NYC is seeing a deadly trend: A surge in crashes, including fatal ones, involving motorcycles, scooters, e-bikes and other two-wheeled motorized devices this year.
According to the latest NYPD data, the number of people who were killed in the city in crashes involving motorized two-wheeled devices is up nearly 86% year-to-date versus the same time last year; motorized two-wheeler deaths surged to 13 by April 19 this year, up from seven during the same period in 2025.
As of the city’s latest count this year, four people were killed in e-bike crashes; three involving stand-up scooters; one involving a moped; and five involving motorcycles.
The deadly increase comes amid a continued boom in micro-mobility adoption, fueled in large part by the gig economy, such as the food delivery industry, and by a preference for nimble, affordable transportation options.
News about the alarming year-to-year increase aside, reps from the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) reminded that 2025 was statistically one of the safest years for city streets.
“This administration will be acting with urgency to redesign our streets to improve safety for riders and working to hold app companies accountable for incentivizing dangerous riding behavior,” a DOT spokesperson said. “We will be doubling down on our Vision Zero approach, which has helped dramatically reduce deaths involving e-bike, mopeds, scooter, and motorcycle riders by 39% since 2023.”
Advocates press for more street safety improvements
Transit safety advocates point to several contributing factors behind the alarming trend, while maintaining that cars and trucks pose a greater danger on city streets. Charlie Baker, from the Transportation Alternatives, told amNewYork that cars and trucks kill more than 200 people each year in NYC, and the city needs to redesign streets to enhance safety.
“We need to rapidly redesign our streets to make them safer for everyone, so that no New Yorker is killed in traffic,” Baker explained. “It’s an encouraging sign that in these first few months, the Mamdani administration has demonstrated that saving lives will be a priority. DOT is already moving forward on multiple street safety redesigns, and we look forward to more upgrades being announced in the near future, so that everybody in our city can get home safely.”
One of the projects DOT is working on to enhance street safety and improve travel under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is a plan to remove car lanes and add protected bike lanes on West 72nd Street in Manhattan. It is part of a larger proposal to redesign the street on both sides of Central Park.
A delivery worker swaps e-bike batteries using a battery swap cabinet piloted in 2024.Photo by NYC DOT
The agency also launched an online portal where anyone can provide feedback on its preliminary list of 50 possible locations for new e-bike battery-swapping cabinets. The portal will remain live through July 31.
Collisions without fatalities
Collisions, both with or without injury, have also increased in the micromobility realm. Reported e-bike collisions, for example, jumped 75% this year compared to the same time in 2025. Stand-up scooter crashes are up 28% during the same period.
Reported moped crashes, however, are down over 35% so far this year compared to January through most of April of 2025.
E-bike crashes are not unique to NYC. City Council Member Frank Morano (R-Staten Island) remarked e-bike injuries are increasing across the country.
“E-bike injuries aren’t just going up, they’re exploding nationwide,” he said. “They went from about 1,600 in 2018 to 23,000 just a few years later. Here in NYC, we saw 901 e-bike injuries in 2025 alone.”
New Jersey to implement new rules
As Morano stated, e-bike-related injuries and fatalities are not limited to NYC. In a move toward stricter oversight, nearby New Jersey is poised to implement mandatory registration for the devices. This contrasts with New York policy, which does not require e-bikes to be registered with the state.
Effective July 2026, all e-bikes in New Jersey must be registered and insured. A slew of other rules will go into effect, including a road-test requirement.
Although New York makes it clear that e-bikes do not have to be registered, some communities across the state, especially NYC, have additional laws governing their operation.
Advocates and local politicians in NYC have been pushing since 2023 for Priscilla’s Law, which would call for stricter e-bike regulations in the Big Apple.
Janet Schroeder, director of the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, explained that the micomobility crisis is “far worse” than what transportation statistics show.
“Most e-vehicle crashes are never reported. EMTs and the FDNY are first to the scene the majority of the time,” she said. “The victim is taken from the crash scene before police get there, if the police get there at all.”
Hospitals are seeing a significant number of e-bike injuries on a consistent basis, Morano explained.
“If you walk into an emergency room in NYC right now, doctors will tell you they are seeing e-bike injuries every single day,” he said.
Angela Pfaff, MD, a trauma surgeon and critical care surgeon at Bellevue Hospital, knows this information firsthand, saying she “sees an e-vehicle injury every single day.”
Meanwhile, experts across most sectors agree that safety should be a priority on city streets, for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and anyone on the road.