WASHINGTON — Donald Smith can remember riding on the back of a motorcycle when he was four years old. He recalls how it felt to go fast on the highway, and how different it was than driving in a car.
“Having the wind blow on your face — , ” he said, drifting off. “A motorcycle was way cooler [than a car].”
Motorcycles continued to be a part of Donald’s childhood growing up in Southeast D.C. He got a small electric motorcycle that he could ride himself at age 10. A more powerful gas-powered dirt bike came when he was 12. It was the TV show “Sons of Anarchy” that got him truly hooked. The show made Donald think about the freedom, unity, and emotional release that motorcycle riding offers—a connection to something bigger than just getting from place to place.
But cities like Washington D.C. are not particularly motorcycle-friendly. For many, the image of a kid on a dirt bike conjures up controversy—some see it as reckless or even lawless. Dirt bikes are more than an annoyance, according to this way of thinking. They’re a menace to public safety.
For Donald, now 18, who graduated in June with an associate degree from at Bard High School Early College DC, riding wasn’t rebellion. It was peaceful. The feeling of the sun on his back with his shirt floating in the wind; the freedom of the open road; the chance to escape the slow crawl of buses and the noise of the city. It also gave him something more meaningful: his first taste of independence.
This tension between risk and joy is at the heart of the ‘bike life’ conversation.
While riders describe a feeling like no other, research shows children and young people overall have considerable risk when they ride. Children 15 and younger account for almost 20% of all off-highway vehicle injuries in 2023, according to the Consumer Federation of America.
Still, dirt bike popularity has been rising and will continue to rise, according to the industry. The global dirt bike market estimated at $9,581.6 million last year, with most of that generated in the United States, and is estimated to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 6%, according to Cognitive Market Research.
Donald Smith will likely be one of those riders counted in the growth data.
In earlier years, the teen rode his dirt bike often, and when not using it to buzz around town, he enjoyed riding with family members. He gave his electric bike to his younger cousin, who would sometimes ride on the back of Donald’s dirt bike.
Around this time, the dangers of riding started to become clearer, Donald said. He used to wear earbuds and listen to music while riding. It was a little risky, but he “viewed it as just being cool” because he was still young, he said.
“I almost had an accident,” Donald said. “Somebody was walking across the street, and I didn’t hear him. I hit the brakes just at the nick of time.”
That incident made Donald realize how, without staying focused and watching the road — and listening to his surroundings — things can go wrong. Donald now understands the danger and problems that come with dirt bikes, especially since motorcycles don’t have seat belts or air bags like cars.
“Riding a motorcycle is very different from driving in a car,” he says.
But it wasn’t safety concerns that put the brakes on Donald’s dirt-bike riding. It was the pandemic. Concerned about health risks from COVID, Donald’s mother, Rhyonda Jackson, told him he needed to stop. Donald complied with the request of his mother, a single mom working for the Food and Drug Administration. He rode the bike a little bit in 2022, even less as time went on. Eventually, Donald focused on getting his car learner’s permit.
Donald’s mother supported his bike-riding journey but wanted safety to come first. She believes starting young helped.
“He started so early that by the time he got [the dirt bike], he had some experience,” Jackson said.
Jackson believes that more public education is needed. Programs similar to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) could help young riders be safer and better informed, she said.
When he thinks about dirt-bike safety, Donald said there’s a difference between perception and reality. It’s unfair that responsible kids get lumped in with the reckless actions of others, he said.
“Some kids don’t care enough to operate the motorcycle safely, and they’re making everybody else suffer,” he said.
Carlos Heraud, assistant chief of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, said dirt bike riding can be a fun activity if it’s done safely. That means wearing a helmet and obeying the law, he said. Heraud would like to see an off-road area designated for dirt bikes.
“I’m not sure if we have the land or footprint to do it in the District of Columbia,” Heraud said. “When it comes to dirt bikes and ATVs, they are absolutely illegal to operate on D.C. streets.”
The same is true in most U.S. cities, which has left many other communities also looking for potential solutions. In Baltimore, a nonprofit called B-360, which combines riding with STEM education and community support, recently won a $3 million grant to build a park for both indoor and outdoor riding within city limits. A similar effort in Cleveland fizzled due to concerns about noise, traffic control and safety.
Bike life is about a lot more than getting from place to place, Donald said. It isn’t just about going fast. It’s about growth, responsibility, and bonding.
“If the bike were a person, it would be a good friend of mine,” he said.
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Youthcast Media Group is a BNV partner. Story author De’Lonn Howard is a rising college freshman and recent graduate of Bard High School Early College DC in Washington D.C. one of Youthcast Media Group’s journalism class partners. The original version of this piece appeared here.
