An e-bike rider was hit by a vehicle along Interstate-5 in Oceanside on Saturday evening.
It happened near the I-5 entrance ramp at Mission Avenue in front of Oceanside High School. According to California Highway Patrol investigators, the crash damaged the bike and seriously injured the person who had to be transported to an area hospital.
Officers interviewed the driver of the vehicle. They have not released the exact age of the young bike rider.
“We’re not discouraging people from buying them. We just want parents to know they could potentially be dangerous," said Carlos Delgado, public information officer for Rady Children’s Hospital. He said there has been a dramatic increase in e-bike injuries involving children.
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Delgado said, "We have seen everything from broken bones to head injuries, and facial injuries. (Many of them) so severe they require hospitalization for several days and weeks."
The hospital reported more than 140 electric bicycle-related child injuries this year. Four of them came into the emergency room just this past week. The serious injuries were to patients between 5 to 17 years old.
"We have seen everything from broken bones to head injuries, and facial injuries. (Many of them) so severe they require hospitalization for several days and weeks."
Carlos Delgado, Public Information Officer Rady Children's Hospital
The increase in e-bike injuries has prompted a new California law.
AB 2234 was signed by Gov. Newsom in late September and goes into effect next week in 2025. The law allows cities within San Diego County, or the county itself, to ban electric bicycles for riders who are younger than 12 years old.
E-bikes run on electric power or by pedaling. Some models can reach speeds up to 28 miles per hour. They also out-size many children.
The new law will function as a pilot program across the county including cities like Encinitas and Carlsbad that have already declared local emergencies in reaction to deadly crashes.
In Carlsbad in 2022, Christine Hawk Embree was killed on Aug. 7 while riding her e-bike with her daughter near the corner of Basswood Avenue and Valley Street in Carlsbad. The following week, on Aug. 15, 68-year-old Solana Beach resident Brad Catcott and two others were seriously hurt when a motorcycle crashed into a bicycle on an ocean-front street in Carlsbad, authorities reported.
Then, in Encinitas last year, 15-year-old Brodee Champlain-Kingman was riding his bike near the intersection of El Camino Real and Santa Fe Drive. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department said he rode into the path of a work van, was hit and was taken to the hospital where he later died.
“The message is really keep an eye on your children. Make sure they have elbow, knee pads, and the helmets. Those could help reduce injuries if there is some sort of accident," said Delgado.
