NEW YORK CITY – If you’ve spent any time navigating the streets of almost any major city lately, you already know e-bikes have transformed the flow of traffic, often zipping past faster than the cars alongside them.
Now, newly released medical data reveals just how dangerous that surge in popularity has become.
Costa Mesa, CA – August 17, 2026: Students stop for traffic as they leave from parking lot on the first day of school with new rules and regulations for driving e-bikes at Estancia High school in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, August. 17, 2026. (Don Leach
By the numbers:
Emergency room visits related to e-bike incidents are rising dramatically across the country. According to a new report from health data company Truveta, which analyzed medical records from over 140 million patients, the spike in injuries over the last year and a half has been staggering.
Between January 2023 and August of this year, the data shows:
- 760% increase in overall ER visits for e-bike-related incidents.
- 1,800% increase in ER visits for children involved in e-bike incidents.
- 1/3 of all visits for both e-bikes and traditional bikes are due to head and neck injuries.
By comparison, ER visits involving traditional bicycles saw a modest increase of just 7.9% during the same period.
Legislative push
Dig deeper:
While e-bikes have sparked safety concerns nationwide, they have gained massive political traction in New York City, where a record 23 pieces of micromobility legislation, the most ever taken up in a single council session, have been proposed.
The sweeping proposed measures include:
- App and delivery accountability: Requiring delivery services to obtain city business licenses and mandating apps to verify that their workers’ mopeds are properly registered.
- Phasing out class III e-bikes: Stopping the sale, rental, and usage of high-speed e-bikes capable of exceeding 25 miles per hour.
- Priscilla’s Law: Mandating Department of Transportation registration for all e-bikes and scooters. The bill is named in honor of 69-year-old Priscilla Loke, who was struck and killed by an electric bike.
- Infrastructure tech: Installing traffic-calming measures in bike lanes at 50 intersections and rolling out speed-testing equipment.
Differing views
What they’re saying:
These proposals have sparked fierce debate. The New York City E-Vehicles Safety Alliance argues that without identifiable license plates and registration, dangerous riders cannot be held accountable.
On the other hand, groups like Transportation Alternatives claim that comprehensive registration would cost millions with little evidence of actually improving safety, urging the city to focus heavily on protected infrastructure instead.
Dangerous streets
Local perspective:
The crisis on the streets isn’t just a threat to pedestrians; the riders themselves are also often forced to navigate dangerous traffic conditions.
E-bike collisions in NYC are up over 30% this year compared to last. According to City Council data, the first six months of 2026 alone saw 738 injuries and 13 fatalities among e-bike riders, which is a stark increase from the 601 injuries and 10 fatalities during the same period in 2025.
In late September, a 50-year-old female delivery worker on an e-bike was struck and killed by a dump truck in a hit-and-run on 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Her death marked the 20th cyclist killed in the city so far in 2026.
The Source: Information from this article was sourced from a Truveta e-bike study and proposed legislation from the New York City Council.