transportation is in a specific situation for you in that day,” Van Leeuwen explained.

But what to do about that reckless granny speeding down the sidewalk? While the U.S. is eager to relax laws to encourage e-bike adoption, it lags far behind Europe in bike-friendly infrastructure. California currently has the least restrictive e-bike laws in the U.S., allowing pedal-assist bikes on bike paths and e-bikes capable of going up to 28 mph in bike lanes, according to Van Leeuwen. However, street plans still favor cars, and e-bike riders sometimes think traffic rules don’t apply to them.

“I was in Santa Monica the other day … and all of a sudden you see all these Americans riding their little scooters without a helmet on … crossing the roads, like just driving through two stop signs, ignoring any traffic lights,” Van Leeuwen said. “[The bicycle traffic] looks very similar to Amsterdam … but the difference is that in Amsterdam we have the infrastructure, and over here we don’t yet.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the InterBike Marketweek event.

Photo: SiliconANGLE