In the U.S., e-bikes are an increasingly popular way for teenagers and young adults to get around, with market data suggesting nearly 1 million e-bikes were sold in 2024. But using an e-bike can involve the risk of injury or even fatality, with riders facing varying levels of danger, depending on where they live.
This new study from Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer H&P Law ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using an e-bike Road Risk Index derived from three specific measures of road fatality risk, with a special focus on Nevada.
(Note: the ranking doesn’t mean that an e-bike rider in one particular state is a specific percentage more likely to be injured than a rider in a different state. Because state-level e-bike fatality data isn’t widely available, this index uses motorized-bicycle and pedalcyclist fatality data as proxies for the road risk e-bike riders experience.)
State Rankings for E-Bike Road Risk
The H&P Law E-Bike Road Risk Index ranks all 51 U.S. jurisdictions using the following measures, which, combined, provide a broad encapsulation of risk.
- Annualized 2022-2024 motorized-bicycle fatalities per 1 million residents. Weight: 50%.
- Average 2023-2024 pedalcyclist fatalities per 100,000 residents. Weight: 35%.
- The proportion of pedalcyclists in 2024 traffic deaths. Weight: 15%.
Here’s the ranking list, with Louisiana a clear leader.
The states that rank highest on the list are prominently placed due to their combined risk across all measures. Seven of the top 10 from the list (Louisiana, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida, Delaware, Nevada, and California) score higher than the index benchmark figure across all three measures.
Top-ranking Louisiana’s individual measure scores emphasize why it’s at the top of the list. The state features a motorized-bicycle fatality rate of 0.870 per million residents, which is around 3.6 times the index benchmark.
Its pedalcyclist fatality rate (0.865 per 100,000) is about 2.6 times the benchmark; pedalcyclists also represent 5.9% of the state’s traffic deaths, which is around twice the benchmark.
Comparing the disparity between states at opposite ends of the ranking table regarding individual measures can be a useful way of emphasizing national extremes. For example, Florida’s pedalcyclist fatality rate (0.960 per 100,000) is 27 times Maine’s rate, while Rhode Island’s cyclist proportion of road deaths (9.6%) is 16 times Maine’s rate.
The list also confirms some clear geographic patterns. The top 10 states comprise four Western or Pacific states (Arizona, Nevada, California, and Hawaii) and four states from the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic region (Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York), as well as Louisiana and Florida from the South.
Nevada’s pProminent Placement
Nevada’s ranking (7th) is due to its consistently high scores across all index measures, as opposed to any notable individual factor.
Its seventh-highest pedalcyclist fatality rate (0.450 per 100,000) puts it 34% above the benchmark score. Its motorized-bicycle fatality rate (0.306 per million) is around 25% over the benchmark rate, while Nevada’s cyclists represented 3.6% of the state’s 2024 traffic deaths, the ninth-highest national share.
Irrespective of individual states, e-bike injuries are a growing national issue.
A Rise in E-Bike Injuries
In 2024, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated that there were 59,200 e-bike emergency-room injuries, compared to the 2017-2021 annual average of roughly 6,300.
Deaths from e-bike accidents have also significantly increased. CPSC data confirms 57 e-bike deaths in 2022, 91 in 2023, and 97 in 2024: a rise of around 70% across the period in question. Between 2017 and 2024, there were 310 reported e-bike deaths.
(The reported deaths represent those known to the CPSC, and are not necessarily the final national totals for each year; reporting of such data can lag by up to two years. Additionally, the injury increase shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted as confirmation that individual e-bike journeys are more dangerous: the use of e-bikes has grown, leading to more opportunities for crashes and injuries.)
The threat to specific e-bike riding demographics
One demographic finding seems especially important: e-bike riders aged 15 to 24 years old accounted for 19% of estimated e-bike injuries, despite that age group representing just 13% of the population. In contrast, children aged between 5 and 14 accounted for around 8% of injuries while representing about 12% of the population.
Adults aged between 25 and 44 represented the biggest share of e-bike injuries (35%), followed by adults aged between 45 and 64 (27%). Of the 310 e-bike deaths reported between 2017 and 2024, 32 of the victims were aged between 15 and 24, with six aged between 5 and 14.
Overall, the data tells us that e-bike safety, far from being primarily a story about young children, particularly affects older teens and young adults.
Injuries also disproportionately affect males, who represent 78% of injured riders and 82% of fatal victims. The highest proportion of injuries occurred during the summer: each of the months from June to September featured roughly 11% to 13% of the year’s recorded injuries.
Southern Nevada provides a useful local illustration of a wider youth issue via e-bike and e-scooter hospital injury data. In 2025, 26% of Southern Nevada’s micromobility injury patients were under the age of 18, only 34% of whom had worn a helmet.
Although that data point doesn’t definitively confirm that a lack of a helmet caused an injury, it does emphasize why youth riding behavior and a lack of safety equipment are a key part of the safety conversation.
An additional important part of the e-bike safety conversation concerns the significance of motor vehicles.
E-Bike Danger: The Significance of Motor Vehicles
The clearest difference between nonfatal e-bike injuries and reported e-bike fatalities is evident when we look at the role motor vehicles play in e-bike accidents.
While motor vehicles were involved in around 24% of e-bike emergency-room injuries (about 14,300 estimated injuries), they were also a key factor in approximately 55% of reported e-bike fatalities (170 of 310 reported deaths between 2017 and 2024).
So, according to the data, a high number of nonfatal injuries didn’t involve a motor vehicle (44% were reported as not involving one; involvement was unspecified in 32% of cases). Yet regarding fatal incidents, motor vehicles were far more frequently involved.
Other factors were key fatality contributors: incidents involving a loss of control represented 61 fatalities; 35 deaths involved unspecified falls.
Riding at comparatively high speed was another key danger issue. According to 2024 CPSC data, 15% of injured riders were traveling at least 20 mph during an accident, with speed unspecified in 38% of cases.
Speed is an important factor for a number of reasons: one is that e-bike speeds can vary, with some much quicker (and so potentially more dangerous) than others.
Federal law defines a low-speed e-bike as possessing a combination of operable pedals, a motor featuring under 750 watts of power, and a motor-only speed below 20 mph. The commonly used three classes of e-bike definition distinguish Class 1 e-bikes as pedal-assist bikes that stop assistance at 20 mph, Class 2 as throttle-assisted bikes with a 20-mph limit, and Class 3 as pedal-assist bikes that feature assistance up to 28 mph.
E-vehicles capable of higher speeds than 28 mph or with power exceeding 750 watts (like high-powered electric motorcycles and e-motos) usually fall outside the e-bike definition.
An April 2025 Las Vegas crash illustrates the possible consequences without proving a broader statistical trend. The crash killed a 16-year-old e-bike rider and seriously injured an 18-year-old passenger following a collision with a pickup truck. The e-bike was recorded as featuring a top speed of 35 mph, with the capability of accelerating from 0 to 20 mph in 2.7 seconds.
The example is relevant to the wider question of youth e-bike safety. That’s because a high-speed electric bicycle can masquerade as a conventional bicycle while being able to approach speeds normally associated with motor vehicles. For an inexperienced rider, such speeds can represent extreme danger, especially when using roads full of more powerful, heavier vehicles.
The Danger of Using an E-Bike on Busy Roads
Between 2017 and 2024, 52% of e-bike injuries with a known location occurred on streets or highways. (Location was unknown in 36% of cases.)
Additional 2024-specific data tells us that around 58% of injuries (34,300) occurred on paved roads, with another 19% occurring on paved sidewalks (roughly 11,400 injuries).
In cases where the road position of an injury was recorded, 18% occurred in car lanes, 14% in bike lanes, and 14% on shoulders. About a quarter of injuries occurred on an incline (20% downhill and 5% uphill). 10% involved low light or poor visibility issues (5,900 injuries). In those cases, 44% of riders were using lights or reflective equipment.
Although these numbers don’t establish that any specific riding condition caused an injury, they do confirm that e-bike riders often share limited space with motor vehicles. That means that road design is a clear aspect of e-bike rider safety.
For example, if a teenager on an e-bike uses a car lane, a painted bike lane, or a shoulder may be the only mitigating features against potentially heavy road traffic. With a protected or physically separated bike-specific option in place, e-bike rider safety could be significantly improved.
The National Transportation Safety Board has identified a lack of such bicycle infrastructure options (and generally car-centric road design) as a persistent issue regarding e-bike safety.
One notable e-bike safety issue is a lack of national parity, with different states featuring a variety of e-bike protocols.
What Different States Are Doing For E-Bike Safety
As of August 2026, the National Conference of State Legislatures says that 28 states (plus Washington, D.C.) feature statewide e-bike helmet laws.
Yet as things stand, only Alabama and Massachusetts carry obligatory helmet use for all riders across all three e-bike classes. Other states feature different helmet rules that may vary depending on a rider’s age or the type of e-bike.
In other words, a teenager can cross from one state to another and be immediately subject to a different set of e-bike rules.
New Jersey features one of the most restrictive e-bike stances in the country. It’s 2026 law now requires e-bike registration plus a driver’s license, with Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes subject to insurance requirements.
California’s Marin Electric Bicycle Safety Pilot Program allows restrictions on the use of Class 2 e-bikes by riders aged 16 and under and mandates the use of a helmet for riders under the age of 16.
Nevada is currently reviewing its e-bike safety position. A 2025-2026 road-safety study led to an appeal to lawmakers regarding additional e-bike, e-motorcycle, and e-scooter regulations, as well as the need for local governments and school districts to be granted additional authority to impose safety measures. Possibilities discussed include youth education, obligatory helmet use for minors, and restricted speed modifications.
Alabama stipulates the mandatory use of a helmet for all e-bike riders. Despite this measure, the state ranks near the bottom of the roadway-risk index.
This example, and the wide variety of state regulatory differences, illustrate why e-bike safety can’t simply be reduced to a single question of whether a state is strict or otherwise.
That doesn’t mean that regulations are ineffective, or that strict laws always lead to safe results. The index measures roadway-risk factors, with laws governing rider rules. The two aspects represent very different issues. Yet it’s clear that legal guidance and protections available to young riders often depend on state residence.
E-Bike Danger Layers
The state ranking that forms the centerpiece of this study makes it clear: where someone rides their e–bike matters.
States such as Louisiana, Arizona, and Hawaii fill the top places in the H&P rankings, while the likes of Maine, North Dakota, and Connecticut fill the bottom places. Nevada takes seventh place, confirming that it’s one of the riskiest states for e-bike riders.
National injury data also tells us that e-bike-related ER visits have risen significantly during recent years, with e-bike riders aged between 15 and 24 particularly affected. And when it comes to fatal e-bike incidents, motor vehicles are far more involved than they are for estimated nonfatal injuries.
For parents of young riders, it’s important to underscore the fact that ‘e-bike’ can mean a wide variety of different things. Its class, highest speed, throttle capability, and legal classification are all important factors. A low-speed pedal-assist bike may superficially resemble a high-powered electric two-wheeler, but the potential danger differential is vast.
That said, safety responsibility isn’t just down to the rider. Young riders need the right equipment, training, and appreciation of the rules in their state. And drivers need to understand the extent to which e-bikes increasingly share the road with much bigger and more powerful cars and trucks.
Additionally, policymakers need to consider whether existing e-bike classifications, helmet rules, age restrictions, road configurations, and infrastructure standards are suitable for modern-day electric two-wheelers.
Ultimately, the issue is complicated, and for young e-bike riders, it’s about much more than how fast their bike is. It’s also about where it’s being ridden, who’s sharing the road space, what protections are crucial, and whether the roadway was designed to keep e-bikers safe.
People are injured every day in Las Vegas, but not all injuries are easy to define. In Nevada, the good news is they don’t have to be.
If someone else is responsible for your injuries, our experienced Las Vegas personal injury lawyers will hold them accountable. We deliver straightforward communication and committed support for auto accidents, premises liability, and other injury cases. Get in touch today for a free consultation, and we’ll guide you through your next steps.
Data sources
- H&P Law E-bike Risk Index
- CPSC 2026 Micromobility Report
- NTSB Micromobility Safety Research Report
- NTSB Las Vegas E-bike/Pickup HWY25FH007 Investigation
- NTSB, A Review of Federal E-bike Regulations and Public Sentiment
- People For Bikes: New Jersey E-bike Law
- NCSL 2026 E-bike Helmet Laws
- NCSL Traffic Safety Legislation Database
- CPSC Bicycle Requirements and E-bike Definition
