CHULA VISTA (KGTV) — A recent crash involving a child on an e-bike in Eastlake, Chula Vista, highlights a growing safety concern, as local hospitals report a record number of e-bike trauma injuries.
The Chula Vista Police Department said it responded to an e-bike crash near Olympic Parkway and Heritage Road on Tuesday around 3:17 p.m. While police said no one was taken to the hospital, medical professionals warn that severe accidents are increasing and outpacing those of this time last year.
Matt Derkrikorian, Director of the Emergency Department Trauma Programs and Urgent Cares at Rady Children's Hospital, said the facility had 32 patients come in for e-bike trauma injuries in January 2026, compared to only 13 in January of 2025.
"So we are up to almost 50 patients just in the first 60-ish days of the year," Derkrikorian said. "Over the last 14 months, we've been averaging about 22 patients, and just a couple of years ago, we had three patients for the whole year with e-bike injuries."
Derkrikorian said e-bike injuries are about four times more likely to require hospitalization. Children under 15 are arriving by EMS transport and requiring surgery or hospitalization. He noted that many times, the injured children were not wearing helmets.
"So we're seeing some pretty severe head injuries," Derkrikorian said. "We're really seeing a lot of fractures and you know we're even seeing abdominal injuries that result in internal bleeding."
Derkrikorian said they've also discovered that children are "jailbreaking" the e-bikes, figuring out ways around safeguards so the bikes can go faster. He also noted that there is often someone riding on the back.
"So even more concerning than that is we're seeing kids being thrown off when they're either losing control or being hit by another vehicle and then you're getting run over by the other vehicles in the roadway," Derkrikorian said.
Last year, the city of Chula Vista passed an e-bike safety ordinance.
The ordinance imposes stricter age limits for kids to legally ride the three classes of e-bikes. It also keeps e-bikes off sidewalks and allows the city to fine parents whose kids break those rules.
Councilmember Michael Inzunza has been a major advocate for making e-bike regulations stricter than California's. He reports that since the ordinance took effect, the number of children under 12 who have been injured in e-bike crashes has declined.
"We have more work to do," Inzunza said, as he pushes for more laws to regulate e-motorcycles.
"That has become our biggest problem," Inzunza said. "They don't pedal, and they go up to 70 miles an hour. So the kids you see running through red lights, popping wheelies, those are e-motorcycles."
Inzunza is looking to see whether the DMV will take action to prevent more children from getting hurt.
"They should require driver's licenses. They should require license plates, things of that nature to hold parents accountable," Inzunza said. "Another interesting note about what Rady's Children's Hospital is reporting to the city of Chula Vista is that in the last two years, there have been more traumatic brain injuries, more than the last 15 years combined in San Diego County, and that's directly attributed to e-bike incidents and accidents all over the county."
