A 14-year-old Orem boy remains in critical condition on a ventilator nearly a week after a van struck him while he rode his e-bike near Cherry Hill Elementary School, and his mother is now begging other families to rethink putting their kids on these devices at all. Kaezden Davis was hit the evening of October 13 after heading out for a ride around 5 p.m., just after he'd returned from a doctor's appointment and grabbed ice cream with family.
According to KUTV, an Orem police report said the van, described by Kaezden's mother, Michelle Pino, as a 15-passenger vehicle, was traveling north on 200 East approaching 1780 South when Kaezden, riding east on the sidewalk, crossed the street and collided with it. Ring doorbell video captured moments before and after the crash, the station reports. Pino described her life since the collision as having been turned upside down.
Six days after the crash, Kaezden remained in critical condition and on a ventilator, the station notes. Pino said her son's brain levels remained high, he had developed infections, his oxygen levels were low, and the ventilator was close to its maximum setting. Kaezden was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, the outlet reports.
A Mother's Plea to Other Families
Pino is urging families to get rid of e-bikes altogether and has asked the community to keep praying for her son, per the same KUTV account. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help support the Davis family during his recovery. Orem police have also provided information about e-bike laws that the department recently shared online, while the Provo Police Department has separately shared its own e-bike safety information, the station notes.
Utah's New E-Bike Rules Still Catching Up
Kaezden's crash comes as Utah has moved to tighten e-bike regulations for minors. Effective May 6, 2026, the state's House Bill 381 requires riders under 21 on high-powered electric devices and e-motorcycles to use DOT-approved helmets, according to the Utah Highway Safety Office. Under that same law, children ages 8 to 14 must be accompanied by an adult when riding an e-bike with the motor engaged on a sidewalk, road, path or public property, and riders under 16 cannot operate Class 3 e-bikes capable of speeds up to 28 mph.
The law also gives police explicit authority to temporarily impound non-compliant e-bikes ridden by minors who violate the state's safety rules, releasing the devices only to a parent or legal guardian, the Utah Highway Safety Office states. A second phase of the law, set to begin May 5, 2027, will require riders ages 8 to 15 to complete a state-administered online safety course and earn a Personal Electric Vehicle Safety Certificate before operating an e-bike unsupervised on public roads, according to Riverton City. Utah code also classifies any electric two-wheeler exceeding 750 watts of motor power or 20 mph on throttle power alone as an electric motorcycle, which legally requires a driver's license, motorcycle endorsement, registration and insurance.
A Pattern of Severe Injuries Among Utah Youth
Kaezden's case joins a troubling run of serious youth e-bike incidents across the state. Trauma data from Intermountain Health's Primary Children's Hospital campuses showed a 66.7% increase in e-bike injuries among children and teens, with hospitals treating injured riders as young as 8 years old, according to Intermountain Health. A nationwide study published by healthcare data firm Truveta in October found that youth e-bike emergency room visits surged 19.1-fold between January 2023 and mid-2026, with 7.8% of pediatric e-bike ER patients suffering traumatic brain injuries.
A girl in St. George suffered a severe head injury requiring surgery within an hour after an unhelmeted e-bike crash on a steep hill at 40 mph, KSL.com reported. In September, a 13-year-old boy in Ogden suffered a cracked skull, a damaged eye socket and severe leg injuries in an e-bike crash near 7th Street and Adams Avenue, a case Hoodline covered in its report on the search for the driver. And in September 2025, a 13-year-old boy died after his e-bike was struck by a motor vehicle near 1525 West and 600 South in Farmington, according to KSL.com.
For now, Kaezden's family is focused on his recovery, with his mother's warning aimed squarely at other parents weighing whether to let their own kids ride. A GoFundMe campaign was set up to support the Davis family as it navigates his ICU stay, and Pino has asked the community to continue praying for her son as he fights to pull through.
