A stark rise in the number of Long Island e-bike and e-scooter crashes involving those under 18 prompted police, state legislators and hospital officials on Friday to call for tighter regulations of the vehicles.
Trauma case admissions at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital related to e-bikes and scooters have climbed by more than 900% between 2023 and 2025, officials with the Stony Brook Children’s Pediatric Trauma Center said at a news conference Friday at Stony Brook University. The hospital could not provide the number of incidents on Friday.
Incidents include traumatic brain injuries, “handlebar penetration,” internal bleeding, leg and ankle fractures, facial and jaw fractures, tooth loss and permanent oral injuries related to injuries from such devices, which can reach speeds of up to 25 mph, according to hospital officials.
The rise of the devices’ popularity since 2020 has presented a safety challenge both for the riders and those in their path, said Cynthia Brown, executive director of The New York Coalition for Transportation Safety.
“It’s hard to get a handle on how to deal with this,” she said.
Dr. Richard Scriven, a pediatric trauma surgeon for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital with 40 years of experience, said the recent spike in injuries has alarmed him.
“I have never seen such an explosion in the amount of admissions that we’ve seen over the last few years with these micro-mobility, or e-scooters and e-bikes,” Scriven said.
Dr. Richard Scriven, pediatric trauma surgeon at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, said he’s seen an explosion of injuries. Credit: Rick Kopstein
While many of the children the hospital treats for micromobility-related injuries have broken bones or soft tissue injuries that they can recover from, Scriven said they’ve also regularly seen life-altering skin and head injuries, as well as child deaths. At least six e-bike riders were killed on Long Island in 2025, as was one pedestrian struck by an e-bike, according to Newsday’s tracker of fatal crashes.
Scriven said more legislation is needed to get e-bike and e-scooter manufacturers to regulate the devices’ speeds and make them safer. Educating parents and children about safer riding practices for such devices in preventing such accidents is also important, Scriven added.
State Assemb. Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow) said she has co-sponsored a bill in the State Assembly that would require safety courses for e-bikes, requiring purchasers to provide a certificate showing they’ve successfully completed a safety course, and requiring operators of e-bikes to carry identification.
Earlier this month, the Nassau County Police Department posted a notice on social media that riding an electric scooter or bike that uses a throttle in any public area in Nassau County is banned, and violators could have their vehicle impounded and face fines up to $700 for repeat offenses, Newsday previously reported.
In Suffolk County, helmets are mandatory for riders of e-bikes or e-scooters. Failure to do so can result in police confiscating devices and summonses to riders ages 16 and older or to parents who are physically present, according to Gerard Hardy, Suffolk County Police Department chief of patrol. In 2025, the department saw 16 crashes from e-bikes and e-scooters countywide that resulted in serious injuries or deaths to juveniles, Hardy added.
Hardy said that the department is also focusing on public outreach to parents and children on e-scooter and e-bike awareness in public schools.
“I don’t think any death is acceptable so we have to get those numbers down, and we’re working on the enforcement side and the education side to try and get that done,” Hardy said.
Jean-Paul Salamanca covers the Town of Smithtown for Newsday.
