The top leaders in Massachusetts state government on Monday mourned a Stoneham teen who was killed when his electric dirt bike collided with a car over the weekend and said they wanted to prevent future tragedies.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like as a parent to get that news,” Gov. Maura Healey told reporters after a meeting with top legislative leaders on Monday afternoon. “It’s devastating, the worst, worst thing that could ever happen.”
“So my heart goes out to that family,” she continued. “I think, of course, we all should be open to looking at whatever needs to be done to make sure things like this don’t ever happen again.”
- Read More: 13-year-old boy killed after electric dirt bike collides with car in Stoneham
Police said the teen was riding his e-bike on Royal Street in Stoneham on Friday when he collided with a car that was making a turn, MassLive and other outlets reported.
Witnesses told WCVB-TV in Boston that the boy was traveling fast and tried to beat the car turning left onto Royal Street. The driver has been identified as 73-year-old Boris Smatkov.
The crash prompted Stoneham Police Chief James O’Connor to warn parents about proper e-bike safety. The department increased its patrols to monitor e-bike riders, Boston-25 News reported.
“Our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to the family and loved ones of the boy involved in this terrible tragedy,” O’Connor said, according to Boston-25 News. “The last thing we want is for anyone else to get hurt.”
Speaking to reporters Monday, both state House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano and Senate President Karen E. Spilka stressed the need for proper safety and training for e-bike riders.
“First of all, it’s a horrible tragedy for a kid that got killed in an accident,” Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said. “What we have begun to look at are making sure that the rules that are in place are enforced. And if they have to be expanded, our training has to be insisted upon, that we begin to license these folks to ride these bicycles.”
Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, a self-professed biking enthusiast, said lawmakers “will take a look at that.”
“My heart goes out to the family of that boy,“ the Ashland lawmaker said. ”That’s a terrible tragedy and I’m really sorry to hear about that.”
