Electric bicycles allow riders to zip across town in a way that’s more affordable and environmentally friendly than gas-powered cars. They reduce traffic, can help people with mobility issues and generally are fun to use.
But the rising use of e-bikes has also resulted in high-profile collisions and growing safety concerns among parents, healthcare professionals and state legislators. Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed three new e-bike laws. They follow one he signed earlier this summer to develop an e-bike safety training program for students.
The measures limit youth access to e-bikes, set sidewalk speed limits and clarify what exactly classifies as an e-bike. But critics of the laws fear overregulation and over-policing could discourage riders from a mode of transit they argue is inexpensive, clean and liberating.
Here’s a look at the new laws.
Age limits in San Mateo County
Assembly Bill 2595 authorizes a San Mateo County pilot program banning children under 12 from riding certain lower-speed e-bikes. Parents or guardians whose children violate the law face $25 fines. At the end of the pilot, which is scheduled to sunset in 2031, the county must report to the Legislature about the program, including the number of traffic stops initiated for a citation.
The governor in 2024 signed laws to establish similar programs in San Diego and Marin counties. Other states, including Alaska, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, also have minimum age requirements for e-bikes ranging from ages 14 to 16. California does not have an age minimum for most e-bikes, although riders of the fastest ones must be at least 16.
A study by researchers from UC San Diego found that e-bike collisions — particularly among riders ages 14 and younger — are “rapidly increasing” in the state. In 2018 there were two incidents, compared to 1,566 in 2024, though e-bike usage in general has expanded over recent years.
Assemblymember Diane Papan, a San Mateo Democrat, proposed the latest pilot after two young children in the county died in collisions involving e-bikes and e-motorcycles. One of the crashes last year in Burlingame involved an SUV driver who initially collided with an 11-year-old on an e-bike. The driver then fatally struck 4-year-old Ayden Fang who was playing on a nearby sidewalk.
“There were multiple responsible parties at multiple points where this could have been avoided,” said Xiaoming Fang, Ayden’s father, at an Assembly hearing in April. “An 11-year-old should not be riding a motorized vehicle that can go up to 20 miles an hour.”
E-bikes require a level of judgment and situational awareness that young children do not yet have, said Robin Pang-Maganaris, a city council member for Belmont.
“What results is not just a risk to those children, but an undue and unfair burden on drivers, parents, teachers and community members who are forced to anticipate the unpredictable movements of these young e-bikes.”
Setting speed limits
The governor also signed AB 2346, which imposes new manufacturing and disclosure requirements for e-bikes and sets speed limits for riding on a sidewalk.
Starting Jan. 1, 2029, Class 2 e-bikes (or an e-bike that provides throttle and pedal assistance up to 20 mph) will be required to have a speedometer, and all e-bikes must have either integrated or detachable front and rear lights. E-bike retailers will be required to disclose to consumers information about each e-bike, including what class it belongs to, its maximum speed and if it has any age restrictions.
Another part of the law taking effect on Jan. 1, 2027 empowers local governments to set speed limits on bike paths and multiuse trails, ranging from 10 to 20 mph, and sets a default statewide limit for riding on sidewalks to 10 mph. Speed limits established before the provision goes into effect can remain.
E-bike vs. e-moto
The third law Newsom signed cracks down on retailers that sell devices that go faster than e-bikes, such as electric motorcycles that can travel over 28 mph, but are marketed to consumers as legal e-bikes.
A 2025 report by San Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute found that illegal e-motos are the primary reason behind increased injuries among electric mobility riders, not legal e-bikes.
Senate Bill 1167 sailed through the Legislature with strong bipartisan support and no vote in opposition. Four key advocacy groups for bicycling and traffic safety — Cal Bike, People for Bikes, Streets for All and Streets are for Everyone — also backed the measure.
The law does not punish legal e-bikes, said Marc Vukcevich, Streets For All’s director of state policy, during a June hearing. Instead, it addresses what he calls “the e-moto problem.”
“Right now, public confidence in e-bikes is being undermined by a different category of vehicle, he said. “Which are high-powered electric mopeds, motor-driven cycles, and e-motos that are being marketed, sold and used as if they were ordinary bicycles or e-bikes.”
Villainizing e-bikes?
All three laws passed in the Legislature by almost unanimous votes, but they faced some criticism from e-bike advocates.
In its opposition to the San Mateo pilot, Streets for All characterized the plan as ineffective and premature since data from San Diego County’s pilot has not yet been submitted. In developing more pilots before reviewing data from existing ones, the move “undermines evidence-based policymaking,” it said.
There’s also concern about proper enforcement, said David Martinez, Streets for All’s state policy manager.
“How can you tell a 13-year-old from a 12-year-old?” he said. “I don’t know if that’s easily discernible.”
E-bike proponents also said they worried the new measures risk criminalizing e-bike riders, and they argued that legislators should focus more on creating roads that accommodate all types of users, instead of just regulating e-bikes. They point out that thousands of Californians die every year in vehicle collisions.
“Fifty percent of all vehicle trips in the country are three miles or less,” said Martinez. “That’s a bikeable distance. If we just had more protected, safe infrastructure where people from ages 8 to 80 can ride safely and feel comfortable while riding, then we can also … reduce the number of crashes that happen.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
