![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786155731_502_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nWith children returning to school and the city of San Diego’s new electric bike ordinance about to take effect, health and safety experts Friday took the opportunity to warn parents about the dangers of e-bikes.<\/p>\n
At the media event, Anlleyn Venegas of the Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA) demonstrated that danger by dropping two watermelons from waist height.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo show you guys why it’s so important to wear the proper helmet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A demonstration showing the effectiveness of bicycle helmets, Aug. 7, 2026.<\/p>\n
One watermelon was strapped to a helmet; the other was not.<\/p>\n
When they hit the ground, the one without the helmet split open.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a graphic demonstration, but Venegas said it\u2019s important to drive the message home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so important to use the proper helmet that is secured with the chin strap and also that it fits properly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
AAA hosted the event to help prevent serious injuries among children and teens. As children return to school, more teens rely on e-bikes to travel to and from campus. At the same time, doctors are seeing e-bike injuries among youth rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re seeing a lot more fractures of the arms and legs, really bad traumatic head injuries, skull fractures, even facial fractures,\u201d said Romeo Ignacio, a trauma doctor at Rady Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
Ignacio was part of a hospital study showing a dramatic increase in traumatic injuries. Since 2022, pediatric injuries from e-bikes have risen 1,770%.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is now the number two reason why we see trauma patients at our children’s hospital,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd these injuries are much more severe than we’ve ever seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of that, the city of San Diego is following others in the region by enacting e-bike rules. The ordinance was passed in June and goes into effect Aug. 13. It bans children under 12 from riding e-bikes.<\/p>\n
It also reinforces helmet requirements and bans the carrying of passengers if the e-bike is not equipped with a permanent second seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung kids doing wheelies on busy streets have demanded our action,\u201d Councilmember Raul Campillo said in a statement. \u201cThese regulations were carefully crafted to promote education-first enforcement, allowing us to put children\u2019s safety first while ensuring older youth still have access to safe, affordable transportation options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the new city ordinance, there is a 60-day grace period during which police officers will provide education and warnings before citations are issued.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to keep our kids safe and out of the hospital,\u201d San Diego police Cmdr. Ben Kelso said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Health and safety officials said the message Friday was not anti-e-bikes but about bike safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents need to teach their children safety rules as well as the rules of the road,\u201d Dr. Ignacio said. E-bikes are much faster than traditional pedal bikes. Some can reach speeds of up to 28 mph<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality, though, is parents have to ask, \u2018Is this the right thing for my child? (Does) my kid have enough experience? Do they know the rules of the road?\u2019\u201d Ignacio said. \u201cI think e-bikes are here to stay. I think there’s a lot of pluses for them. But parents need to know is this the right thing for their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the new ordinance, parents can also be held liable for their children\u2019s violations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With children returning to school and the city of San Diego’s new electric bike ordinance about to take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-427004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}