E-bike rules differ widely across the U.S., but in California they’re largely treated like regular bicycles, leaving sidewalk riding up to local city and county laws. In Cathedral City, California, an elderly man angrily harassed a kid riding an e-bike after an alleged near miss. The footage has begun circulating widely online.
The clip, which was posted to Reddit recently, sees the young e-bike rider in the middle of a heated altercation with an elderly man — who has since been branded a “male Karen” by online commenters — while a bystander records the confrontation. The initial caption that accompanies the footage reads, “Male Karen loses his mind over 760 kid on e-bike.” The “760” reportedly refers to the primary telephone area code designated to the Southern California region, where the incident took place.
Wearing a blue and green tartan shirt, sunglasses, and a white cap, the elderly man can be heard yelling, “Talk about being illegal! Talk about [expletive] being illegal!” with his phone in hand. The young e-bike rider remains silent as the man directs a stream of verbal insults toward him. As this occurs, the bystander who is filming the incident from his vehicle states, “Look at this [expletive] jackass harassing [expletive] kids.”
The bystander recording then asks the kid, “Are you good?” though he clearly looks very uncomfortable about the situation. “Keep harassing kids.” the guy filming sarcastically says to the male Karen. The elderly man retorts, “He’s supposed to be in the road. That’s the law in Cathedral City! He almost hit me.” The bystander, reacting to what appeared to be aggressive behavior by the elderly man, adds:, “Get the [expletive] out of the way.” before asking the kid to “move around this idiot.”
After further back-and-forth, the man maintains his position, saying, “The law says he’s supposed to be in the road with a motorized vehicle.” However, the person filming responds, “It’s electric.” This doesn’t placate the elderly man, however, as he continues, “Electric or even a regular bicycle. Even a bicycle! He almost hit me.” The bystander recording retorts, “He didn’t hit you.” The kid then chimes in and quietly says, “I literally broke — breaked — to slow down.” Finally, the male Karen angrily retorts, “If you wanna be late for school, be late.”
Reactions to the confrontation have been pouring in, with most viewers siding with the child on the e-bike. Over on Reddit, one user wrote, “Cops need to come and “almost” give that kid a ticket.” while another chipped in with, “The older guy may not have the best approach, but the dude filming was also kind of an ass as well.” Elsewhere, over on Instagram, one netizen praised the man filming, penning, “Thank you to the man who stayed there to stand up for the kid. If that were my son, I’d want someone to do the same for him. 👏” A fourth commenter added, “I rather have kids on the sidewalk with their bikes for their safety!“
Regardless of the legal technicalities, treating a child harshly is never ideal. Approaching such minor incidents with patience is always the better choice. Hopefully, he’ll think twice before reacting this way to a young rider again.
