By Breeana Greenberg
As electrical bikes rise in reputation, native state and metropolis leaders, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, together with faculty useful resource officers, are emphasizing an education-first strategy to addressing group considerations of reckless ridership.
Assemblymember Laurie Davies, as an illustration, launched laws earlier this yr that will additional promote faculty districts to accomplice with legislation enforcement companies to present protected using schooling for electrical and motorized bikes.
In San Juan Capistrano, the town’s Police Services is working with faculty useful resource officers to develop a program requiring youngsters to confirm that they’re sporting their helmets and using an age-appropriate bike.
And in Dana Point, Mayor Joe Muller is spearheading a proposed program that appears to require youngsters 16 and youthful to full an e-bike security course.
The ongoing schooling efforts come because the City of San Clemente’s e-bike ban on seashores, the Beach Trail, and the Municipal Pier just lately went into impact.
When reached for touch upon the most recent particulars of the ban, San Clemente Assistant to the City Manager Jennifer Savage wrote in an electronic mail that the town has targeted totally on schooling, with enforcement starting Memorial Day weekend.
To additional promote such schooling and accountable using, the City of San Clemente on Thursday, May 27, held one other Bike Safety Rodeo for kids 5 and older on the Vista Hermosa Sports Park.
Earlier this month, Davies hosted a separate bike and e-bike security occasion at Dana Hills High School in partnership with California Highway Patrol, OCSD and the three South County cities of Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan.
“It’s really about education,” Davies mentioned. “I mean, this is a great way for kids to get around; it’s getting them out of the house, away from the video games, getting exercise, being able to be around others.”
Municipalities started to discover {that a} lack of schooling and consciousness of guidelines on e-bikes arose through the COVID-19 pandemic—when e-bikes continued to rise in reputation.
Incident information obtained from the Orange County Fire Authority present that there have been 84 e-bike-related incidents inside its contract cities since 2021, when the company began monitoring such info.
Four e-bike-related incidents occurred in San Juan and 9 in Dana Point, whereas San Clemente has seen 20 incidents happen.
As public security officers noticed accidents enhance, Davies mentioned she realized the issue was rooted in an absence of schooling.
“I don’t think there’s a consistency of what the rules of the road are,” Davies mentioned. “Some are being told to be on the sidewalk, some are told they can’t be on the sidewalk.”
To deal with considerations in Dana Point, Muller has proposed a security program, which he introduced up through the Dana Point City Council’s May 3 assembly, that will require e-bike riders underneath 16 within the metropolis to present proof of finishing a security course if pulled over by legislation enforcement.
Muller mentioned that the general downside of reckless using possible gained’t get any higher till youngsters and oldsters begin seeing penalties.
“If we are able to make it mandatory, and parents start seeing—off the top of my head, this is totally off the wall—if we were to confiscate a bike, and they had to come back and pay a fine to get it . . . $500, $1,000 . . . that’s going to actually send a warning signal, get the kids in this class,” Muller mentioned. “The classes, right now, they’re free. It’s a Saturday morning for a couple hours. Go through it, answer some questions, and get your certificate. I think it’s worth doing.”
Ideally, he added, he’d like laws to be handed on the state stage with a program related to how California legislation requires all boaters to full a security examination and carry a California Boater Card.
In late April, the Assembly voted unanimously to cross Davies’ laws, Assembly Bill 2028. The measure amends present legislation that authorizes faculty districts to accomplice with legislation enforcement and public companies to present bike security schooling by revising the listing of autos to additionally embody e-bikes, motorized bikes and motorized scooters.
“We want to be able to make sure that everybody’s educated, and now that, hopefully, this bill will go through, we can work together with our partners at (the Orange County Transit Authority). They’ve been fantastic, along with law enforcement, our schools and our parents,” Davies mentioned.
The measure is now over on the State Senate, the place it awaits an Education Committee listening to on June 8. In the meantime, Davies has inspired native jurisdictions to develop their very own packages.
“Sometimes, we get a little tunnel vision in our own world here in our cities,” Muller mentioned on the May 14 bike security occasion. “(Davies) said you need to start talking to other cities, San Clemente, San Juan; make it consistent around South County, countywide.”
Though Muller hopes to require youngsters youthful than 16 to attend an e-bike security class and obtain a certification, he isn’t in favor of requiring a license to function e-bikes.
“It’s really more, making sure that parents understand that this is an important class,” he mentioned. “You need to make sure your kids take it if you give them an e-bike.”
He added that he’s unsure but what the penalty can be for not finishing the protection program, whether or not there can be impounding of bicycles, what the grace interval would appear to be to begin, or even when he had the votes on his council to cross it.
“It’s just a discussion we’re having; we’ll probably put it on one of our June meetings, maybe July,” Muller mentioned. “I’ve thought a lot about this; it’s the No. 1 complaint I get in the city.”
Rafael Reynosa, a public info officer for California Highway Patrol, mentioned that it might be tough to get all youngsters using e-bikes underneath 16 to full a security course, however that “if we have some joint effort between the state, county, local municipalities, I think it can be done.”
Reynosa added that since e-bikes are comparatively new, CHP has targeted totally on educating riders.
“We’re trying to focus more on education over giving them a citation, but when we see them, officers—and I’m sure deputies do as well—we stop them, educate them, tell them they can’t be doing this, whether they’re going too fast or riding without a helmet or riding with passengers when they’re not supposed to,” Reynosa mentioned.
Passengers will not be allowed on any bike except it’s a tandem bike or has a built-in seat.
Doheny Bike proprietor Jason Spates mentioned he’s not in favor of a licensing or registration, however he agreed that the issue with reckless riders lies in an absence of schooling.
“There’s a lot of negligent circumstances where you see kids in turning lanes and things like that, and you wonder who’s telling you how to respect the right of way, the rules of the road, stay off the sidewalk, don’t be going 30 miles an hour when pedestrians are around,” Spates mentioned. “Very common-sense things.”
“I don’t know if registering the e-bikes would regulate that, but there may be a way to get in contact more with parents and maintain that relationship with the adults, so that it eventually helps to solve problems before we have problems,” Spates continued.
Spates mentioned Doheny Bike doesn’t promote e-bikes to youngsters underneath 16.
“We, as a company, don’t cater to young riders of our bikes,” Spates mentioned. “We ask that riders be 16 years of age.”
He added that the majority of his clientele are older, utilizing the bikes for mobility.
In reference to San Clemente’s ordinance proscribing e-bikes on the Beach Trail, Spates mentioned the town wanted to deal with considerations of reckless e-bike riders with out an all-out ban.
“We don’t want to go the way of San Clemente, where they start restricting access and mobility of the bikes,” Spates mentioned.
Earlier this yr, San Clemente City Council handed an ordinance prohibiting electrical bicycles on the seashore, Beach Trail, and the Municipal Pier. Enforcement of the ban would require a coordinated effort from the town’s Beaches, Parks, and Recreation Department, Park Rangers, Code Enforcement and Marine Safety, in addition to OCSD.
“For me, it’s about safety education,” Spates mentioned. “I’d rather be on the good side of the narrative than the bad side of the narrative, and as a company, you don’t see kids on our bikes, and that was done on purpose. I don’t want to be part of that narrative of the problem in town; I want to be part of the solution.”
Doheny Bike has provided helmet giveaways so as to promote protected using and the significance of sporting a helmet.
During the bike security occasion at Dana Hills High, Davies emphasised the necessity to contain youngsters, dad and mom, public security, OCTA and California Highway Patrol in addressing reckless riders.
“I think we should go by county, because one size doesn’t always fit all,” Davies mentioned. “But what we need to do is we need to work together with OCTA, who does a lot of great bike safety. We need parents there, because we need to educate them as well.”
Dana Point School Resources Deputy Joy MacDonald is primarily assigned to Dana Hills High, in addition to among the elementary faculties and personal faculties within the space. As e-bikes have boomed in reputation, OCSD has pressured bike security schooling, holding info classes and bike and e-bike rodeos.
“They’ve just grown so popular so quickly, so we’re kind of playing catch-up, but we’ve done what we can to put the education out there,” MacDonald mentioned. “We definitely follow a model of education before enforcement, but at the end of the day, we need to make sure that people are staying safe and that people know the rules of the road.”
“Now, you’re giving kids these high-powered machines, and they don’t know the rules of the road,” MacDonald added. “Although it is a great thing to have and it’s a great resource, ultimately, they still need to be held accountable to making sure that they’re safe and others are safe.”
MacDonald additionally mentioned among the tendencies she’s seen with e-bike riders.
“What I’m seeing is people aren’t following the rules of the road,” MacDonald mentioned. “If you purchase your child an e-bike, you need to make it possible for they’re following the foundations of the highway and that they’re working it safely.
“A lot of that is riding on the right side of the road, in the same direction as traffic, and using your hand signals and making eye contact when you approach intersections,” MacDonald continued. “A lot of times, otherwise, they’ll just kind of blow through intersections or make turns, and it startles cars, and that can cause accidents.”
She added that it’s vital to all the time put on a helmet and ensure to put on reflective clothes when using at evening.
“Lastly, one thing that we’ve been dealing with at the high school that’s really caused some problems, there’s these new electric dirt bikes that came out, and you actually need an M1 motorcycle license to ride them,” MacDonald mentioned. “So, you go to these bike shops and you see all these cool bikes, and you go, ‘Oh, I want that one,’ but you want to make sure you know what kind of bike you’re buying.”
There are three lessons of e-bikes. Class 1 e-bikes are pedal-assisted solely and attain a most pace of 20 mph. Class 2 e-bikes can also solely attain a most pace of 20 mph; nevertheless, they’ve a throttle that may increase a rider’s pace even when they don’t seem to be pedaling.
Class 3 e-bikes, that are additionally pedal-assisted however shouldn’t have a throttle, cease offering motor help when the bike reaches 28 mph. Kids underneath 16 will not be allowed to journey Class 3 e-bikes.
San Juan Capistrano Police Services famous that it has seen youngsters underneath 16 illegally using a Class 3 e-bike to faculty. Officers famous on the bike security occasion that their plan is to promote schooling first over the summer time, ensure that youngsters are using safely and implement as wanted.
They additionally mentioned a program in growth, in coordination with faculty useful resource officers, that will require youngsters to have their bikes inspected by OCSD and obtain an academic pamphlet on the foundations of the highway so as to park their bikes on campus. The inspection would additionally be certain that youngsters underneath 16 will not be using Class 3 e-bikes.
The police companies hope to have this program working by subsequent faculty yr.
Breeana Greenberg
Breeana Greenberg is the town reporter for the Dana Point Times. She graduated from Chapman University with a bachelor of arts diploma in English. Before becoming a member of Picket Fence Media, she labored as a contract reporter with the Laguna Beach Independent. Breeana could be reached by electronic mail at bgreenberg@picketfencemedia.com