By now, most Long Islanders have heard of e-bikes and their mobility benefits — and dangers.
Electric motor bicycles can be a boon to those with limited mobility and others looking to enjoy the outdoors. But laws regulating e-bikes can overlap or omit guidance, causing confusion among riders, parents and the public. As e-bike sales skyrocket — 2.2 million were imported into the United States in 2025 — corresponding emergency room visits are rising just as dramatically, especially among children. Long Island in particular needs a comprehensive plan to ensure safe and proper use of e-bikes to avert an avoidable public health crisis.
E-bikes are an integral part of city life that allow users, including delivery people, to travel quickly and easily. They help people get to buses or subways while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Almost 400 municipalities nationwide offer self-service e-bike rentals.
But suburbia is experiencing a sharp rise in e-bike use and injuries as well. On Long Island, e-bikes are more commonly used for recreation, providing greater mobility for children and seniors who don’t drive a car. They’re fun for kids and safer than mopeds, which are faster.
The dangers from crashes caused by speeding and a lack of uniform laws and regulations are causing officials and parents to sound the alarm. New York City hospitals reported a spike in emergency room visits from e-bike, e-scooter and hoverboard accidents in 2023, and nationally the total number and frequency of injuries caused by micromobility products are increasing.
Hospitals nationwide have reported alarming rises in visits associated with e-bike injuries. Last summer, officials in Huntington Beach, California, created the first police-led student e-bike safety initiative. A similar effort would help Long Islanders.
Just in time for spring, the Nassau County Police Department this month posted a social media notice warning that anyone riding an electric scooter or bicycle that uses a throttle in a public area could face a $700 fine. The NCPD told Newsday’s news division it was enforcing a 2006 county law, but a Long Island attorney and e-bike expert said the county was misinterpreting the law.
We appreciate NCPD’s efforts to keep e-bike riders, especially kids, safe. One Newsday letter writer, however, expressed frustration that older people who use e-bikes with a throttle to help climb hills, among other challenges, will be unfairly penalized.
A commission comprised of elected leaders at all levels of Long Island government, health care professionals, law enforcement officials, parents and kids must be created and empowered to provide solutions and education. Laws must be uniform and streamlined, and their implementation should coincide with a public education campaign, especially on social media, to thwart this danger. E-bike riders who ride recklessly by weaving in and out of traffic or terrorizing pedestrians on sidewalks should be reined in.
The safety of people riding e-bikes and pedestrians who are impacted is too important to leave to a “ban now, educate later” strategy.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
Members of the editorial board are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
