As more young people in the city turn to e-bikes as a form of transportation and fun, the city says it is preparing to ramp up an education campaign in response to public safety concerns, and plans to coordinate with the school district and parent groups on the issue.
“This is not an anti e-bike conversation,” Piedmont’s Police Chief Frederick Shavies emphasized to the City Council on Monday night, citing the bikes’ utility and widespread adoption. “The concern arises when young or inexperienced riders are operating a vehicle that is capable of significant speed without fully understanding the rules of road, or when parents don’t understand what kind of vehicle they’ve bought,” he said.
E-bike usage has grown in recent years, and the distinctions between classes of legal e-bikes and high-powered e-motorcycles can be hard to discern. Different classes of e-bikes can travel between 20 mph and 28 mph and parents don’t always know what kind of vehicle they are buying for their children, Shavies said. Some bikes can be modified to go much faster.
Two bills aimed at e-bike safety in California were recently moved forward in Sacramento. Per CalMatters: One would give local governments more authority to set speed limits on bike trails, require e-bike sellers to disclose safety warnings and mandate certain e-bikes to be equipped with speedometers and lights and the other would set up a pilot program in San Mateo County banning children under 12 from riding certain lower-speed e-bikes.
“Our goal is education before enforcement,” Shavies said. “We want to change behavior before someone gets hurt.” Shavies said parents in particular have to better understand what kind of e-bike they are purchasing for their child.
Dr. James Crawford-Jakubiak, a Piedmont resident and pediatrician at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, joined Shavies for the presentation to share information about the risks associated with unsafe ridership.
“We are seeing increasingly young riders riding increasingly powerful bikes on our streets,” he said. “As a former motorcyle rider myself, I get why kids want to ride these bikes. But because of what I do for a living, I want to share what we see: a dramatic increase in severe head injuries, abdominal trauma, and other life-altering injuries. We see it every week, and sometimes every day,” he said. E-bike injuries are substantially more serious than standard bicycle crashes, he noted. E-bikes can weigh between 50-60 lbs, and combined with the speed they are traveling, the potential for serious injury is completely different from a standard bike, he said.
Although this was an informational presentation, councilmembers appeared interested in figuring out a way to tackle the problem now versus waiting for the state to pass laws addressing the issue. Some cities have created ordinances around safe riding, Shavies said.
“I would like to move forward with some kind of standards on licensing,” said Vice Mayor Conna McCarthy.
“This is the beginning of a conversation,” said City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore. “This particular issue intersects with how we manage cyclists on our roadways … the safe movement of residents and riders.”