Citing an increase in injuries, Suffolk officials urge parents, kids to be ultra cautious when using e-bikes

Northwell doctors and Suffolk County officials declared illegal e-bike use "a public safety and a public health crisis" as emergency room visits and injuries have soared in recent years. 

At a news conference at South Shore University Hospital Thursday, Suffolk police and area doctors urged parents and e-bike riders to take precautions, including by restricting use of the devices by children, who by county law are forbidden to ride the motorized bikes if they are under 16.

Several hospitals, including at South Shore, Peconic Bay and Huntington Hospital, see about 40 serious e-bike injuries per year, Northwell doctors said. Hospitals have recently also seen up to a 30% increase in trauma cases for injured children hurt while riding e-bikes or electric scooters, said Dr. Richard Scriven, chief of pediatric surgery at South Shore.

"Both myself and everybody in the field has never seen such a shockingly sharp uptick in injuries" from a new technology, Scriven said. "About 10 years ago, these devices didn't really exist. So, there's been literally more than a thousandfold increase in the patients that we've seen."

Suffolk County passed legislation last year barring anyone under 16 from using an e-bike on public property or streets. The law also requires helmets for all operators of the electric bikes, regardless of age.

Suffolk’s laws are more restrictive than New York City's, including by requiring that all e-powered bikes have operable pedals, have a motor under 750 watts and cannot go faster than 20 mph. The bikes also cannot be ridden on sidewalks or roads with speed limits above 30 mph.

Suffolk police so far this year have responded to crashes involving either e-bikes, e-scooters or dirt bikes that killed one person and seriously injured a dozen people. 

South Shore University Hospital treated 25 people injured in such crashes last year and 15 crashes so far this year.

Many riders were treated for multiple broken bones or head injuries, often the result of not wearing a helmet, Scriven said. Some were as young as 8 years old.

"We're seeing people not wearing helmets, and they're coming in with very preventable injuries," said Jerry Rubano, a trauma surgeon at South Shore University Hospital. "It’s a true public health crisis that we're seeing. It sounds a little bit dramatic when we say things like that, but when there's a mechanism that's hurting both kids and adult patients, it really becomes an issue that we felt passionate about addressing."

Police have seized more than 200 e-bikes from children under 16. They or their parents face fines of up to $500 for a first offense and up to $5,000 or jail for a third or subsequent offense, according to the legislation.

"The laws of Suffolk County are strict for a reason — to keep riders and everyone sharing our roadways safe," Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said.

Suffolk Executive Edward P. Romaine said the county was focused on cracking down on e-bikes as a public safety threat and may look to increase fines or institute helmet requirements similar to those for motorcycle riders.

“This is a public nuisance that possesses the ability to create physical harm to the rider and to others,” Romaine said. “So this message is not only for those who ride these bikes, it's for the parents of those who ride these, particularly the underage. We're finding a lot of underage people out there with these bikes.”

Catalina said e-bikes used by minors will be impounded and parents may be ticketed. He urged parents to supervise children riding the power-assisted bikes and equated those riding bikes illegally to playing with a loaded gun.

"Allowing your 14-year-old child to operate an e-bike, particularly without a helmet, is really not much difference than different than giving them a load handgun," Catalina said. "So every parent out there should consider that. It's extremely dangerous and can result in their death."

Citing the e-bikes’ proliferation and a crash involving an electric scooter that killed two on Manhattan’s Queensborough Bridge earlier this summer, two state lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation to prohibit the sale of illegal high-speed electric vehicles, which are also known as “e-motos.”

“Many of our neighbors depend on e-bikes and other micromobility devices to get around or for their livelihoods, and they deserve to be safe while using them,” Assemb. Diana Moreno (D-Queens) said in a joint statement with State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D-Queens), the pair who introduced the bill in their respective chambers. "Together, we will ensure that all New Yorkers can feel safe using our public streets.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.