Youth e-mobility is changing Northern Kentucky.
Electric bicycles, scooters, and other personal mobility devices have become a common sight throughout Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties. Whether we welcome that change or view it with concern, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: these devices are becoming part of everyday life for many families.
Here in Boone County, we’ve already experienced several accidents involving young riders. Thankfully, no one has been seriously injured. Those incidents should remind us that now is the time to begin talking about how we prepare young people to use these devices safely and responsibly—not after more serious injuries occur.
This isn’t simply a conversation about e-bikes.
It’s a conversation about how communities respond to change.
Every generation encounters new technologies that bring both opportunities and new responsibilities. The question isn’t whether these devices should exist. They’re already here. The question is how we help young people use them safely while respecting the families, neighborhoods, pedestrians, motorists, and public spaces we all share.
As both a Boone County Commissioner and the father of a teenage daughter, I think about this issue from two perspectives.
As a parent, I want my daughter to have opportunities to become more independent while understanding the responsibilities that come with that independence. Like many families, my wife and I have had conversations about where it’s safe to ride, why helmets matter, how to cross busy intersections, and how to respect others who share our sidewalks, trails, and roadways.
As a commissioner, I ask a different question.
What responsibility do we have as communities to prepare young people for a world that is changing around them?
I believe the answer begins with education.
Parents should always remain the primary teachers and decision-makers in their children’s lives. Nothing should replace that role. But communities have long found ways to support parents without taking their place.
Swimming lessons don’t replace parents.
Driver’s education doesn’t replace parents.
Fire prevention programs don’t replace parents.
They simply provide families with additional tools to help prepare children for new responsibilities.
Perhaps youth e-mobility deserves the same thoughtful approach.
This discussion extends beyond riding an e-bike.
Learning to recognize hazards, understand right-of-way, communicate with other users of public spaces, and make sound decisions are transportation skills that benefit young people throughout their lives. In only a few years, many of today’s riders will become tomorrow’s drivers. Building those habits early can help create safer motorists, safer pedestrians, and safer communities.
Too often today, every emerging issue quickly becomes a debate over mandates, regulations, or expanded government. I believe that’s the wrong place to begin.
Whenever practical, education should come before regulation.
Personal responsibility should come before mandates.
Community partnerships should come before government expansion.
Those principles have guided Northern Kentucky for generations, and they should continue guiding us today.
Over the past several months, I’ve been meeting with community leaders, researching how other communities are responding to youth e-mobility, and beginning conversations here in Boone County about what a practical, common-sense approach might look like.
One thing has become increasingly clear.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.
The best ideas won’t come from one elected official, one agency, or one organization. They’ll come from listening to parents, educators, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, parks leaders, businesses, and the many people who care deeply about the safety of our children and our communities.
That’s why I believe our first step shouldn’t be announcing a program or proposing new regulations.
Our first step should be starting the conversation.
If we listen carefully, learn from one another, and remain focused on education, personal responsibility, and community partnerships, I’m confident we’ll develop solutions that reflect the values of Northern Kentucky rather than simply reacting after more serious incidents occur.
Over the coming months, I look forward to continuing those discussions, gathering ideas from across our region, and sharing ideas that deserve thoughtful public discussion.
Northern Kentucky has never been at its best when reacting to problems after they’ve become crises. We’ve been at our best when we’ve planned ahead, worked together, and solved challenges through practical, common-sense leadership.
This issue deserves that same approach.
Technology will continue to evolve.
Our communities will continue to grow.
Our responsibility is to make sure the values that have long defined Northern Kentucky—strong families, personal responsibility, respect for others, practical problem-solving, and neighbors working together—grow right alongside them.
We may not be able to prevent every accident.
But if education, community partnership, and common sense can help prevent even one serious injury, then this conversation is worth having.
Because the best public policy doesn’t begin with government having all the answers.
It begins with a community willing to ask the right questions.
Jesse Brewer
Boone County Commissioner