SAN DIEGO – E-bike collisions have increased exponentially in California, according to a new study from UC San Diego.
Reported e-bike collisions increased from two in 2018 to 1,506 in 2024, according to the study. A larger proportion of injured riders were 14 years old and younger, the study says.
The study also shows that moderate to severe injuries were more common among e-bike riders than traditional bicyclists.
E-bike riders are also more often at fault with unsafe speeds and improper turns cited as notable violation patterns, the study says.
John Austin, a general surgery resident at UCSD and the first author of the study, said that a lot of trauma, injury and epidemiology research involves looking around the community and trying to identify issues.
This study is one of the largest statewide analyses of e-bike injuries to date, according to a release. UCSD researchers analyzed data from the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System and examined e-bike and traditional bicycle collisions from 2018 through 2024, according to the release.
“I think if you’ve lived in San Diego long enough, you will recognize that there are a lot of people on e-bikes nowadays,” Austin said. “Depending on who you ask, they can be a huge benefit, they can be a fun tool, they can be a nuisance or they can be outright dangerous.”
Austin said that in seeing an increase in e-bike usage, the surgeons who worked on the study wondered if it was connected to a rise in e-bike injuries.
Electric bikes are separated into three classes. A class 1 e-bike is a “low-speed pedal-assisted electrical bicycle”, a class 2 e-bike is a “low-speed throttle-assisted electric bicycle” and a class 3 e-bike is a “speed pedal-assisted electric bicycle,” according to the California Vehicle Code.
California law does not impose any age requirements on class 1 and class 2 e-bikes, but prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from riding class 3 e-bikes. Although state law does not enforce it, multiple cities in San Diego County enforce a ban on children under 12 from riding e-bikes.
California law also requires children 17 and under to wear a helmet on traditional bikes and type 1 and type 2 e-bikes. Anyone riding a type 3 e-bike must wear a helmet.
Austin said that their biggest takeaway from seeing the data on how many kids are getting injured is that they need to focus on protecting younger e-bike riders and unhelmeted riders.
“It is our onus as both physicians and also influencers of public health to educate the public and also encourage helmet use and encourage parents to understand exactly what they’re buying for their children,” Austin said.
Austin said that if a collection of general and trauma surgeons come together to say that they have identified an issue in the community, it should be cause for concern.
“Now, the process starts in a collaboration between the medical community, citizens of the community, as well as politicians, to come together and say, ‘We think this is going to be the best data-driven evidence in order to help protect the people of San Diego County,’” Austin said.
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