L.A. City Council members call for new restrictions on e-bikes

Tired of teens terrorizing the town on e-bikes? Los Angeles City Council members are too.

The council’s Rules Committee passed a motion Tuesday that asks the city’s Department of Transportation to come up with ways to regulate e-bikes, including who can ride them and how. The measure next goes to the Public Safety Committee, then the full City Council.

The motion outlines a number of possible measures including banning the sale of e-bikes, e-motorcyles and electric mopeds that don’t meet legal standards out of the box, banning modifications that can make e-bikes faster and requiring education for riders under 18 or who don’t have a driver’s license. The motion, authored by Councilmembers Heather Hutt and John Lee, also suggested implementing rules for storage and charging to prevent battery fires.

“Banning the conversion of e-bikes to an e-moto will be an important step to preventing injuries,” Hutt’s office said in a statement. “Most importantly we need to ensure children are riding the appropriate vehicle for their age,” including kids staying off e-motos until they are 16 years old.

If the full council approves the measure, the Department of Transportation will have 30 days to report back with recommendations.

E-bikes are classified into three categories based on speed and function. Class 1 is pedal-assisted only up to 20 mph. Class 2 includes a throttle but is also capped at 20 mph. Class 3 is pedal assist but goes up to 28 mph, requires riders to be at least 16 years old and cannot typically be used on bike paths. Anything faster is classified as a moped or e-motorcycle, which can require someone to have a motorcycle classification on their license.

While e-bikes are lauded for increasing exercise and helping Angelenos get around in a city otherwise built for cars, injuries from e-bike crashes have surged, especially in minors, according to the motion. An elderly woman in March was injured after a teen struck her riding an e-bike, and in May a collision killed a Garden Grove 13-year-old after he lost control of his electric motorcycle.

The council has authored other motions to limit e-bikes elsewhere, including a ban for e-bikes on equestrian and hiking trails.

Hutt’s office said in a statement that potential e-bike education would be standardized through the Department of Motor Vehicles and have online or in-person options. The state Legislature could also consider a surcharge on manufacturers to pay for the education component as part of their liability, the statement said.

Eli Akira Kaufman, executive director for the nonprofit advocacy group BikeLA, said that he supported the motion’s education requirements, but that changes need to be made with long-term effects in mind.

“No law, however just or punitive, will ever replace in my mind the value of educational programming,” Kaufman said.

Ideally, any locally required programming should be done in person, with e-bike riders getting supervised, hands-on training with their bikes to promote safety and education, he said. Such trainings shouldn’t be entrusted to the DMV or another state entity, but through nonprofits like his and Streets for All, which have experience with e-bikes and advocate for this kind of education.

The main problem involves e-mopeds and e-motorcycles, which are typically illegal to ride without a driver’s license or registration, Kaufman said. Laws erroneously tend to lump in legal e-bikes with these illegal versions, he said, affecting people who are safely trying to use a more sustainable transportation method. Regulation needs to be nuanced, he said, instead of allowing dangerous vehicles on the road and penalizing riders after the fact.

“It’s just a lack of investment,” Kaufman said. “It’s like the Wild Wild West — hoping for the best, but looking for the worst.”