This comes as more municipalities attempt to regulate the increasingly popular electric bicycles.
Friends of Samuel Alfaro visited the scene where the Rolling Meadows High School student, who lived in Mount Prospect, lost his life.
Samuel, a member of the soccer team, left a teammate's house after a pasta party, riding an e-bike.
Police say Samuel failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into a pickup truck at South Reuter Drive and West Grove Street. The driver of the truck was not hurt.
"I used to hang out with him every day. He was like a brother to me," said Angel Lopez, Samuel's friend.
Samuel's father, John Alfaro, said they are destroyed inside. They came to this country for a better life, in search of a better future for his sons. But that dream was shattered Monday night.
A beloved brother, son, and friend to many undoubtedly his team, his school community and his family are suffering an indescribable loss.
"I just want them to know that Samuel was a really good person and a really good friend," Lopez said.
In a tragic irony, the crash happened at the same time the Arlington Heights Board of Trustees approved an ordinance to regulate the use of e-bikes, which can reach speeds of 20 to 28 miles per hour.
Among the restrictions, riders under 16 are not permitted to operate high-speed e-bikes, and they are banned from the sidewalk.
Neighboring Palatine also approved its own e-bike ordinance.
"I think the big thing with these e-bikes, e-scooters, motor vehicles is that people don't understand what kind of power they have. People don't understand how heavy they are," said Palatine Police Chief David Brandwein.
The popularity of e-bikes has been on the rise the past several years.
Mike Geigel owns Never Ending Cycles in Streamwood and says customers appreciate the pedal assist or throttle feature.
"You can ride a bike like you could as a kid with boundless energy. There's no more hill; there's no more headwind," Geigel said.
Geigle says he does not sell the high-speed e-bikes and agrees with municipalities' recently enacted restrictions, which he hopes will help with education.
"Parents, anybody thinking about buying an e-bikes should visit a bike shop, not a department store, not the internet," Geigel said.
For now, police are urging parents to talk with their teens about safety and reminded all riders that helmets, while not always required, can save lives.