Nearly three in 10 trauma cases involving children at Stony Brook University Hospital last year were attributed to e-bikes or e-scooters. This sobering — but not surprising — figure was among the statistics Suffolk Police Deputy Chief David Regina cited in testimony at the State Capitol in January. Suffolk had at least 16 e-bike or e-scooter crashes with serious injuries in 2025 and two deaths.
With improvements in speed and battery capacity, many e-bikes are essentially motorcycles yet mostly lack even the most rudimentary safety features, such as turn signals or mirrors. So far, the legislative response has been lacking. Suffolk County, which updated its own e-bike laws over the winter, now requires all e-bike and e-scooter users to wear helmets, not that this seems to have had much of an impact on our local roads.
A State Legislature bill would mandate registration, license plates, and insurance for battery-powered bikes and scooters — but only in cities with populations greater than one million. Known as Priscilla’s Law, the measure was named after Priscilla Loke, who died in 2023 after she was struck by an electric Citi Bike while walking to work in Manhattan. A different proposal, which would require e-bike registration statewide stalled amid state budget negotiations and may not be taken up again until next year.
But even the most modest attempts to regulate e-bikes and e-scooters have stalled; one that would require only that purchasers take a safety course and carry identification is also stuck in committee. Opposition to even such tiny improvements comes from lobbyists and bike-share industry-funded advocacy groups; among the other speakers during the hearing at which Deputy Chief Regina testified was a policy executive for Lyft, Citi Bike’s parent company. Wider helmet laws and registration mandates could have a devastating effect on Citi Bike’s business model.
Meanwhile, riders and pedestrians alike remain unnecessarily at risk.