Electric bikes: More dangerous than regular bikes

ER Visits Due to Electric Bike Injuries Soar Across U.S.

by Lisa O’Mary

Head injury cases among people riding electric bikes are increasing at an alarming rate while the odds of e-bike riders wearing a helmet are decreasing.

It’s a recipe likely to fuel the already skyrocketing number of people visiting the nation’s emergency rooms after mishaps on the popular and powerful bicycles, many of which can travel at more than 20 miles per hour.

New research shows that e-bike injuries in the U.S. increased by 30 times from 2017 to 2022, and hospitalizations rose by 43 times. During that 5-year period, there were more than 45,000 visits to emergency rooms stemming from e-bike injuries, and more than 5,000 hospitalizations.

The findings were published in JAMA Surgery, and the researchers are also working on an analysis comparing e-bike injuries with those stemming from riding a traditional bicycle.

The head injury findings among e-bike riders was the most striking, particularly amid the decline in helmet usage, said lead author Adrian Fernandez, MD.

“We see so many people riding e-bikes around San Francisco that it was just an area of interest for us, and especially seeing people riding e-bikes without helmets got us interested in asking whether or not there had been more injuries,” said Fernandez, a resident doctor at the University of California San Francisco. “We saw a really explosive trend of increasing injuries and hospitalizations.”

From 2017 to 2022, the number of people being treated for e-bike injuries in the nation’s emergency rooms doubled annually, the researchers found. The number of people being admitted to the hospital for serious injuries also doubled each year during that 5-year period....

Common injury types were to the upper and lower extremities, such as a broken wrist or broken leg, Fernandez said. Blunt injuries were also common, such as those that might happen when hitting a car door or falling on hard ground. But also in the top tier of injuries were to the head, such as a cut to the scalp or a concussion.

The researchers warned that “the increasing proportion of head injuries in our study warrants further examination, as traumatic brain injuries are more severe in e-bicyclists than in traditional bicyclists”....

Andy Powell of Charlotte, NC, grew up snowboarding and never wore a helmet. That habit continued when he started skateboarding as his main mode of transportation during college.

“I didn’t know I should wear a helmet. My parents didn’t make me wear one. I really wasn’t aware of the dangers at a younger age regarding helmet safety, and I didn’t hit my head, either,” said Powell, now co-owner of a shop called Rent EBoards Charlotte that rents and sells electric bikes and skateboards.

While in college, Powell admits he thought helmets were inconvenient and made people look awkward.

“These are the types of preconceptions that users who come into my store have. For whatever reason, our culture has bestowed upon them the idea that helmets are optional. They are, but they’re still certainly recommended,” he said.

He recommends helmets with a MIPS certification, which means the helmet offers concussion protection during falls that may happen while the body is in rotation. His shop provides those high-end helmets to use with all rentals.

“The helmet debate is a big thing. A lot of times, people will defend their viewpoint on why they don’t wear a helmet and say, ‘I know how to fall,‘” Powell said. “When it’s your future, I try to impress on our customers that you do want to continue to ride. In order to do so, you have to take preventative measures.”