Three years ago, Jim Ireland started noticing a distressing trend: Paramedics with the Honolulu Emergency Services Department were seeing more and more serious injuries involving electric bikes and scooters. 

The injuries ranged from scrapes to serious head trauma. Most disturbingly, the victims were often young kids. 

“These are, you know, tough calls for the paramedics, because devastating injuries, young people,” Ireland, who is director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, told Civil Beat. “You know, paramedics are tough. They’re smart. This is what they’re trained for … But they’re all human beings, too. And so to see these over and over again, it takes a toll.”

Ireland and his team decided to raise awareness about the dangers of the increasingly popular e-bikes, which are bicycles with fully operable pedals that also have electric motors. EMS started putting out press releases about every significant injury they responded to involving an electric bike or scooter. 

“People started to take notice,” he said. Still, injuries have continued to rise.

Now, lawmakers have — for the second time — passed a bill attempting to rein in dangerous e-bike riding. Gov. Josh Green vetoed a measure passed by the Legislature last year because of concerns from the Attorney General’s Office that it didn’t do enough to specifically exempt certain vehicles like electric cars.

State Rep. Darius Kila believes House Bill 2021 addresses the AG’s concerns. The bill, which has passed the Legislature and is now awaiting the governor’s signature, lays out definitions for e-bikes and other electric vehicles, bans certain high-speed vehicles from public roadways and bike lanes, places age restrictions on e-bike use and requires helmets for all riders under 18. 

The governor has until June 30 to inform the Legislature if he plans to veto a bill.

The law includes some restrictions already in place in Honolulu, where a city ordinance passed in 2025 has required helmets for minors, prohibited dangerous maneuvers like wheelies and limited e-bike motors to 750 watts.  

“I’m not saying that these things shouldn’t be on our roadways,” Kila said, “but there has to be compliance.”

Increasing Injuries

Statewide, the number of e-bike injuries more than doubled between 2022 and 2025, from 106 to 244, according to the state Department of Health. 

In Honolulu alone, the number of injuries related to electric bikes jumped from 110 in 2023 to 181 in 2025, according to data from Honolulu EMS. There have been 71 e-bike-related injuries so far this year. 

About a third of e-bike injuries last year happened to children under 18. More than half weren’t wearing helmets.   

Honolulu EMS data does not include deaths because the agency does not track those who die of their injuries later at a hospital. The Department of Health said it also does not track e-bike fatalities, but fatal crashes have made headlines in recent years. 

In March 2025, a 7-year-old girl died from injuries she suffered in an e-bike crash in ʻEwa Beach. In August of that year, a 15-year-old died while riding an e-bike in ʻEwa Beach.

What makes the bikes so dangerous is their speed, Ireland said. E-bikes can go up to 28 mph. But some other popular devices, like electric motorcycles, can go much faster. 

The bill defines an e-bike as a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor with no more than 750 watts, which can usually reach speeds up to 28 mph. The bill also separates e-bikes into three classes.

Class 1 bikes have motors that kick in only while the rider is pedaling and stop when the bike reaches 20 mph. Class 2 bikes have a motor that can be used even when the rider is not pedaling but also stop at 20 mph. The third class of bike is equipped with a speedometer and can go up to 28 mph. 

These definitions are important because they separate e-bikes from faster, more powerful devices that are more likely to cause serious crashes, said Eduardo Hernandez, advocacy director at Hawaiʻi Bicycling League. About 40 states have similar laws defining and regulating e-bikes, he said. 

The bill defines “high-speed electric devices” as having motors over 750 watts and being capable of going over 28 mph. 

That includes high-powered electric dirt bikes, like the one that struck and killed a beloved Honolulu pastor, Alex Michel, in 2021 while he was jogging on Fort Weaver Road in ʻEwa Beach. 

Electric dirt bikes like that one would be banned from operating on any public road or sidewalk under the new law. 

Mopeds and electric motorcycles would be prohibited from traveling in bike lanes and would have to be driven on the road, according to the bill. 

The bill allows all classes of e-bikes to be ridden on sidewalks as long as they remain under 10 mph. It prohibits riders from doing reckless maneuvers, such as standing or kneeling on seats or popping wheelies. It also prohibits children under 16 from using class 2 or 3 e-bikes unless under the direct supervision of an adult and requires helmets for all e-bike riders under 18. 

Providing Clarity On E-Bikes

The bill provides clarity and will hopefully prevent people from lumping e-bikes in with other more dangerous vehicles, Hernandez said. 

“It will allow e-bikes to have their rightful space in the transportation space, which is as a subset of a bicycle,” he said. 

Samantha Lara, president of the Hawaiʻi Bicycling League, said using an e-bike is the best way for her to get around, run errands and commute to work. She has an electric cargo bike that can go up to 20 mph and is equipped for two people. She’s been using it as her primary mode of transportation since she sold her car in 2023. 

She uses it to take her 15-year-old daughter to school, pick up groceries and commute to her job in Kāneʻohe from her home in Waikīkī. 

As an avid rider herself, she feels there’s been a lot of misinformation about e-bikes that she hopes this new law can help clear up. As more people choose to ride bikes, she hopes it will help raise awareness and establish clear ground rules for safety. 

A few months ago, she was stopped by a state law enforcement officer while riding her bike with her daughter. He told her she wasn’t allowed to be carrying her daughter on her bike and gave her a warning, but Lara’s bike is equipped for two people. She pushed back, and the officer didn’t give her a citation. 

“I’m an avid bicyclist commuter. If it wasn’t somebody like me, that could have been very scary for somebody,” she said. “They could have been like, ‘Oh, I never want to bike again. I don’t want to get in trouble,’ which is totally fair.”

She doesn’t support the age restrictions on e-bike use because she thinks e-bikes can be positive modes of transportation for kids if used safely. But she hopes the law will lead to more clarity about what e-bikes are and how different types of vehicles should be driven on the road. She’s especially glad about the no mopeds in bike lanes provision because that’s an issue she sees often while biking in Honolulu. 

“Bikes need their own space, first and foremost,” she said. “And I think that people need to be educated on how to drive with bikes.” 

Ireland said he understands why e-bikes are so popular, he just wants them to be ridden responsibly. 

“They’re a relatively inexpensive way to get around, they’re green, environmentally friendly. They’re great for young people who may not want to invest in a car,” he said. “It’s just, we want people to be able to use them safely.”