HAGERSTOWN, Md. — E-bikes, e-scooters and a new breed of high-powered “e-motos” are sending more Americans to the emergency room than ever. In West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, the laws on the books were largely written with ordinary bicycles in mind.
Federal regulators estimate emergency rooms treated about 155,200 e-bike injuries from 2017 through 2024, according to an April 2026 report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most came recently: an estimated 59,200 injuries in 2024 alone, compared with an average of about 6,300 a year from 2017 through 2021.
The commission also is aware of roughly 310 e-bike deaths over the same period, 97 of them in 2024, the highest on record. The agency cautions that its death counts rely on reports it receives and are likely incomplete…