Tag Archives: green

Hawaii’s New Strick E-Bike Law to Prevent Brain Injury

Dr. Josh Green in white coat with stethoscope in office and Hawaiian flag

Governor Josh Green signed Act 259 (HB 2021) on July 15, 2026, giving Hawaii its first comprehensive statewide e-bike framework. The law requires helmets for all riders under 18, bars anyone under 15 from operating an e-bike, and prohibits riders under 16 from using Class 2 or Class 3 models without adult supervision.

The measure grew out of an alarming rise in head trauma. Hawaii Department of Health data reported that e-bike injuries more than doubled between 2022 and 2025, from 106 to 244. Honolulu EMS also found that 81 percent of the e-bike patients that were treated wore no head protection. Honolulu-based Kapi’olani Medical Center’s trauma team reported that e-bike crashes recently became the leading cause of injury among the children it treated.

Man riding a bicycle on the sandy beach during sunset

Green, previously an emergency physician, has been blunt about the stakes. “If they have a head trauma, they’re probably going to have long-standing disability from the traumatic head injury,” he said in a September 2025 interview.

The law also reclassifies machines exceeding 28 mph as e-motorcycles, subject to licensing, registration, and insurance. California imposes comparable rules, while New Jersey now goes further, requiring helmets for e-bike riders of every age.

See also: E-Bikes and Brain Injury: The Risks, the Recovery, and the Law

“Eat Your Vegetables” for a Healthy Brain

Vitamin K is generally known for its role in blood clotting, but scientists have long been uncovering its powerful impact on brain health. Available to view through PubMed, biochemical journal Biofactors noted as far back as 2012, “There is now convincing evidence that vitamin K has important actions in the nervous system.” A 2022 study published in Nature, also available on PubMed, found that vitamin K suppresses ferroptosis, a type of cell death driven by lipid damage and linked to brain injury. 

Vitamin K activates brain proteins Gas6 and protein S, which shield neurons from damage and support cell recovery after injury. While the vitamin is important for all people’s brain health, it is life-or-death for infants. The CDC has reported that babies who don’t receive a vitamin K shot at birth are 81 times more likely to develop Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding [VKDB]. Between 30% and 60% of late-onset cases of VKDB involve brain hemorrhage, and one in five affected infants will die.

More recently, the public medical library published a 2025 Tufts University study, first reported in The Journal of Nutrition, that confirmed “low vitamin K intake reduced menaquinone-4 concentrations in brain tissues and impaired learning- and memory-related cognitive function.” 

Beyond neuroprotection, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements notes that Vitamin K strengthens bones and supports healthy blood circulation. The old adage of “eat your vegetables” is apropos, as top food sources include kale, spinach, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.