A 66-year-old man is fighting for his life after a potential collision on Punchbowl Street early Saturday morning, according to emergency officials. The e-bicyclist suffered multiple life-threatening injuries and was not wearing a helmet when first responders arrived, and he remains in critical condition.
Emergency Medical Services said crews responded at approximately 6:07 a.m. to reports of an e-bicyclist apparently hit by a vehicle, according to Hawaii News Now. Paramedics responded to Punchbowl Street between South King and South Beretania streets, and treated the man for his injuries at the scene, per the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Honolulu police closed Punchbowl Street in all directions for about an hour while emergency crews worked the scene, the paper reported.
EMS administered advanced life support before transporting the man to an emergency room in critical condition for further treatment, Hawaii News Now reported. The man appeared to be unhelmeted at the time of the crash, according to the same outlet's account, which echoed the Star-Advertiser's reporting on his condition.
A Pattern of Serious Crashes Across Oahu
The Punchbowl Street crash follows a separate collision just days earlier in Liliha, where a 62-year-old moped rider was critically injured after a car turning into the Liliha Bakery parking lot struck him on North Kuakini Street, according to the Star-Advertiser. In that incident, police said the moped rider also was not wearing a helmet, and that speed appeared to be a contributing factor, though it was unknown whether drugs or alcohol played a role. The 19-year-old driver stayed at the scene and was not hurt, while EMS transported the injured rider to a hospital in critical condition.
Both crashes land amid a broader surge in e-bike and micromobility injuries across the islands. State Department of Health data showed 816 reported e-bike injuries statewide between January 2022 and March 2026, with most incidents happening on Oahu, according to KHON2. Honolulu EMS Director Dr. Jim Ireland has said crews were on pace to respond to more than 200 e-bike-related crashes in a single year, the station reported.
Helmet Use Remains a Persistent Factor
Honolulu EMS has reported responding to 100 calls involving electric mobility devices, with half of those patients transported to hospitals in serious or critical condition, KHON2 reported. Of those calls, 79 riders were not wearing helmets, and 20 incidents involved children under 16, the station said. Separately, KHON2 reported that across Oahu, roughly half of 36 reported 2026 incidents involving e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds and motorcycles involved unhelmeted riders, with 20 people hospitalized as a result.
Statewide, e-bike injuries more than doubled from 106 in 2022 to 244 in 2025, according to the Hawaii Department of Health, as reported by Civil Beat. In Honolulu specifically, e-bike-related injuries climbed from 110 in 2023 to 181 in 2025, with 71 already reported this year, per the outlet. About a third of last year's e-bike injuries involved children under 18, and more than half of injured riders were not wearing helmets, Civil Beat reported.
The stakes extend beyond injuries. Civil Beat reported that two fatal e-bike incidents occurred in Ewa Beach in 2025 — a 7-year-old girl died in March and a 15-year-old died in August. Those deaths, along with the climbing injury counts, have fueled proposed legislative changes to helmet, age and vehicle rules for e-bikes in Hawaii, though the current status of that legislation could not be confirmed.
No further details on the driver involved in Saturday's Punchbowl Street crash, or on the bicyclist's current condition, have been released.
