Ok, so yes, I agree completely that older riders are more susceptible to crashing on an e-bike. We have enough evidence from the Netherlands to know that this isn't about infrastructure.

However, the article is a bit of a mess because it mentions rental e-bikes and other classes of bikes that you'd never see in a rental program.

Now, rental bikes, e-bike, and e-scooters come with an additional challenge: they aren't set up to rider, and have a different "feel" to what the rider might experience with their own bike.

When I read "‘I didn’t ride the bike that fast but I couldn’t stop it from hitting the pole.’ Or they hit a car.”, to me, it's entirely possible that these rental bikes (which are much heavier than most standard bikes/e-bikes), don't have the same brake system, or the rider isn't used to the brake feel of that bike.

I'm an experienced cyclist and e-scooter rider, but rentals feel completely foreign. They don't react like mine, don't stop like mine, don't accelerate like mine, they don't roll like mine, etc.

It's no wonder that the risk goes way up in rental riders who are also not experienced and/or elderly.

Around where I live, I see a lot of older folks on e-bikes. This is a GOOD THING as it gets them out, gives them independence, and enables them to explore their community with ease.

However, I'd say that a good majority are riding fat tire, folding e-bikes, which handle differently to a standard-sized urban bike (and they are significantly heavier!). The learning curve and experience needed to ride them is a bit higher because of that.