First responders across Metro Detroit are voicing alarm over a growing number of serious crashes and injuries tied to electric bikes, electric scooters and electric motos. Law enforcement officers, doctors and families met in Troy on Tuesday night to draw attention to the problem after a busy summer of complaints, emergency calls and hospital visits.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said his office alone has dealt with a large number of severe incidents this year. "We have responded to double-digit numbers, just the sheriff's office this year, double-digit numbers of very serious accidents involving e-bikes or motos," he said.
Complaints are piling up at the local level as well. Sean Manor of the Bloomfield Township Police Department said the agency has responded to more than 100 complaints involving e-bikes this year. According to Manor, those complaints frequently involved juveniles riding recklessly on sidewalks and near other pedestrians.
For one family, the risks became real in July. Thirteen-year-old Kasen Kalef crashed his electric scooter in Rochester Hills after taking a turn too quickly and falling, according to his mother, Jessica Kalef. She said there are no sidewalks where they live. "He slid across the roadway," she said. He suffered road rash on one side, and when he fell he struck his head on the concrete and tried to brace himself with his arm, breaking his wrist.
Jessica Kalef said she is grateful the injuries were not worse. "You can heal road rash, you can heal a broken bone with time, but you can't heal a brain," she said. Kasen has since recovered after care through DMC Sports Medicine, and he credits his helmet with preventing a far more serious head injury. "Wearing my helmet could have saved me from huge head trauma, so I'm happy I wore it and I'm happy I listened," he said.
Doctors say the aftermath of these crashes is showing up regularly in emergency rooms. Dr. Kelly Levasseur, medical director of pediatric emergency medicine at Children's Hospital of Michigan, said patients often arrive with several serious injuries at once. "It's not usually one fracture. It's multiple fractures," she said, adding that a patient can have a skull fracture, jaw fractures and two broken arms. She said that "almost every shift I come to, I see somebody with an injury."
The trend is pushing some local agencies to consider ways to head off further harm. Lt. Lamar Kashat of the Sterling Heights Police Department said, "We are simply not waiting for a tragedy to act." His department is working on a possible ordinance addressing the issue. Bloomfield Township police, meanwhile, have organized e-bike safety courses and developed a plan to make their streets safer.
Bouchard said he is also talking with lawmakers in hopes of pursuing new legislation. Any statewide measure would ultimately have to move through Lansing. Jessica Kalef urged officials to move quickly. "There needs to be some big changes, fast," she said.
