Clarksburg Teen, 14, Survives 44-Foot Fall From Parking Garage on E-Bike

A 14-year-old boy is recovering from a broken hip, a broken femur, a broken ankle, and a herniated disc in his back after crashing an electric bicycle over the side of a downtown Clarksburg, West Virginia parking garage and falling roughly 44 feet onto an adjacent rooftop. The boy landed on the roof of the former Clarksburg Printing building, and he is expected to recover, according to Clarksburg Police Chief Mark Kiddy.

The fall happened around 5 p.m. near the parking structure between Hewes Avenue and U.S. Route 50, according to CBS News. Chief Kiddy told CBS affiliate WDTV that the teen fell after crashing his e-bike over the parking garage's side. Emergency dispatchers logged the 911 trauma call at 5:02 p.m., and responding Clarksburg Police officers blocked the Route 50 East exit ramp onto Hewes Avenue, disrupting access to what serves as the primary entrance to the downtown parking structure, according to Connect Bridgeport.

A Coordinated Rescue From an Adjacent Rooftop

Extracting the injured teen from the rooftop required a joint effort among the Clarksburg Police Department, the Clarksburg Fire Department and the Harrison County Emergency Squad, per the same outlet's reporting. Emergency crews rescued the boy from the roof before he was flown to a hospital in Morgantown for treatment, reportedly with the extent of his injuries not immediately released at the time of the initial report.

The teen was airlifted by HealthNet Aeromedical Services, which operates Base 1 out of Morgantown using twin-engine EC145e helicopters configured for complex pediatric critical care transport across West Virginia, according to the provider's own documentation. He was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. Police are investigating the incident.

Firefighters Point to Staffing and Training

Clarksburg Firefighters IAFF Local 89 publicly highlighted the rooftop rescue on social media as an example of why specialized emergency training and adequate fire department staffing are critical for technical rescues, as reported by CBS News. The union's comments underscore how the operation, extracting a patient from an elevated roof adjacent to a parking garage, was not a routine call for local crews.

What West Virginia Law Says About Teen E-Bike Riders

West Virginia Code § 17C-11-8 classifies electric bikes into three tiers exempt from driver licensing and registration, while enforcing a statewide helmet requirement strictly for riders under 15 years old under the state's Child Bicycle Safety Act, according to an e-bike regulatory analysis published by Upway. Riders 15 and older are not subject to the statewide helmet mandate, meaning the 14-year-old fell within the age bracket the law is designed to cover.

Part of a National Surge in Pediatric E-Bike Trauma

The Clarksburg case lands amid a broader spike in severe e-bike injuries among children and teens nationwide. A Level 1 trauma center study found e-bike accidents involving children and teens surged by more than 300% from 2019 to 2023, driving a sharp increase in severe orthopaedic injuries requiring surgery, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission data cited by ERideHero showed emergency room visits for children 14 and younger injured on e-bikes rose 167% in a single year, climbing from 6,444 in 2024 to 17,206 in 2025. The same analysis found that 17.6% of e-bike injuries in 2025 required hospital admission, a higher hospitalization rate than for traditional bicycles at 14.1% or electric scooters at 15.1%, per ERideHero.

A separate U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report released earlier this year noted that nationwide e-bike emergency room visits reached an estimated 59,200 in 2024 and flagged enclosed structures such as parking garages as high-risk environments where reduced visibility increases crash hazards. Federal safety advisories cited in that report emphasize that quick, quiet e-bikes can be difficult for others to anticipate in tight, enclosed spaces like multi-story garages.