Officials Look to Get a Handle on E-Bikes in Santa Barbara County

Every day, Cottage Hospital’s Emergency Room sees anywhere from three to six individuals involved in an e-bike accident of one kind or another. To date, Cottage ER has not dealt with any fatalities caused by e-bike accidents, but the injuries are serious — bone fractures, facial fractures, head injuries, internal organ injuries, and all the usual lacerations, contusions, and abrasions that result from a flying faceplant over the handlebars. 

According to Denise McDonald, Director of Emergency and Trauma Services at Cottage, about 50 percent of the e-bike riders wheeled into the ER were not wearing helmets. About 40 percent of those injured were 18 years old or younger; 60 percent were adults. 

E-bikes first popped onto Cottage’s ER radar in 2024, but beginning in 2025, e-bike injuries surpassed the number of those sustained by riders of traditional bikes. That’s the year Cottage began coding its admission report documents to statistically track the prevalence of e-bike injuries. While that tracking adds a higher level of specificity, AMR medics typically don’t have the time to distinguish just what kind of e-bike the injured rider was riding. Was it one that traveled at a top speed of 17 miles per hour, the Class II bikes that top out at 28 miles per hour, or the electric motorcycles equipped with ornamental foot pedals that zoom at speeds up to 50 miles per hour and terrorize pedestrians on State Street and the Obern bike trail connecting Santa Barbara with UCSB? 

That level of granularity is of keen interest to County Supervisor Laura Capps and Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte and the 25 high-level stakeholders they met with last week for a what-can-be-done skull session at the Goleta Community Center. McDonald and her Cottage colleague Mayra Henson, an RN and Prevention coordinator, were among the 25, delivering their sobering stats. 

“This is a tough one,” said Capps. “There’s no easy or obvious solutions.”

Law enforcement was well represented. The City Police Department has issued nearly 600 citations thus far this year, picking up the pace on enforcement. The state legislature has passed four bills on to the governor, after having rejected two others. Law enforcement representatives, Capps said, cautioned against too many new laws; staffing constraints make them hard-pressed to enforce existing ones. 

School administrators were on hand; the Santa Barbara Unified School District just imposed new requirements for students who rely on e-bikes to get around. Most had to do with education, training, wearing bike helmets, and avoiding wheelies and riding two to a bike. The turbo-charged electric motorcycles that don’t conform to the legal definition of an e-bike will not be allowed on campus. 

McDonald and Henson cautioned that not all bike helmets are engineered to handle the sudden impact caused when crashing at the higher speeds. They recommend a specific Dutch make and model that’s equipped to absorb impact at 28 miles per hour. Most bike helmets, they noted, are designed for collisions at no more than 17 miles per hour. 

Well before confronting the health issues posed by e-bikes, McDonald bought an e-bike of her own. One ride was enough. “It scared me to death,” she said.

After attending last week’s meeting, however, McDonald said her mind was opened to the allure, opportunity, affordability, practicality, and independence that e-bikes offer. And that stiffened her resolve — and that of Henson’s too — to make them safer. 

Henson is working to get helmets onto the heads of e-bike riders. She hopes to talk to patients recovering from their injuries. 

“We have a captive audience,” she joked, though not really. 

And she expressed a keen appreciation for the power of stories. Cities like Encinitas are further down the road in responding to e-bikes. But three years ago, a 15-year-old rider there was killed. 

“We’re hoping we can figure this out before someone gets killed,” Capps said. 

Last weekend, the Orange County District Attorney hosted an e-bike buy-back program. That idea hasn’t gained traction here. Mostly, the stakeholders are focused on educating new riders on the rules of the road — and educating parents about the power such bikes pack. 

Sarah Iannarone, the new executive of MOVE — an alt-transit bike advocacy organization — has hosted two subsequent gatherings. 

“There’s no obvious solutions,” Capps repeated. “But everyone’s talking about it — all the time.”