By Ashley Mackin Solomon / San Diego Union-Tribune / June 17, 2024
After her proposed legislation intended to promote safer use of electric bicycles was amended in the state Legislature — with some elements removed — Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner is planning a pilot program that would prohibit children younger than 12 from riding e-bikes in areas that opt into it.
Earlier this year, Boerner (D-Encinitas), whose 77th District includes Point Loma and Ocean Beach, introduced a bill that would require many would-be riders ages 12-16 to complete a written test and receive a “license” to operate an e-bike.
However, in the ensuing months, various state departments weighed in and found the proposal to be expensive and labor-intensive.
Boerner’s field representative Mariah Kallhoff said objections from the Department of Motor Vehicles and costs associated with the bill’s implementation prevented it from moving forward as planned.
The bill was amended to focus on a city-by-city opt-in pilot program that would prohibit kids under 12 from operating a Class 1 or Class 2 e-bike.
A second bill would create a digital handbook including the rules of the road and e-bike regulations in one place. It, too, was introduced last year but didn’t pass because the request was for a physical handbook. By making it a less-expensive and less labor-intensive e-book, it got state Senate support.
Both bills have cleared the Senate’s Transportation Committee and will proceed to the full Senate in coming weeks.
Should all go smoothly, they could be signed by the governor with an effective date of Jan. 1. From there, municipal leaders could decide whether to opt into the pilot program.
“Between those two … we hope this helps in some way, shape or form,” Kallhoff said.
Class 1 and 2 e-bikes can reach top speed of 20 mph. Helmets are required for riders younger than 18, but not for adults.
Helmets are required for anyone on a Class 3 electric bike, which can reach top speed of 28 mph.
“I’m a huge supporter of e-bikes … when operated safely,” Boerner said. “I want kids to walk and bike, but it has to be safe.
“It’s not a matter of how skilled or mature they might be … e-bikes are not safe for those under 12.”
Boerner’s district stretches along the coastal area between Carlsbad and the U.S.-Mexico border. Part of the reason e-bike legislation hasn’t gotten off the ground, Kallhoff said, is that the issue has been largely local to Southern California.
“It is a fairly big problem in San Diego, [but] other legislators [weren’t as interested],” she said. “But now that it is a statewide issue, people are starting to listen to our bill ideas now.”
That’s why, Boerner said, the prohibition on riders under 12 would be opt-in based on the need in particular cities.
“There is more we have to do, but we have to start somewhere,” Boerner said. “It’s a good first step. I would like to see more done, but we can chip away at this.”
She encouraged all e-bike riders and their parents to complete the California Highway Patrol’s online e-bike safety training course, which can be found at bit.ly/3L5gp3n.
Legislation like what Boerner is seeking could be a welcome change for the San Diego police officers who must monitor safe ridership without regulations on the books.
Community Relations Officer Jessica Thrift of the Police Department’s Northern Division said e-bike regulation is “very, very challenging … especially when parents are giving their [children] electric bikes.”
Though the department received a grant to fund overtime for officers to enforce bike regulations, that takes away from traffic enforcement, Thrift said.
“We’re literally pulling where we can, but until they are [regulated], this is not something we are able to solve,” she said.
Officer Anthony Obregon previously said that electric bikes can surpass their top speeds on steep downhill roads and that bicyclists “have to drive at an appropriate speed for the conditions of the roadway. It’s no different than a car.”
Super idea…just watch them race around…heedless of the dangers of fast moving cars. Why are the parents concerned?
The idea that kids can operate what is effectively a motorcycle, but isn’t called that because it has pedals, is ridiculous.
Many, if not most kids, do not have the maturity to understand that a vehicle traveling at speeds of 20 to 30 mph or more, can easily become a death sentence.
I know any statement that starts with, “When I was a kid . . . ” makes me sound like an old guy, but what exactly do kids need anything more than a bicycle for? I was in pretty good shape at 13 and part of it was that I had to ride my bike everywhere.
And do I need to remind you and our readers who eliminated the law requiring helmets for e-bikes while he was in the state Assembly?
I’m sorry I forgot. I can admit my shortcomings. Please, Please, can you remind me ?? (My first guess is TG, but it really is a guess.)
Yes, your guess is correct; it was Todd Gloria when he was still in Sacramento. Some of us wish he’d stayed there, find some sort of developer-related consulting job.
Ridiculous or not, from a legal perspective the e-bikes that fall within the three U.S. classes are not considered motorcycles. Unlike two stroke mopeds that were popular in the late 70s/early 80, the pedals are actually used. Class I e-bikes don’t even have a throttle. Granted the Class II bikes most teenagers are zipping around on do kind of get into moped territory, but right or wrong they’re still considered bicycles.
To answer your question why kids need anything more than a bicycles, it’s a total non starter. The class II bikes they’re riding more than anything else is a car replacement rather than a regular/standard bike replacement. They can go the distances that before mom or dad would have needed to drive them. E-bikes allow kids to go to school, soccer practice, to the skate park or where ever else would have previously been done in a car. That also frees up time for the parents.
Interesting discussion, the laws are way behind the technology as usual. There is a big difference between the class 1 pedal assist and class 2 or 3. The kids you see riding wheelies are on a class 3, a full E-Moto (SurRon). The kids hauling a friend and their baseball gear on a class 2 (Rad Power / Super 77). Class 1 just takes the pain out of the hills, not many kids riding these because you actually have to pedal. There should be rules but they should understand the differences.
The Surons are different in that they don’t fall under any of the classes. They don’t have pedals at all and at full speed go well beyond 28 MPH limit of class IIIs. They are basically electric dirt bikes. The Rad Powers and Super 73 are primary class II and IIIs. All class IIs have a throttle (which is what most teenagers are riding) and the IIIs may or may not have a throttle. If they have a throttle, it can only go to 20 and the pedal assist up to 28. That’s not to say people don’t to some tweeks and modifications to the speed limiters.
What might be legal today, because no one previously thought of the dangers, doesn’t mean the law shouldn’t be changed.
Every day I watch kids fly down my downhill street (Venice) some doing wheelies, at speeds of well over 20 mph. (The top speed on a Class 2 with a hand throttle is 20 mph and downhill, I can assure you it’s much faster.) They fly past my house and then right through the stop sign at Narragansett, barely slowing down.
Now frankly, I don’t blame the kids. I would have likely done the exact same thing at that age. But that’s because I was not mature enough to understand the potential ramifications of my actions.
But my street is anecdotal. What are the real statistics?
From 2017 – 2022 there were 360,000 ER visits by people riding e-bikes. Over 100,000 of those were children. That seems significant enough to address.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/e-bike-and-e-scooter-injuries-on-the-rise-especially-for-kids-new-report-shows/3331180/
Yes I saw that segment along with a few others addressing the same thing. We’ll see what happens.
I work in Coronado and pretty much every teenager I see is on an e-bike. Some riding more “responsibly” than others.
Just as a quick reminder, 12-year-olds are not teens, yet.
The problem with legislators is that they constantly want to prohibit conduct and limit freedom.
A child under 12 years old on an E-bike is the responsibility of parents, not the state. There are those children who have been taught to be responsible and there are those who have not, and some kids are just wild.
I’m a big fan of Charlie Darwin and nature’s way. Life is tough and sometimes it injures and kills. Parents, if you want to give your kids the best chance at growing up, either teach them to be responsible or don’t buy them an electric powered bike.
FF — How many people howled foul when state legislators required everyone to wear a seatbelt while in a vehicle that’s moving? Or the helmets required while driving a motorcycle?
Editordude….good point, which begs the question: How much regulation do we want in our lives? Helmet and seatbelt laws were sold to us under the pretense that it will save lives as well as money in hospital bills. Where do we, especially those of us who live in 92107 with our unique outlook on life, stand on this issue? Are we comfortable with the government becoming our mother? We have to be consistent. We got the government to get off our backs with marijuana use, so how much more freedom do we deserve? Arizona does fine without helmet laws. I wouldn’t go anywhere without my seatbelt on, but that’s me. Where does our free will start and stop?
I’m sympathetic to your view generally. Look at all the “no” signs at the beach: “No smoking”, “No drinking”, no this or that. There’s a balance – or there has to be. Someone famous once said, I’m paraphrasing, “Your right to swing your arms stops with my nose.”
I feel some sort of regulation is necessary. Maybe the exception could be *unless accompanied by a parent*
Like Glenn said…. these kids are doing wheelies at 20+ miles an hour through stop signs. Something has to give….
Didn’t some kid break his pelvis a few months back?
Leaving Home Depot today, a girl about 12 almost hit my car at the stop sign in the parking lot. She had a helmet but followed me watching her cell phone all the way. Still watching the cell phone with headphones in both ears, she cut across two lanes to make a left on Wing Street. I don’t know the class of bike, but it was going well over 20MPH.