The following is an excerpt of a recent article in the Coast News about Encinitas considering stricter enforcement of e-bike riding.
The city is seeking to follow the lead of other San Diego County cities by strengthening and clarifying its laws governing e-bikes.
Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara introduced a series of proposed ordinances at the January 29th City Council meeting — unanimously approved by the legislative body — in response to rising e-bike ridership and growing safety concerns. According to city documents, the proposed code amendments fall into four categories:
• Enforcement tools authorizing the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office to temporarily impound e-bikes for reckless behavior or a third offense, particularly in high-traffic areas such as along Coast Highway 101 in downtown Encinitas.
• Sidewalk regulations requiring e-bikes to be walked or operated at strict “walking speeds” in busy pedestrian corridors, including downtown Encinitas and Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
• Age and/or equipment restrictions aligned with new state standards for daytime-running rear lights, along with stricter parental accountability for minors operating Class 3 e-bikes.
• A formal education and safety diversion program in which fines could be waived upon completion of approved safety courses.
City staff will return to a future council meeting with recommendations for ordinances to formally codify the proposals.
The proposal comes after heightened local concern over e-bike safety following the death of an Encinitas teenager who was critically injured in a traffic collision while riding an e-bike in 2023.
Since then, cities across the region have ramped up efforts to improve safety for younger riders, exploring a variety of legislative avenues, from increasing penalties for reckless riders to outright bans of e-bikes for youth under a certain age.
Captain Watts of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said deputies have been proactively monitoring e-motorcycles — which can resemble e-bikes — that are being ridden illegally on roadways by minors who are not properly licensed. In the week before Wednesday’s meeting, Watts said officers seized four such vehicles, including one earlier that same evening.
Watts said deputies will not tolerate behavior by e-bike riders that shows “zero regard for anybody else that is on the roadway,” such as performing wheelies or failing to yield to emergency vehicles.
“We’re getting very creative, and I think that’s why we have been able to get some of these illegal motorcycles off our roadways,” he said. “We’ve even gone to the extent of giving citations to parents.
Numerous e-motorcycles have been spotted in Encinitas Ranch and it is incumbent on parents to understand that these e-motorcycles are illegal except for use in designated off-road areas. They cannot be used on trails, sidewalks and streets.