Not that you need injury data to know that fast throttle-activated electric two-wheelers pose considerable danger especially for younger riders, but let’s see what we can learn from the dataset that the California Highway Patrol publishes.
It’s the StateWide Integrated Traffic Records System or SWITRS. It compiles traffic crash data reported by local police departments, sheriff's offices, and the CHP to help track traffic safety trends.
A recent UCSD study mentioned that it is searchable by brand name although that field is not always filled in on the underlying reports.
I searched for the top 12 brands by year, 2019 to 2025, the most recent year in the dataset. “Top” in terms of crashes, that is. RadPower and Super73 are neck and neck in the lead, followed by Hyper, Sur-Ron, Aventon, Talaria, Lectric and so on, including Ridstar and Jasion.
To be sure, these data would be more informative if we had a reliable denominator, like number of units sold or miles driven. We are still in search of that information.
Meanwhile, the age distribution is also intriguing, from research and public policy perspectives. Of all the crashes for that brand, how many involved, say, 11-14 year olds? For Macfox and Super73, it’s over 50%. Ridstar is not far behind. That may be because they are marketed more for the younger set, which is a problem in and of itself.
