Safety concerns with e-bikes and e-scooters
NEW YORK (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Sales of e-bikes and e-scooters have boomed in recent years, and with them safety concerns as the number of deaths and injuries involving the devices has grown dramatically.
If you think of dangers from e-bikes, this might flash to mind: A hot-burning battery fire, but warnings about charging the bikes may have overshadowed some more fundamental threats.
With weighty batteries and robust frames, e-bikes can zip through traffic and it doesn't take a degree in physics to know getting into an accident with a heavier and faster bike creates far more force than the classic pedal-powered bicycle.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), e-bike and e-scooter accidents led to nearly a quarter of a million (222,500) emergency room visits for riders from 2017 to 2022. In that time, there were also 215 deaths.
In New York City, officials recently rolled out a campaign to educate e-bike riders about road safety, but Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar wants to go further as she's introduced legislation to require insurance, registration and inspections for e-bikes and scooters.
"We are not against e-bikes and scooters. We just need some common-sense regulation, some rules to keep the streets safe. And that's what this is about," Rajkumar shared.
Longtime cyclist John Campso says it's overdue.
"It's a motor vehicle. It's a motor vehicle plain and simple and you're putting it in the hands of people who really aren't competant," Campso expressed.
Riding in New York City last summer, an e-scooter collided with Campso, and then fled the scene. He was left with road rash, broken ribs and other injuries.
When asked if things have to change, Campso said, "Absolutely," while adding, "It's tragic for the people who are losing their livelihoods and their lives."
A growing argument to put the brakes on an unregulated e-bike boom.
According to CPSC, more than a third of injuries involving micromobility devices involved children 14-years-old and younger.
