Motor vehicles were involved in approximately 55% of reported e-bike deaths between 2017 and 2024, compared with about 24% of estimated e-bike emergency room injuries in 2024, according to a study from H&P Law.
The contrast puts the interaction between electric bicycles and larger vehicles at the center of the safety debate. While falls and loss of control also appear in the fatality data, collisions involving motor vehicles account for a substantial share of the deaths documented in the study.
H&P Law’s analysis combines national injury and fatality findings with a state roadway-risk index covering all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Louisiana ranks highest on that index, while Nevada places seventh.
The findings arrive against a sharp increase in estimated emergency room visits. However, the study also identifies an important limitation: without comprehensive information about how many people ride e-bikes or how far they travel, rising injury totals cannot establish whether an individual trip has become more dangerous.
The Motor Vehicle Connection
Of the 310 e-bike deaths reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission between 2017 and 2024, 170 involved motor vehicles, according to the figures presented by H&P Law.
For estimated emergency room injuries in 2024, motor vehicle involvement was substantially less common. Approximately 14,300 injuries involved a motor vehicle, representing about 24% of the estimated total.
| Motor vehicle involvement | Estimated e-bike ER injuries, 2024 | Reported e-bike deaths, 2017–2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Motor vehicle involved | Approximately 24% | Approximately 55% |
| Number involving motor vehicles | Approximately 14,300 | 170 |
| Total injuries or deaths in the dataset | Approximately 59,200 | 310 |
The columns cover different periods and reporting systems. They should not be used to calculate the probability that a collision will be fatal.
The injury records also contain significant gaps. Motor vehicles were reported as absent in 44% of estimated injuries, while involvement was unspecified in 32%.
Those unknown cases prevent a complete accounting of how often cars and trucks feature in injury incidents. Even with that limitation, motor vehicle involvement stands out in the reported fatality figures.
Other circumstances also appear in the death records. The study identifies 61 fatalities involving loss of control and 35 involving unspecified falls. These figures describe reported circumstances; they should not automatically be treated as mutually exclusive categories.
Emergency Room Injuries Reach an Estimated 59,200
The national injury figures show a substantial increase in the number of people requiring emergency treatment.
H&P Law reports that CPSC estimates reached 59,200 e-bike emergency room injuries in 2024, compared with an annual average of approximately 6,300 between 2017 and 2021.
That makes the 2024 estimate roughly 9.4 times the earlier annual average.
Reported deaths also increased, rising from 57 in 2022 to 97 in 2024.
| Measure | Earlier figure | Later figure | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated annual e-bike ER injuries | Approximately 6,300, averaged across 2017–2021 | 59,200 in 2024 | Approximately 9.4 times the earlier average |
| Reported annual e-bike deaths | 57 in 2022 | 97 in 2024 | Approximately 70% increase |
The death figures represent cases known to the CPSC, rather than necessarily complete national totals. Reporting can lag by as much as two years, according to the study.
The injury increase also needs context. Greater e-bike use creates more opportunities for injuries, even if the risk associated with each ride remains unchanged. The figures document a growing volume of emergency treatment, but they do not isolate the effects of ridership growth, distance traveled, riding conditions or equipment.
Nevada’s Seventh-Place Ranking Reflects Several Measures
H&P Law’s state index examines the roadway environment through three weighted measures. Because state-level e-bike fatality data are not widely available, the index uses motorized-bicycle and pedalcyclist fatalities as proxies.
| Index component | Measurement period | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Motorized-bicycle fatalities per million residents | Annualized across 2022–2024 | 50% |
| Pedalcyclist fatalities per 100,000 residents | Average across 2023–2024 | 35% |
| Pedalcyclists’ share of all traffic deaths | 2024 | 15% |
The ranking therefore measures a combination of roadway fatality indicators. It does not establish how much more likely an individual e-bike rider is to be injured in one state than another.
Nevada places seventh because its results are elevated across all three components, according to H&P Law.
The state recorded:
- 0.306 motorized-bicycle fatalities per million residents, approximately 25% above the index benchmark.
- 0.450 pedalcyclist fatalities per 100,000 residents, approximately 34% above the benchmark and the seventh-highest state rate.
- A 3.6% pedalcyclist share of 2024 traffic deaths, the ninth-highest share nationally.
Louisiana, which leads the index, recorded 0.870 motorized-bicycle fatalities per million residents and 0.865 pedalcyclist fatalities per 100,000 residents. Pedalcyclists accounted for 5.9% of its traffic deaths.
Seven of the top 10 jurisdictions—Louisiana, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida, Delaware, Nevada and California—exceeded the index benchmark on every component. That pattern indicates that their placement reflects multiple elevated indicators rather than a single outlying statistic.
Adults Account for Most Injuries
Although youth riding receives considerable attention, the age breakdown presented in the study shows that adults account for the largest injury shares.
Riders ages 25 to 44 represented 35% of estimated injuries, followed by those ages 45 to 64 at 27%. Together, those two groups accounted for 62%.
| Age group | Share of estimated e-bike injuries |
|---|---|
| Ages 5–14 | Approximately 8% |
| Ages 15–24 | 19% |
| Ages 25–44 | 35% |
| Ages 45–64 | 27% |
Selected age groups are shown; percentages do not total 100%.
Older teenagers and young adults were nevertheless overrepresented relative to their population share. People ages 15 to 24 accounted for 19% of injuries while representing approximately 13% of the population.
That comparison does not adjust for how frequently each age group rides. It identifies a demographic imbalance in the injury figures, rather than a measured risk per trip.
Males accounted for 78% of injured riders and 82% of reported fatality victims. Injuries also showed a seasonal pattern, with each month from June through September accounting for approximately 11% to 13% of recorded injuries.
Where Injuries Occur Adds Another Dimension
The study’s location findings draw attention to the spaces e-bike riders use.
For 2024, approximately 34,300 estimated injuries occurred on paved roads, representing 58% of the total. Another 11,400, or approximately 19%, occurred on paved sidewalks.
Across 2017–2024, streets and highways accounted for 52% of injuries with a known location. Location was unknown in 36% of cases.
These figures use different periods and definitions, so they are not directly interchangeable. They nevertheless show that roadways feature prominently in the injury records.
Additional findings reported by H&P Law include:
- Approximately 15% of injured riders in 2024 were traveling at least 20 mph; speed was unspecified in 38% of cases.
- Approximately one-quarter of injuries involved an incline, including 20% downhill and 5% uphill.
- Approximately 5,900 injuries involved low light or poor visibility, accounting for 10% of the estimated total.
The data do not establish that speed, road surface or visibility caused those injuries. Nor do injury counts alone show which setting is safest, because the study does not measure how much riding occurs in each environment.
A Broader Road Safety Question
H&P Law’s findings place e-bike safety within a wider transportation issue: riders operate vehicles with limited physical protection in spaces also used by substantially larger vehicles.
The reported death records make that interaction particularly consequential. Motor vehicles featured in more than half of documented fatalities, while paved roads accounted for the majority of estimated injuries in 2024.
For Nevada, the seventh-place index ranking adds a local dimension to the national findings. Its elevated results across all three roadway measures suggest that evaluating e-bike safety requires attention to the surrounding traffic environment alongside rider behavior.
The study leaves important questions unresolved, particularly how injury rates compare after accounting for ridership and miles traveled. But the documented increase in emergency treatment, combined with the prevalence of motor vehicles in reported deaths, provides a clear basis for examining how electric bicycles fit into roads designed to accommodate much heavier traffic.