E-bike collisions across San Diego have nearly quadrupled over the past five years, police data obtained exclusively by Axios shows.

Why it matters: E-bike injuries are skyrocketing and becoming more severe, particularly for kids, as they hit speeds faster than regular bikes.

• The dangers e-bikes can pose to kids were grimly apparent this weekend when a 12-year-old boy suffered life-threatening injuries after colliding with a car in Carmel Valley.

By the numbers: E-bike collisions climbed from at least 23 in 2021 to at least 84 in 2025, according to an Axios analysis of SDPD data obtained through a public records request. The data did not indicate the ages of those involved.

• The Pacific Beach and Mission Beach neighborhoods are hot spots, accounting for about 13% of those incidents over five years, ZIP code data shows.
• Miscellaneous hazardous violations, unsafe speed and unsafe turns, or no turn signal made up more than half of the violations.

The big picture: E-bikes are surging in popularity across San Diego County, especially in coastal neighborhoods and cities.

• They're a fun, efficient way to get around, but they can reach speeds up to 28mph and are putting more kids on roads among car traffic.
• There's currently a patchwork of laws and policies across San Diego County restricting their use, including age and passenger limits, e-bike confiscation and sidewalk bans.
• La Mesa, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos, Poway, Imperial Beach and Encinitas recently adopted new e-bike rules limiting their use for kids.

"So many parents haven't realized how dangerous e-bikes are," San Diego Councilmember Raul Campillo told Axios. "Kids hit a pothole, they run into a car, they hit a broken piece of a sidewalk, and they have severely broken bones — as opposed to a kid who's going, you know, 8 to 9 miles an hour on a pedal bike, goes over the handlebars, gets road rash and scraped up."

• "It's a whole different level of injury and trauma," he said.

Are you a parent whose child has an e-bike? What do you think of e-bikes and their growth in popularity? Hit reply or send email us at [email protected] to share your thoughts.

As collisions rise, San Diego City Council is considering stricter e-bike regulations because of safety concerns.

• A pilot program would ban kids under 12 from riding e-bikes and would allow passengers only if there's a second seat.
• Violators would face a $25 ticket, and kids would have 120 days to take an e-bike course to get the ticket waived.
• Council will likely discuss the pilot program in June or July after the city budget is set, Campillo said, and the rules would take effect next school year. The program is possible via a state law that went into effect last year allowing local governments to regulate e-bike usage.

"We're really looking at this as a public safety situation," Campillo said. "[Local residents] see a lot of young people going very fast without helmets, recklessly through the streets."

• The goal, he said, is to "reduce the injuries caused to the young riders and the people they might accidentally run into."

Yes, but: Some local transportation advocates say these new rules target the wrong kinds of e-bikes, and city leaders should restrict more powerful types that resemble motorcycles.

What we're watching: California lawmakers are considering three bills aimed at regulating e-bikes, including requiring DMV registration and limiting how e-bikes are sold and marketed.

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☕ Baristas from across the world recently battled it out at the Convention Center in the World Latte Art championship.

• They made a preying mantis, a bull, a dog with a soccer ball and Garfield, among other creations. (KPBS)

🚌 A mobile Holocaust museum is rolling into local schools, showing how propaganda and disinformation, plus economic and social issues, led to Nazism. (Union-Tribune)

🐾 Some animals pulled from a troubled Julian sanctuary had to be euthanized, according to the Humane Society.

• Hundreds of animals are being treated as the rescue effort continues. (UT)

✈️ Glass walls and breezeways are coming to Terminal 1 in the next phase of the airport's renovation.

• Renderings offered a sneak peak of what it will look like when construction finishes in 2028. (FOX5)

San Diego areas with higher poverty also had far more child care scarcity, according to an analysis from the liberal Center for American Progress.

Why it matters: Quality child care is a crucial benefit for parents with jobs — most parents, in other words — and shortages are a financial and logistical headache for families and a drag on the workforce and economy.

Zoom in: The San Diego County YMCA's child care supply map also shows more than two-thirds of local families live in child care deserts.

Driving the news: The group behind a proposed countywide half-cent sales tax hike to fund child care and other needs turned in more than 151,000 signatures on Monday, which they say is enough to qualify for the November ballot.

• If passed, the measure would fund child care and other areas hit by federal budget, cuts including healthcare, the Tijuana River sewage crisis and public safety. 

Stunning stat: Last year, 46% of children ages 6 and younger lived in an area where the number of kids outpaced licensed child care slots 3-1.

The big picture

A new portion of the Ruffin Canyon trail opening has been making a lot of news recently, so we decided to check it out.

• Ruffin Canyon is a little ... rough ... on the feet, but the new dirt path connecting to Mission Valley is nice and smooth.

Zoom in: The new portion of the trail takes you into the Escala townhomes community, off Friars Road in Mission Valley.

• There's no parking there, so you'd likely want to start on the other side, either on Gramercy Drive or Shawn Avenue.

💭 Claire's thought bubble: Kate, Kate's pup Penny and I decided to explore the trail recently. Most of it runs through an old river bed and is very rocky.

• Not easy on the feet (or paws).

Yes, but: Once we got to the bottom of the trail, we found the recently opened new portion.

• It was a smoother dirt path cut into the canyon, giving you great views and easier treading.

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