HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Sales of e-bikes has been rising, but so have the injuries. And doctors say those injuries are becoming more severe.
“It’s not the ride. It’s the rider that makes the difference,” said Dr. Byron Izuka, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Shriners Children’s Hospital Hawaii.
He said young riders are showing up in bad shape at the hospital almost daily.
“Whether it’s a traumatic brain injury, a muscular-skeletal injury like a break or a strain, a dislocation, those types of things — they’re all increasing across the board,” Dr. Izuka said.
The latest national data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission show injuries from micro-mobility devices, like e-bikes and e-scooters, jumped 21% from 2021 to 2022.
The data also show that 36% of injuries from 2017 to 2022 were in children 14 years and younger.
“The parents feel that they’re old enough and mature enough, responsible enough to have a bike like this. But the problem is that we know that a lot of teenagers are not responsible for something like this,” Dr. Izuka said.
The Honolulu Police Department has been cracking down on illegal e-wheels. Last week in West Oahu, officers arrested four people, issued 31 citations and recovered five e-dirt bikes.
Many riders don’t seem to know the law. E-dirt bikes aren’t allowed on streets. And you have to be at least 15 years old to ride a regular e-bike.
Helmets are also part of the law.
“In Honolulu county, if you’re under 18 years of age and you’re on an e-bike, you have to wear a helmet,” said Malia Harunaga of the Hawaii Bicycling League.
“Generally, in all of Hawaii, if you’re on a bicycle and you’re under 16 years of age, you gotta wear a helmet,” she added.
“A fall on the head can be, ‘I get up with my helmet, dust myself of and I’ve got a headache,’ or ‘I can fall and hit my head and that’s like the last thing that ever happens to me,’” Dr. Izuka said.
The Hawaii Bicycling League offers free workshops for riders. Dr. Izuka believes education is the best way to prevent injuries and deaths.
“There’s a lot we can do to make them safe, the most of which is the rider’s behavior and understanding that what they’re riding has danger,” he said.
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