Call for stricter e-bike legislation after death of Owen Jones

Owen Jones, of York Place, Crawshawbooth, was 17 when he died in hospital the day after he was riding an electric off-road bike when he lost control and crashed.

The apprentice joiner and carpenter leaves behind his mum Lisa Jones, dad Richard Murray, a large family, and many friends.

A joint statement from his parents said: “Four months ago we lost Owen from a severe brain injury caused by coming off a Sur-Ron E-Bike.

“If he was wearing a helmet, we have no doubt the outcome could have been very different and Owen would be here today.

“More legislation is needed for e-bikes and e-scooters. We regard the operation of many e-bikes as more akin to a motorcycle road bike than a bicycle.

“They achieve acceleration to a top speed of 40+mph, much faster than anything else on the roads.

“Since Owens accident we’ve personally seen teenagers without helmets and careless adults speeding down streets and roads and even pavements on their e-bikes.

"For public safety, helmet requirements, age limitations and operating restrictions should be implemented for e-bikes, as they are for motorcycles.

“This may prevent other parents and families going through this same tragic hell as we are.”

Tributes were paid to Owen from family and friends in a book of condolence set up by the Lancashire Telegraph after his death.

READ MORE: Book of condolence for Rossendale bike crash victim Owen Jones

An inquest heard how Owen, who died just weeks before his 18th birthday, had been at work on Wednesday, May 11, before going out with some friends in the evening, one of them bringing an electric bike which was not road legal.

When the trio got to the top of Goodshaw Fold Road, coming into Loveclough, Owen asked if he could use the bike, however he did not have a helmet to wear.

His friend said he could but to not put it in ‘sports mode’ and Owen rode off.

After about 10 minutes, Owen’s friends began to worry about him as they thought he would have got back up the hill to them.

They set off down the road and got to the bottom of the hill where they saw Owen, unconscious by the footpath, and the bike a few feet away.

They tried to speak to him but he was not responding so called for an ambulance.

Owen (top centre) with members of his family (Image: Family photo)

Emergency services arrived and Owen was airlifted to Royal Preston Hospital.

Officer Martin Ward, a collision investigator, said Owen had made his way to the bottom of the hill and had turned around and was heading back up the hill when he crashed.

The bike was not ‘road legal’ and some modifications had been made, but the police officer does not believe these had an impact on the crash.

A short CCTV clip showed Owen was heading for a kerb, with the officer believing he would have applied the brakes, which led to the rear wheel of the bike spinning around 90 degrees.

Owen was thrown from the bike at around 20 to 30mph, the speed it is believed he was travelling at the time of the crash.

Owen with his family (Image: Family photo)

After arriving at the hospital, Owen was put on a ventilator and medication, however, his brain had suffered a ‘dramatic injury’, causing significant swelling which doctors tried to treat.

Owen was also suffering from very low blood pressure and a high heart rate.

In order to see how traumatic the brain injury had been, he was taken off sedation, but just 30 minutes later, Owen suffered a heart attack and died on May, 17.

One of Owen’s doctors, Dr Sudhindra Kulkarni said that it was likely that his injuries were unsurvivable.

A toxicology report found Owen had cannabis in his system, however, the coroner determined this did not have an impact in the crash.

Coroner Chris Long concluded that Owen died as a result of a road traffic collision.