Community social media sites have been ablaze with tales of electric bike carnage on area roads and recreational trails in recent weeks, with unverified posts about young riders, sans helmets, blowing through stop signs at high speeds, bouncing off vehicles and winding up in the ER.

“Safety is our primary concern, and it’s very difficult to enforce safety in regards to e-bikes at the moment. We are seeing riders not following traffic laws, riding without helmets, and carrying multiple passengers in unsafe ways,” Eagle County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Karina Toscano wrote in an email.

“These actions increase the likelihood of crashes and serious injuries,” Toscano added. “We encourage all riders to obey traffic laws, wear proper safety gear, and make responsible choices to help keep themselves and others safe on our roadways, as well as parents having those conversations with their kids.”

Children’s Hospital Colorado recently reported a 184% increase in traumatic injuries related to e-bikes between 2024 and 2025. Local healthcare and law enforcement officials anecdotally confirm increases in injuries in the High Country as well, blaming the proliferation of electric pedal-assist bikes that can propel a young rider at speeds approaching 30 mph.

“There’s only so much education we can do,” Eagle County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Clayton said in an email. “I don’t want to be writing tickets to 7-year-olds. Ultimately, it comes down to parents making sure their kids are riding safely and following the rules.”

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has launched an educational campaign called “Go Safe Go Far,” and now several Eagle County organization have joined in as well, with a youth education program that’s attempting to be relatable and not scolding in nature.

The local “Own the Ride” campaign includes representatives from Mountain Youth, local towns, law enforcement, the Eagle County School District, Vail Health and others, and is being distributed in the form of posters, stickers, social media and videos that emphasize wearing helmets, lowering speeds and making yourself seen on local roads.

“Based on (a Mountain Youth) survey and other feedback, we focused on three priority messages —proper helmet use, visibility, and speed management,” Deputy Eagle County Manager Regina O’Brien wrote in an email. “This youth-driven strategy was designed to be relatable, perishable, and engaging rather than lecturing.”

But Eagle County Sheriff’s Sgt. Heath Mosness emailed that education will only go so far and tougher new statewide laws may be needed: “The e-Bike popularity has taken off quickly, and the laws haven’t kept up.”

Colorado state Sen. Dylan Roberts of Frisco, whose district includes Eagle County, wrote that he constantly hears from constituents about e-bike safety, or the lack thereof.

“This has come up at several town hall meetings over the last few weeks, including the one we did in Eagle last week,” Roberts said. “One of my colleagues, Rep. Lesley Smith, is working on an e-bike safety bill for next session, and I look forward to supporting that.”

Reached by phone, Smith, a Boulder Democrat, said she tried to tackle the safety issue through a bill she sponsored in 2025 (HB25-1197) that established categories and standards of e-bikes for retailers, “but unless there is enforcement this bill won’t help.”

“I thought it was local bike stores that were selling these bikes. Turns out that’s not the case; they’re being shipped from overseas, a lot of them,” Smith said, adding laws should be statewide to avoid a patchwork of municipal and county ordinances and that clearly the technology has outstripped the regulatory framework. “It’s just like AI. It’s just more on the ground.”

Class 3 e-bikes can reach speeds of 28 mph, and Smith said that Class 1 and 2 e-bikes (20 mph limits) can be modified via an app.

“There’s apps where, OK, you get a level 2 for your kid, and then they can get this app and it can switch it to a level 3,” Smith said. “So I don’t even know how you would you know that. Just to a casual observer, a police officer, it looks like a level 2 other than they’re going too fast.”

Also, she said that parents don’t realize the level of liability they have buying an e-Bike for their children under 16.

“If a parent buys one of these level 3s for their kids and they’re 16 and under, and if the kid gets into an accident, then their insurance will not cover it,” Smith said. “I tell parents that and they’re like, oh, really? So that has caught their attention.”

Smith is working with Bicycle Colorado on a bill for the next legislative session in January. She isn’t sure what it will look like yet, but she did reference Hawaii’s newly updated laws that prohibit kids under 16 from ridding Class 2 and 3 e-bikes unless with adult supervision and requires appropriate helmets (not just standard bike helmets) for e-bike riders under 18.

“A regular bike helmet won’t do it. It’s got to be a pretty heavy duty because they’re going so fast,” Smith said, adding the parameters of her bill will be determined in the coming months. “It’s hard to say at this point. I just feel like we need to do something. I mean, this is just getting sort of out of hand.”

Bicycle Colorado Executive Director Pete Piccolo offered the following email comment pointing to e-moto’s, which are essentially electric mopeds, not battery powered, pedal-assisted bikes:

“E-bikes are opening up bicycling to more Coloradans than ever before, and that’s something worth celebrating,” Piccolo wrote. “At the same time, we’re hearing real concerns about safety on our roads and paths. The evidence points to ‘E-motos,’ not E-bikes, as the primary source of those concerns. Bicycle Colorado is committed to partnering with communities and working with our elected officials to find solutions and explore statewide legislation that would meaningfully promote safety and address the ‘e-moto’ issue without undermining the many benefits E-bikes provide.”

Original reporting from vaildaily.com