E-bikes have become a popular trend among young riders, but their high speeds are raising concerns about the safety risks involved. Now there is data to support it. Police data released by the City of San Diego revealed that just in the last five years e-bike crashes across San Diego have near ly quadrupled. One of the points of controversy surrounding the motorized bikes has been their speed. That’s why cities like San Diego have proposed setting an age limit for e-bike riders. “I’m learning how to use it so that I can drive myself to middle school next year,” Yosmelin Lopez said. Yosmelin is 13-years-old and she’s learning how to ride her e-bike because soon it will be her source of transportation. “How fast would you be travelling to go to school? Maybe like 25 MPH,” Lopez said. She’s not alone. Ten-year-old Beckett Clookie also owns an e-bike. “I see them on the internet and all my friends have them and they just look so fun and cool,” Clookie said. There’s no question that e-bikes are efficient and a fun mode of transport, but some can reach speeds up to 30 MPH. While their higher speed is part of the appeal to many kids and teens, new data released by San Diego Police shows e-bike injuries are skyrocketing and becoming more serious. The numbers reveal e-bike crashes climbed from at least 23 in 2021 to at least 84 in 2025, but it did not specify the ages of those involved. During the 5-year period, 13 percent of the wrecks happened in The Pacific Beach and Mission Beach neighborhoods. More than half of the violations included miscellaneous hazardous violations, unsafe speed and unsafe turns, or no turn signal. “It feels scary going 20, it’s fast. You feel like you’re going to lose control and get hurt,” Clookie said. Earlier this year, Rady Children’s Health Orange County published a national study that found a sharp increase in the number of hospital visits with pediatric trauma admissions. Patients affected by the e-bike related injuries during the study were teens whose ages ranged from 13 to 18. According to the study, travelling at speeds greater than 20 MPH resulted in loss of e-bike control and crashes, resulting in traumatic injuries that are more likely to include: head, neck, and face injury, as well as fractures, concussions, or internal injuries. “I feel like these things with their electric power, the kids should be required to go through training,” Toni Harker said. While Beckett said his grandfather taught him how to ride his e-bike, he still understands there are risks involved. “If you don’t know the road laws you can go on the middle of the street like on a busy road and you can get hurt doing that. If you’re not on the sidewalk you can get hurt, if you’re not wearing a helmet, you just have to be safe.” Earlier this year San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl told NBC 7 e-bike safety has become a growing concern. “SDPD fully supports regulations that provide clear, reasonable rules to allow officers to address unsafe behavior while keeping education at the forefront,” he added. ...read more read less