Orange County police department hosts e-bike forum, looking to educate, improve safety
The Huntington Beach Police Department hosted a statewide symposium to address e-bike safety concerns and explore solutions as popularity and dangers rise, especially among young riders.
Growing safety challenges surrounding e-bikes, e-motorcycles, and other electric mobility devices brought law enforcement from around Southern California to Wednesday's symposium, joined by community members, policymakers, medical professionals, educators, and industry representatives.
More than 100 deaths have been attributed to e-Bikes and e-motorcycles in the U.S., and injuries have spiked 430% in just the last four years in Southern California, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. Children between the ages of 11 and 14 accounted for 61.7% of e-motorcycle crashes.
Just yesterday, a 51-year-old Orange County woman was in court facing involuntary manslaughter charges involving her 14-year-old son, who crashed into a pedestrian while riding an e-motorcycle, leading to the man's death. She faces a maximum sentence of just over seven years in state prison if convicted, according to prosecutors.
Two other parents in Orange County are also facing criminal charges for allowing their children to illegally operate e-motorcycles. In a Wednesday-issued news release, District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced the formation of an e-bike, e-motorcycle prosecution unit. He said it has been created to "review all potential criminal charges against juveniles and adults, including parents who knowingly allow their children to ride illegal e-motorcycles."
Symposium conversation centered on how to improve safety, whether by way of education, new legislation or law enforcement action.
'We have a lot of officers who really can't tell the difference between an e-bike and e-motorcycle, so how is a parent going to be able to tell the difference?" HBPD Sgt. Mike Thomas brought up at the symposium.
He noted that young riders want to ride what their friends are riding, and often it's illegal. In fact, children under 16 are legally prohibited from riding e-motorcycles, according to the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Record System.
Huntington Beach's e-bike ambassador, Jesse Hayes, nearly died when he was riding his e-bike in 2024, at 18 years old.
Now, Hayes speaks out on safety issues, sharing his story of recovery. "It took away, the, one of the most important parts of my life, like skateboarding, and I'm not really sure if I'll be able to do that again," he said Wednesday morning.
In a separate interview, UCLA Law Professor Shirin Bakhshay added that it will take a multi-pronged effort to improve e-bike safety. "How are we going to get people to prevent their kids from having access to these things? It's going to take more than the hammer of the criminal law; it's going to take multiple different stakeholders," she said.
Earlier in the week, Spitzer said Amazon will no longer sell e-bikes in California that exceed state speed limits.
According to state law, two-wheeled vehicles that can exceed 28 miles per hour with pedal assistance or 20 mph with throttle assistance, meaning no pedaling necessary, are legally mopeds or e-motorcycles.
"If parents refuse to hold their children accountable, then I am going to hold parents accountable when they knowingly break the law,' Spitzer said in a news release.