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November 30, 2025 
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In September 2023, Amelia Stafford was 15 and beginning her sophomore year at Terra Linda High School in eastern Marin County, Calif. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, electric bicycles had surged in popularity; many of Amelia’s classmates had gotten e-bikes for birthdays and holidays. On a warm Saturday night after a football game, a group of kids was playing around with one.
Coral Billisi, Amelia’s best friend, recalls that Amelia got on the bike behind someone and rode up and down the street. She says it was such a short ride that wearing a helmet didn’t occur to anyone. When the bike toppled over, “our immediate reaction was that we all started laughing — we just thought it was so funny,” she says. “Like, Ha ha, they’re so stupid, they can’t even ride bikes.” Then they saw the blood on the pavement around Amelia’s head.
This week in the magazine, David Darlington tells the story of Amelia’s shocking accident, her miraculous recovery and the efforts by medical professionals and legislators in Marin County to regulate the use of e-bikes.
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