San Diego County counted 865 emergency department visits and 186 hospitalizations tied to electric bicycles in a single year, and its health department has now told clinicians to start treating e-bike use as something to ask about during ordinary checkups.
The county's health advisory, issued through the California Health Alert Network, uses 2024 data and states plainly that "youth are disproportionately affected." Children under 12 accounted for 56 of the emergency visits and seven of the hospitalizations.
