The sudden surge of children riding e-bikes isn’t just annoying trail runners and cars — it’s landing kids in the emergency room at an explosive rate, according to Children’s Hospital Colorado.
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Children’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora saw a 184% increase in children severely injured by e-bikes between 2024 and 2025, said Alicia Melven, an injury prevention and outreach specialist for the hospital’s trauma program. As of June, the hospital had documented more traumatic e-bike injuries in 2026 than in all of 2025, she said.
The exact number of injuries for each year was not available Thursday, but Melven said the statistics are drawn from the hospital’s trauma registry. That means the family met with a trauma surgeon for the child’s severe injuries. The statistics do not include minor injuries, which are significantly harder to track across patients, and a statewide database does not yet exist for e-bike crashes.
Those statistics are specific to the Anschutz campus, but Dr. Maria Mandt, director of emergency medical services and critical care transport at the campus, said similar trends have been spotted across the state, including at the Children’s Hospital in Colorado Springs.
E-bikes’ increased speed makes them difficult to control and can launch kids who crash harder and farther than analog bicycles, Melven said.
“While these devices can be a fun and convenient way to get around, they can also cause serious injuries that can change a child’s life in an instant,” Mandt said, adding that she treats a child injured in an e-bike accident nearly every shift.
Families are often surprised by the severity of the crash, she said.
“These are not simple scrapes and bruises,” Mandt said. “We frequently see traumatic brain injuries, including skull fractures and concussions. … We see severe internal bleeding and organ damage, and of course, many, many broken bones.”
These injuries — which Mandt said have increased drastically in the last year and a half — often require emergency room visits, surgeries, hospital stays and lengthy recoveries. Many children spend weeks away from school and “some are never the same again, requiring chronic medical care,” she said.
“Many of the injuries and life-changing events that we see every day are preventable with the right precautions and the right supervision,” Mandt said.
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Part of the danger stems from a misunderstanding of the different classes of e-bikes, leading some parents to purchase products that fall into the motorcycle category, Colorado State Patrol Lt. Col. Josh Downing said.
An e-bike’s speed is capped at 28 mph, and its engine can generate up to 750 watts, Downing said. If it’s faster or more powerful — whether by design or post-purchase modifications — then its rider needs a motorcycle license to operate it.
More frequent use of both vehicles, as well as electronic scooters, has caused a surge in traffic violations, public complaints and safety concerns, he said.
“While these e-devices are often marketed as toys, they have power, weight and speed that can severely injure or kill the rider or person that they hit,” Downing said.
If an underage rider is caught on an e-motorcycle, they can be cited for not having a license, registration or insurance, Downing said.
Children should wear helmets certified for their bike’s maximum speed, regardless of age or skill, and bright clothing or reflectors to increase visibility on the trail and road, Mandt said. Families should know local laws and age requirements for e-bikes, which vary by municipality, and make sure kids ride at safe speeds with an eye on their surroundings, she said.
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