I can’t remember the last time I thought about passing new laws, instead of weakening or repealing existing ones. But once a week when I’m out walking my Pomeranian show dog, Ollie, the e-bikers zoom past – on the sidewalk.
In response to such incidents, on June 4 the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted tougher rules on e-bikes, which have become increasingly popular in recent years.
The California Vehicle Code defines e-bikes as having motors with less than 750 watts. There are three classes. Class 1 needs the rider to pedal for the motor to work, and cannot exceed 20 mph. Class 2 is “equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively,” but cannot go faster than 20 mph. Class 2 needs pedaling to use the motor, but can go up to 28 mph.
The new county rules add, “No person shall operate a bicycle or electric bicycle in any manner that endangers any person or animal,” which seems vague.
I haven’t used a police radar gun to clock these kids, but it seems a lot of them are hitting 28 mph. And knowing kids, some may have modified the bikes to exceed that limit, or bought bikes that do so. Effectively, they are motorcycles, which require a license to operate.
“We are addressing e-bike issues through daily education efforts and enforcement,” Kyle Oldoerp, public relations specialist for the Irvine Police Department, told me. Middle and high school students are required to attend an IPD safety course. A community safety class is offered. They frequently post on social media. And the IPD is “impounding e-motorcycles that are not street-legal.”
In addition to better education, “The other long-term solution is providing a safe space to ride on the street,” Jared Sanchez emailed me on e-bikes; he’s policy director at the California Bicycle Coalition. “We do not think added restrictions or enforcement of e-bike riders will alleviate concerns, and instead criminalizes youth and people riding bikes.”
CalBike also has called for better-designed roads. And it cited data from the state Office of Traffic Safety which found bike traffic deaths in California declined 8% between 2020 and 2021, even as e-bike use increased.
The group also commended the Legislature for “maintaining funding commitments to critical walking and bicycling projects” despite the ongoing budget crisis. The money funds the Active Transportation Program, which spends $500 million statewide over two years.
The reason for a lot of these programs is to get people out of their gas-guzzling cars and out on the bike paths when going to work or the store, also improving their health. But if they’re on e-bikes with minimal pedaling at best, how is that improving fitness, especially during a childhood obesity crisis?
I’m always looking for private solutions to problems. I asked my landlord, the Irvine Company, which owns vast tracts of my city, about its e-bike policy on its properties. “We respectfully decline to participate in this piece,” Ryan Lilyengren, vice president of corporate communications, told me.
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I’ve come to the conclusion that not much can be done and current laws are adequate. Any severe problems can be handled by asking for extra police vigilance.
It’s like the coyote problem. Although I haven’t seen any, every couple of weeks neighbors tell me they’ve seen coyotes in our area, and to watch out for Ollie. Government efforts have done nothing to lessen that danger.
Or it’s like talking on a cell phone while driving. After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law banning that, in 2009 somebody snapped a picture of his then-wife, Maria Shriver, talking on her cell while driving a black SUV. She apologized.
Youth is a time of experimentation. Adults need to set parameters for the good of the kids and the rest of society. But the limits ought to be reasonable and flexibly enforced. Maybe some kid who hot-wires an e-bike will become the next Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who started out selling illegal “blue box” devices that let people make free long-distance calls.
No new e-bike laws needed.
John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board and blogs at: johnseiler.substack.com