The Poway City Council will take a final vote Tuesday, Oct. 21 on new safety regulations for the use of e-bikes, including one that prohibits children under 12 from riding the motorized bicycles.
The increasing popularity of the electric bicycles, particularly among children, has resulted in a number of complaints from residents and concerns raised by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, city officials said.
On Oct. 7, the council gave unanimous preliminary approval to the regulations that outline the city’s policy on e-bikes. If approved Oct. 21, the regulations would take effect in late November, with an additional 60 days where only warnings would be issued for violations, according to a staff report.
Poway Sheriff’s Capt. Claudia Delgado said deputies are continuing efforts to educate students and community residents about being safe while riding e-bikes.
“We’ve had a couple of instances of kids going faster than the the traffic on Poway Road, going 45 to 50 miles per hour and doing wheelies,” Delgado said. “This is unsafe not only for riders but for the people around them.”
Councilmember Jenny Maeda said she believes parents should not have to co-parent with the government. But leaving e-bike decisions up to parental discretion has resulted in “chaos,” she said.
One of the city’s key regulations is prohibiting children under 12 from operating electric bicycles. The state Legislature recently passed a law, Assembly Bill 2234, that allows cities in San Diego County to adopt ordinances prohibiting e-bike operations with the age limit restriction.
State law defines three types of e-bikes – Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes that travel up to 20 mph and Class 3 e-bikes that travel up to 28 miles per hour.
The law already requires operators of Class 3 e-bikes to be 16 years old. Poway’s new rules would prevent children under 12 years old from operating Class 1 or Class 2 e-bikes.
Maeda said young children who are being sent out without training and education on the rules of the road are jeopardizing the safety of drivers and pedestrians as well as their own.
“We have received many complaints of young e-bike riders engaging in reckless and dangerous behaviors,” she said. “They are popping wheelies on Poway Road, riding perpendicular to the flow of traffic on Community Road, crossing busy intersections diagonally and running seniors off of sidewalks. I don’t want tragedy to strike our city before we do anything about this.”
Similar rules have been approved by the Del Mar and Chula Vista city councils. On June 16, Del Mar council members approved an ordinance to regulate bicycles and e-bikes that aligns with local laws already in place in Solana Beach and Encinitas.
The three neighboring communities banned sidewalk riding in business districts, but allow it in other areas to accommodate children and beginner riders.
In Chula Vista, rules are in place to limit Class 1 and Class 2 e-bike drivers to those age 12 and older. Anyone under the age of 18 must wear a bicycle helmet when riding and is not allowed to have a passenger. Scooters and Class 3 e-bikes are also prohibited on any public sidewalk. And all electric motorized vehicles are prohibited on sidewalks in the city’s business districts.
Before approving the Poway ordinance, Maeda added a recommendation to exclude e-bikes from sidewalks in the city’s business districts.
Mayor Steve Vaus added a separate recommendation to include guidance on e-bikes that encounter equestrians.
Vaus said as e-bikes approach or pass horses, the e-bike riders should yield, slow to a safe speed of up to 5 mph and if necessary, stop. He also suggested e-bike riders avoid sudden acceleration and loud noises around horses.
“Horses are prey animals and if they hear buzzing noises beside them they can go sideways really fast,” he said.
AB 2234 allows warnings to be issued to violators within the first 60 days of the ordinance and a maximum fine of $25 after 60 days. Enforcement of other rules could include fines of $50 to $250, misdemeanor charges or confiscation of an e-bike.
Additional limits in Poway would be to restrict the Class 3 e-bike drivers to teens who are at least 16 years old and requiring all e-bike riders under 18 to wear a helmet. It also prohibits any operator under 18 from transporting passengers on e-bikes.
Courtesy Poway Sheriff’s Substation
Poway Sheriff’s deputies gave safety tips for riding e-bikes to about 100 attendees of an E-Bike Safety event last month. (Courtesy Poway Sheriff’s Substation)
Safety rules would also include mandating compliance with traffic laws and traffic control devices, limiting riding to sidewalks, bike trails, pathways and roadways, and requiring e-bikes to keep adequate distance from, and yield to, pedestrians and equestrians.
Councilmember Peter De Hoff said the ordinance gives law enforcement officials more tools to keep the community safe.
“These rules are all commonsense and they do not require major behavioral changes,” De Hoff said before voting to approve the ordinance on Oct. 7. “This will help people understand how to operate e-bikes safely and it applies to people of all ages.”
Council member Christopher Pikus said e-bikes can be a positive recreational activity, giving adults and children an opportunity for exercise and socializing instead of using sedentary video games and computers. He noted speed limits addressed in the ordinance — 5 mph within a school zone sidewalk, 10 mph on other sidewalks and up to 20 mph on trails.
“Young riders have no idea about the implication that speed and momentum have when they collide with a pedestrian,” Pikus said, adding that he is in favor of the 3-foot buffer zone requirement between e-bikes and pedestrians. “For people of a certain age, a broken hip or shoulder can be a life-altering injury.”