As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who treats facial trauma, I have seen firsthand how quickly an enjoyable e-bike ride can turn into a serious medical emergency. E-bikes provide an efficient and convenient way to travel, but their speed and weight can make crashes considerably more dangerous, particularly to the face and head.

Reconstructing faces after traumatic injury is what I do daily, and an increasing share of that work now arrives by e-bike.

The pattern has become familiar. A teenager riding home from school. A parent on a weekend loop through the neighborhood. A commuter moving along a coastal road at a speed no one on that street expects a bicycle to travel. The bike is often a serious piece of equipment — well-engineered, expensive, and capable. The protective gear, if there was any, was an afterthought. (RELATED: Californians Trade In Over 1,000 E-Bikes As Injuries Abound Nationwide)

What lands in my operating room is a fractured mandible, an orbital floor blown out, a maxilla displaced, teeth avulsed or driven into bone. Faces do not glance off asphalt. They absorb it.

The scale of this is not anecdotal

In July 2020, Florida established its modern three-class system for electric bicycles and generally allowed them wherever traditional bicycles are permitted. Adoption since then has been........

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