PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Emergency room doctors say a rise in e-bike and e-scooter use is leading to more serious injuries requiring hospital visits.
According to the Oregon Health Authority, the number of e-bike and e-scooter crashes across the state has consistently increased every year, more than doubling from 211 injuries in 2021 to 509 injuries in 2025.
Crash numbers by Oregon Health Authority(KPTV)
Dr. Obert Xu, associate medical director of OHSU Emergency Medicine, said the trend matches what he is seeing at OHSU’s emergency department.
“Over all the trend is we are seeing more injuries across all emergency department visits,” Xu said. “In 2021 we had about 50 presentations to the emergency department. That number has increased three-fold to 180 in 2025,” Xu said.
Who is affected
Xu said the emergency department sees e-crash victims of all ages, but young to middle age adults most commonly come to the ER after an e-crash, and they have some of the most serious injuries.
“There have been a number of life threatening and concerning injuries, particularly with head injuries, head bleeds. Sometimes patients need to go to the ICU or they need a life threatening or urgent surgery. There are other internal injuries we see like major fracture patterns,” Xu said.
Deadly crashes in 2025
There were multiple deadly e-scooter crashes in Portland last year.
In September, 21-year-old Jayden Calkins was charged with manslaughter and DUII after he was riding an e-scooter with his friend, Geraldo Ortiz Henriquez, when he crashed into a tractor trailer in northeast Portland. Ortiz Henriquez died at the scene.
Later that month in the Woodstock neighborhood, 45-year-old Randy Phelps was riding an e-scooter down SE 52nd when he hit a bump and crashed. Phelps was on life support for nearly three weeks before he died.
In October, 41-year-old Alicia Long died after being hit by a car in north Portland as she rode her e-scooter through the intersection of Weidler Street and Vancouver Avenue.
In November, 58-year-old Thomas Houff died after he crossed train tracks on SE 11th Avenue on a rented e-scooter and was hit by an Amtrak train.
None of the victims were wearing a helmet when they crashed.
“Helmets are number one and those are very key to preventing life threatening head injuries,” Xu said.
911 calls and ridership increase
The Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications said the number of 911 calls related to e-scooter and e-bike crashes has increased each year, tripling in call volume in three years, from 277 calls in 2023 to 319 in 2024 to 900 in 2025.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation said more people are riding e-bikes and e-scooters in Portland. PBOT tracks what it calls “micro mobility trips,” and the annual number of rides has increased. In 2020, riders took less than half a million trips for the full year. In the first half of 2026, riders had already logged nearly a million trips.
Lime scooters contracted by the city come with warnings saying helmets are required, but most riders are not wearing one.
E-scooter owner Jennifer Harrison said she crashed once and did not have to go to the hospital.
“I went on over the handle bars and I landed on my, you know, ahhh, and I told him never again,” Harrison said.
Despite the crash, Harrison said she continues to ride.
“I love the freedom of it. You don’t have to pay for parking, it’s allowed on the train, it’s allowed on the bus. It’s a win win for me,” Harrison said.
Age requirements and citations
In Oregon, riders must be 16 years old to ride an e-bike or scooter. Because of that law, school districts including Beaverton have banned the devices from middle school campuses.
Police departments around the state say they have issued hundreds of citations to children and their parents for breaking that law.
Lake Oswego Police Sgt. Tom Harper said, “I personally have stopped a 9-year-old on an e scooter and we stop a lot of 14 year old’s and 15 year old’s and it runs the gambit.”
Next week, FOX 12 Investigates examines the dangers parents face if they let their child ride an e-bike before they are ready.
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