> If all you have (for both worldview & skills) is a hammer...

Yup, it's a fishing expedition:

> arguing that the helmet Molly wore was defective

Really the bike and the helmet? what else is to blame, the hill?

They may or may not have had any awareness their kid was going to ride on a friends e-bike - but this is the real issue, e-bikes are not much different to small motorbikes, powered cycles are one of the most dangerous modes of transport, society needs to start appropriately considering them as such.