If you have driven down Massachusetts Avenue at rush hour lately or tried to turn onto Beacon Street on a Saturday afternoon, you have already seen the change. Electric bikes and scooters are everywhere in Massachusetts now. They weave through traffic in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Lowell, Worcester, and Springfield, and they buzz down quiet residential streets in towns like Needham, Hanover, and Stoneham.
Two decades ago, the biggest worry for a cyclist here was a distracted driver or an opening car door. Today it is a machine that can move at highway-ramp speeds with no plate, no license, and no insurance behind it.
For a lot of Massachusetts families, that shift happened fast. E-bikes and electric dirt bikes turned into birthday and holiday gifts. Delivery riders started covering more ground. Commuters traded parking headaches for a battery and a bike lane.
Along with all of that convenience came a wave of crashes that local police departments and emergency rooms are scrambling to catch up with.
If you or someone you love was hurt in one of these wrecks, we invite you to read through the lines below to learn what is actually happening with e-bikes and e-scooters on our streets.
Crashes are climbing because ridership exploded faster than the rules did.
Massachusetts logged close to 900 e-bike and e-scooter crashes between 2023 and 2025, and state law still lacks a clear framework for these machines. More riders, faster devices, and murky right-of-way rules add up to more collisions on the same crowded roads.
Part of the problem is definitional. The word "e-bike" in 2026 covers everything from a gentle pedal-assist commuter bike to a Sur-Ron-style electric dirt bike capable of 80 mph.
Drivers do not know what to expect. Riders do not know where they are allowed to be. Police are stuck enforcing bicycle rules against vehicles that behave like motorcycles.
The national trend is steep. U.S. emergency departments treated an estimated 149,100 micromobility injuries in 2024, up from 37,300 in 2017, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. E-bike injuries alone jumped from 26,800 in 2022 to 59,200 in 2024. Reported deaths rose from 5 in 2017 to 135 in 2024.
Over that eight-year window, CPSC counted 533 micromobility deaths, and e-bikes accounted for 310 of them. Collisions with motor vehicles were the leading cause by a wide margin, and roughly one in ten injured riders was admitted or transferred instead of being sent home the same day.
Head injuries lead the list, followed by broken wrists, arms, collarbones, and legs, plus deep road rash.
A Johns Hopkins evidence review found that roughly 40 percent of U.S. emergency department micromobility cases involve head or neck trauma. At 25 mph, a fall stops being a scrape and starts being a hospital admission.
Doctors at Mass General Brigham have described the same pattern in their pediatric ICU: head trauma first, usually in riders without helmets, then broken limbs and road rash. Research presented to orthopedic surgeons found children injured on e-bikes were about four times more likely to suffer extremity injuries than kids on pedal bikes.
Speed and weight, mostly.
Many e-bikes cruise between 20 and 35 mph while weighing far more than a traditional bicycle, so stopping distances stretch out and downhill momentum builds quickly. Add low helmet use, unpredictable positioning between car lanes and bike lanes, and drivers who badly misjudge closing speed.
Safety gear numbers tell the story. In a 2024 CPSC study, only 40 percent of e-bike riders and 18 percent of e-scooter riders wore helmets. Night riding without lights, hugging a row of parked cars, and braking late on a hill all turn small mistakes into serious injuries.
Because the fastest machines keep landing under the Christmas tree. AAA Northeast has pointed out that many injured e-bike riders are children who simply lack the skill for a motorized vehicle. In November, a 13-year-old in Stoneham was killed riding an electric dirt bike on a local road. Departments across the state have responded.
Hanover police have issued citations for operating to endanger and impounded bikes ridden by minors. A Needham community outreach officer put it bluntly, asking parents why they would buy a child a Sur-Ron when they would never buy that same child a Yamaha motorcycle.
Electric dirt bikes are legally off-highway vehicles here, which means they are not allowed on public streets at all, and parents can face real exposure when a child causes injury or property damage.
Governor Healey's RIDE Safe Act would sort devices by speed instead of by marketing label. Lower-speed e-bikes would stay in bike lanes under basic safety standards. Faster devices would need registration, insurance, and a minimum operator age of 16 and would be banned from sidewalks and bike lanes. Helmets would be required for every rider under 16.
The bill also calls for working lights, reflectors, and brakes, restricts modifications that push devices past manufacturer speed limits, gives police clearer enforcement authority, and improves crash data collection.
Low-speed pedal-assist bikes generally do not require insurance today. Devices that exceed 20 mph without pedaling are treated more like motor vehicles and typically require registration and licensing. The RIDE Safe Act would make those lines much clearer.
If a negligent driver caused the crash, their liability insurance is usually the first source of recovery. Depending on the facts, personal injury protection benefits, health coverage, and other policies may also apply.
Not automatically. Massachusetts follows comparative negligence, so your own conduct can reduce a recovery without necessarily eliminating it. Insurers love to argue this point, which is exactly why it helps to have a lawyer arguing back.
Yes. Police have issued operating to endanger citations and impounded bikes ridden by minors, and off-highway vehicles ridden on public roads carry their own penalties.
Most Massachusetts personal injury claims carry a three-year deadline, though shorter notice rules can apply in some situations. Do not wait to get advice.
If you were injured in an e-bike, e-scooter, or electric dirt bike crash anywhere in Massachusetts, or if your child or another family member was, you do not have to sort through the insurance calls and the unsettled law on your own. Evidence disappears fast, and insurers are already building their defense.
Fiorentino Legal, P.C. handles serious injury claims for riders and families across the Commonwealth. Talk to our personal injury lawyer in Massachusetts about what happened and what your options look like. You can reach our firm directly at (617) 990-2568.
Last reviewed: August 2026
This post was reviewed by Attorney Christopher Fiorentino, licensed in Massachusetts since 2013.
Content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed Massachusetts attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
Dudley, MA (August 18, 2026) – On Sunday evening, August 16, the Dudley Fire and...
Harwich, MA (July 28, 2026) – A vehicle crash near Deep Hole Road and Route...
Tewksbury, MA (August 11, 2026) – A man was airlifted to a Boston-area hospital on...
Brockton, MA (April 14, 2026) – A 58-year-old bicyclist was seriously injured on Monday, April 13,...
