Solana Beach approves e-bike safety ordinance

Solana Beach City Council members approved an ordinance Sept. 27 that allows for more enforcement of e-bikes and bicycles on local roads, honing in on some of the unsafe behaviors local residents have noticed, and creates a diversion program that gives first-time offenders a chance to complete a safety course.

Several other cities have added similar regulations as the rise in popularity of e-bikes on local roads has coincided with more collisions. Encinitas council members added a diversion program, with enforcement aimed at schools during the morning and afternoon hours when children are arriving and departing.

“They’ve also indicated that they’ve noticed a definite trend toward more kids wearing helmets and obeying the laws,” Solana Beach City Manager Greg Wade said “Keep your fingers crossed, we hope that this will have an impact.”

According to a city staff report, the ordinance will penalize “more violations for bicycle and e-bike-related behavior than just the prohibition of riding bicycles on sidewalks.”

E-bike and bicycle riders will be required to “observe all applicable laws including yielding to pedestrians,” according to the text of the ordinance. Riding on sidewalks is banned on any street that has a designated bicycle path. It’s also illegal for riders to have passengers sitting on handlebars or anywhere else on the bike that isn’t designed to carry another person.

Given that Class 1 and 2 e-bikes can reach assisted speeds of up to 20 mph, and Class 3 e-bike riders can zoom up to 28 mph, residents have been concerned about children using them with little preparation or experience on the roads.

The issue of e-bike safety has been a priority followed by two recent fatalities, one in Carlsbad last year and one in Encinitas a few months ago.

E-bike safety has also been a growing priority for state lawmakers. The California Highway Patrol released an e-bike safety online course, per the direction of a bill by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas. Another bill proposed by Boerner would add licensing and age requirements for children to ride e-bikes.

Solana Beach City Councilmember Jill MacDonald has repeatedly expressed her concern about children riding on sidewalks.

“I hope one of the takeaways about this ordinance is that your children are on e-bikes, they’re not driving age, they’re on the streets, they’re not always obeying the traffic laws, they’re sometimes going through stop signs, they’re sometimes ignoring traffic lights,” MacDonald said. “Please make sure they’re safe.”