Election Day, November 3, brought good news for many of us — in the form of an insightful article in Time Magazine. When I read the headline — “E-Bike and E-Scooter Accidents Are Skyrocketing Among Children” — I feared the article would be another in the long line of stories misattributing e-moto injuries and fatalities to e-bikes.
As Streetsblog USA described the phenomenon: “Why Deadly, Illegal E-Motos Are On The Rise - And Why E-Bikes Are Being Blamed When They Crash.” This confusion has also led lawmakers down the wrong track. To quote another Streetsblog headline: “State Lawmakers Aim At Illegal E-Motos, But Hit E-Bikes Instead.”
But despite the Time headline writer, the article itself got it right — thanks to Dr. Preeti Panda, a pediatric emergency room doctor at the renowned Stanford Children’s Hospital. She is also an assistant professor at Stanford University Medical School. To quote the article:
“What many people don’t realize, however, is that what people often call “e-bikes” are in fact e-motos, says Dr. Preeti Panda [who] has seen firsthand the rise in cases. She says she sees at least one e-device injury every shift she works.”
Noting that 20 mph is the top speed for throttle devices sold as e-bikes (without licensing and registration requirements), the articles continues:
“When Panda asked her young patients in the emergency room how fast their [so-called] e-bikes go, though, she gets answers like 35-45 m.p.h., and even highter. ‘So —that’s not an e-bike. In California and many states now, e-motos are actually illegal to ride on the street'“ without a driver’s license and DMV plates.
“‘If a child injures someone else or destroys property accidentally on one of these devices that are illegal, both the child and the parents can be held liable and charged criminally. So it’s a big deal’, explained Dr. Panda.
“Dr, Panda added that based on her observations at local high schools, “80-90% of the e-devices were all e-motos . . . I saw very few e-bikes.”
Let’s hope that Dr. Panda’s insights spread to her colleagues at Stanford and beyond. The day before Election Day, two Stanford doctors joined by colleagues from eight other hospitals around the U.S. published a “research letter” in the Journal of the American Medical Association, entitled “Injuries From Electric Bicycles and Scooters Managed in Pediatric Health Systems.” Their data did not attempt to disaggregate e-bikes from e-motos, so they attributed all e-moto injuries to e-bikes. They did not even advert to the data problem or indicate any awareness of e-motos.
All of this points up the critical need for better data. Hospitals and first responders should be coding injuries and fatalities separately for e-bikes and e-motos. Photos by first responders will help identify whether the device is an e-bike or e-moto.