The Barrington Police Department is urging local parents to think “safety first” when it comes to the use of electric scooters and electric bicycles. 

Barrington Police Chief Michael Correia cites recently released information about children’s hospital emergency room visits in Rhode Island resulting from e-bike and e-scooter crashes. 

According to Brown Health: “In 2025, there were 85 visits to the Hasbro Emergency Department for e-bike and e-scooter injuries, but in the first seven months of 2026 there have already been 143 visits!”

Information shared by Brown Health also states that the severity of injuries with e-bike and e-scooter crashes is “far greater than standard pedal bikes.” Brown Health also references an increase in head injuries from lack of helmets or use of inappropriate helmets, more fractures in general, and injuries to the liver and spleen from higher speed impacts. 

“This is a serious public health issue,” Chief Correia stated in a release shared on Wednesday, Aug. 5. “Please consider restricting e-scooters and e-bikes in your household. Together we can prevent a serious injury in our town. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Officials believe some of the accidents are due to younger teens operating the e-bikes and e-scooters who do not have any driver education training and who do not know the rules of the road, driving recklessly on the streets.

In the summer of 2025, the Barrington Police Department announced a “Measured Enforcement” effort to curb the dangerous operation of electric motorized bicycles, also known as electric bicycles or e-bikes. The department is using the same “Measured Enforcement” model to enforce a new rule banning e-bikes and e-scooters at the Barrington Shopping Center on County Road. 

Reminders

Police are sharing a list of reminders regarding e-bikes and e-scooters:

• State law prohibits a juvenile under 16 years of age to operate any class of electric-bike  

• State law requires all operators of and passengers on (under 21) an e-bike to wear a certified helmet

• State law prohibits the operation of ‘Recreational Vehicles” (ATV and unclassified Electric Dirt Bikes) on roads 

• State law requires helmets to be worn by anyone ages 15 and younger who is an operator or a passenger on a bicycle, or using or operating a skateboard, roller skates, inline skates, or scooter, whether electric or otherwise

• There is currently no state law or local ordinance governing electric scooters