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Two Ohio legislators plan to introduce legislation imposing regulation on electric "e-bikes" the lawmakers say are killling and injuring an alarming number of young people.
The proposed legislation would require registration of the bikes and passage of a safety class before riding them.
Emergency room workers, mayors, and school teachers are among those who have requested bill, the legislators said.
"This is something that I don't think is a partisan issue," said Sen. Bill DeMora D-Columbus. "It's a safety issue.”
The bill has not yet been introduced but potential requirements include prohibiting anyone 14-years-old and younger from operating an e-bike, required helmets and registration of both the owners of the bike and the operator.
There are no state statewide regulations on e-bikes, even though people ride them on public streets, the lawmakers said. The state does regulate speed limits on cars and motorcycles.
"These are motor vehicles," DeMora said of e-bikes. "You are going from one place to another."
Local elected officials are begging the legislators to pass an e-bike statewide law, DeMora said.
More than 20,000 people are injured each year and 3,000 hospitalized in e-bike accidents each year, the American College of Surgeons said in 2025.
"Electric bicycles are an increasingly popular mode of transportation and recreation," the group said. "However, their use is associated with a growing number of serious injuries, particularly among children and adolescents.”
Head injuries are the most common.
"Only a third of injured patients are reported to wear helmets," the surgeon's group said.
E-bikes are part of the evolving transportation landscape but state laws have not kept us, Mora said.
"I think Columbus still has rules on where you can tie up your horse," he said. “We have regulations for cars, we have regulations for motorcycles. When futuristic things like this come along, they have to be regulated because they are transportation and they are on roads that the state gas tax is paying for.”