Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Electric Bikes Are Emerging as Public Health Hazard
American College of Surgeons ^ | July 17, 2024 | John Maa MD, FACS, Jay J. Doucet MD, FACS, Romeo Ignacio, MD, FACS, Ed Alfrey MD, FACS

Posted on 04/04/2025 10:14:15 AM PDT by 4Runner

US Experience The US has seen two eras in e-bike injury—an early era with the majority of deaths in older patients who have the financial resources to purchase earlier generation and more expensive e-bikes but were less skilled riding a bicycle. During the pandemic, sales of all bikes increased, and the closure of gyms and social distancing led some to purchase e-bikes as a safe option for outdoor exercise. In the second era, e-bike prices fell significantly and became more affordable, leading to a dramatic increase in pediatric use and injury.

[snip]

For decades, MarinHealth Medical Center has been the primary hospital treating bicyclists injured across the county. In 2023, Marin surgeons began reporting the new hazards with e-bikes.

An analysis of the MarinHealth Medical Center trauma registry revealed that e-bike accident victims compared to regular bicyclists were nearly a decade older in age, more likely to require hospital admission, and had a higher risk of dying (more than 10% of e-bike riders who crash and then present to the trauma center expired). The e-bike injury pattern includes pelvic fractures, which are more commonly seen in motorcycle riders than bicyclists.

(Excerpt) Read more at facs.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Outdoors; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: ebike; ebikes; electric; electricbike; electricbikes; ev; firetraps; healthhazard
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-93 next last
To: 4Runner

Saw a guy on an e-trike wearing a cowboy hat and smoking a big stogie. Had to laugh at that one.


21 posted on 04/04/2025 10:38:25 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

These came out about a year ago:

https://www.eridepros.com/pro-ss?srsltid=AfmBOooR2xFvFX3CA1_ZH7Q7gJCZZQD_PHJzwhI4U_hB7RrK4R1jj_JZ

Top Speed 60 MPH.

Then this one came out:
https://www.eridepros.com/pro-ss-3-0?srsltid=AfmBOoqtsZynv2yr8PPGLb4pS6XcG12uf1wraR-aIaMM9d29aEpROM0R

Top Speed 62 MPH but longer range battery. Better suspension , drive belt and brakes.


22 posted on 04/04/2025 10:38:30 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
Ours can do 40mph.......

That's fast, class 3 top out at 28 and most of the Class 2's get to 20mph. If you need to go 40 or more you're probably better off with an electric motorcycle. As for the results of the study, of course there are more accidents with ebikes, it's directly related to sales growth. And for age, most kids aren't spending 1200-5grand on an ebike, it's seniors that no longer want to pedal up hills :)

23 posted on 04/04/2025 10:41:45 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

Most of the current e-bikes will travel above 25mph. That is a lot for inexperienced riders. On the other hand, I can fold one up and put it in the back of my van or the trunk of my car. That is very handy for us retirees who like to travel and often spend time away from home.

I live in SW Florida and plan to spend August in New Hampshire. I’ll take the e-bike so the wife can visit her relatives and I can still get around town.

E-bikes are the best use of electric vehicles so far. They are cheap, reliable and they work.


24 posted on 04/04/2025 10:43:29 AM PDT by Poser (Cogito ergo Spam - I think, therefore I ham)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Do them have to purchase tags like motorcycles? if not, why not?


25 posted on 04/04/2025 10:43:36 AM PDT by packrat35 (Pureblood! No clot shot for me!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

I have owned two foldable e-bikes I purchased for my wife and I in 2020, and I can tell you...I don’t know about others but my bike, if you run out of battery, will damn well give you a workout!

Each bike weighs 60 lbs, and they are build like Sherman tanks. We fold them up, put them in the car, and drive to a bike trail. They are a blast, and a wonderful way to get out together and see things together.

I got bluetooth helmets so we could talk, and they change the whole experience in a good way.

I agree with you wholly on how dangerous these things are on a road, so needless to say, we don’t ride them on roads, if we can avoid doing so, though I do ride five miles on back roads to get to a certain bike trail. But when I have to do that, I am as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. And I defer to cars wholly. If I see traffic coming up behind me, I am inclined to pull off the road and simply let them pass.

You sound like you bike a lot, and I have to say, you sound like you have the same kind of negative view of eBikes that many automobile riders have of bicycles. Just an observation, I could be wrong.

Back around 2017, I had a cyclist run into my car as he was splitting lanes passing a long line of stopped cars, and I was pulling through the traffic. I don’t know what happened to him, but he was taken away in an ambulance after going head over heels with his bike across my hood. It was terrible. It was the most dangerous intersection on my commute, and he was splitting the lanes there right at that intersection. I ended up having $2000 damage to my car, and had to go to court when the rider sued my insurance for medical costs and damages. I won in court because what he had been doing splitting lanes at the peak of rush hour was incredibly stupid.

My point is, pedestrians, bike riders, E-bike riders, motorcycle riders and auto riders all have to share the same space, and not a single one of those constituencies has a monopoly on selfishness, stupidity, idiocy and foolhardiness.

Pedestrians are at risk on formerly safe pedestrian only trails that allow regular bikes on them, and those aggressive bicycle riders charge past the unsuspecting pedestrians inches away at 25-30 mph without even so much as a call out or a bell. I have found agressive bike riders on trails pose as much of a risk to E-Bike riders and E-Bike riders pose to them. Motorcycle riders rail against people in cars, wearing their faults on their backs as if there weren’t jackasses on motorcycles doing idiotic and stupid things on the road. Everybody rails at the auto drivers, who with occasional good reason, rail back at the pedestrians, cyclists, E-Bike riders, motorcycle riders and everyone else.

And by the way, on my last trip to Florida, I observed the way they have bike lanes set up, painted in the middle of roads with two lanes on the left and one lane on the right looks absolutely suicidal to me. Though I will say this-in the Delray area, I didn’t see a single cyclist using those lanes in the week I spent there. That seemed pretty smart to me.


26 posted on 04/04/2025 10:44:17 AM PDT by rlmorel ("A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims...but accomplices." George Orwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

We rented them when we went to Acadia Park/Bar Harbor.
They were great for running around the park.
Especially because most of the main loop is one way and the speed limit is 25 mph in the park.

They made going up Cadillac Mountain fun on a bike.
Plus you do not need a reservation like you do in a car.


27 posted on 04/04/2025 10:44:49 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: rlmorel

well said


28 posted on 04/04/2025 10:45:31 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Poser

+1


29 posted on 04/04/2025 10:46:44 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: SkyDancer

Oh no!!!! What happened to him and the other elevator passengers?


30 posted on 04/04/2025 10:48:29 AM PDT by Cowgirl of Justice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
I hate seeing kids (or adults) on electric bikes or boards or scooters.

Go exercise you lazy people!

31 posted on 04/04/2025 10:48:58 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

For us Seniors electric tricycles (not jazzy chairs) might be the ticket in some locales. I can understand that seniors get more serious injuries with electric bikes because they are more brittle than the young uns. Balance is an issue, etc...thus tricycles are an answer.


32 posted on 04/04/2025 10:50:14 AM PDT by abigkahuna
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

You now have 4 wheelers, side by side, golf carts, Kei trucks, electric bikes, and three wheeled vehicles all fighting for access on roads and/or sidewalks. This is in addition to bikes and motorcycles. Part of the problem is vehicle mandates have made cars more expensive. Insurance is another issue. Another problem is that the buyers and sellers are biased toward whichever new version they have sold or purchased.


33 posted on 04/04/2025 10:57:50 AM PDT by alternatives?
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

Very old news.


34 posted on 04/04/2025 10:59:21 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The road is a dangerous place man, you can die out here...or worse. -Johnny Paycheck, 1980, Reno, NV)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rlmorel

Very well stated. I got an ebike last year, and whew, it is more of a workout than jogging for the reasons you stated. It weighs 60 lbs and is not very efficient, so I peddle like a maniac the whole time I’m riding just to reduce draw on the battery. I don’t race along at high speed either, usually just 12 mph or so, just like a regular bike, although obviously something that heavy picks up speed fast on downhills.


35 posted on 04/04/2025 10:59:48 AM PDT by LambSlave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Magnum44

I hate everything and everyone.


36 posted on 04/04/2025 11:00:11 AM PDT by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: LambSlave

Maybe we need a e-bike thread :). I’m comparing foldables and see 3-4 that I like. The main issue is so many are direct to consumer, so doing a test ride is difficult unless you live in the 3-cities they are made.


37 posted on 04/04/2025 11:01:51 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

I made a knee-jerk anti-ebike post on FR sometime back and got a lot of push-back. I was mostly wrong at the time. I pointed out that the bikers were not getting any exercise.

The response I got was that power-assisted bikes enabled older people to bike who otherwise would not be able to do so. I see their point, especially when it comes to hills and overpasses.

Now we have a new generation of bikes and bikers. My objection is the speed at which many travel. I’ve even seen e-bikers on the road. The e-bike might as well be a motorcycle, when it comes to city roads. They’re still not suitable for highway use.

Some people who use e-bikes on paved bike/pedestrian trails do not seem to know proper protocols such announcing “on the right” when they pass. They just blow by.

I think any e-bike that can go faster than 20 or 25 MPH should have a speedometer, so they have no excuse when they travel faster than the posted speed limit.


38 posted on 04/04/2025 11:10:53 AM PDT by ChessExpert (The Democratic party must be destroyed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sirius Lee

39 posted on 04/04/2025 11:12:29 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

I see electric bikes as electric motorcycles, or scooters.

They’re not “bicycles”. Bicycles are powered by human, physical effort.


40 posted on 04/04/2025 11:14:37 AM PDT by cuban leaf (2024 is going to be one for the history books, like 1939. And 2025 will be more so, like 1940-1945.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-93 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson