California Assembly member proposes driver's license for e-bikes

Dewey

Well-Known Member
Region
USA
City
Arlington, Virginia
Reported by Micah Toll, and commented on by Kyle Chittock, California Assembly Bill # 530 introduced by Tasha Boerner representing the 77th District, would require a written test, state issued ID, and impose a ban on riding e-bikes under age 12 or Class 3 e-bikes under age 16. Fox News reports the bill was initiated following calls for action after the death of a teenager this summer in the Assembly Member's home district.
 
Reported by Micah Toll, and commented on by Kyle Chittock, California Assembly Bill # 530 introduced by Tasha Boerner representing the 77th District, would require a written test, state issued ID, and impose a ban on riding e-bikes under age 12 or Class 3 e-bikes under age 16. Fox News reports the bill was initiated following calls for action after the death of a teenager this summer in the Assembly Member's home district.
As one of Assemblymember Boerner's constituents, I fully support this bill. The part of her district in coastal north San Diego County is crawling with unsupervised school kids on ebikes. Relying on parents to teach them to ride safely and responsibly has clearly failed. See my post here for details.
 
I think I agree with the class 3 restrictions and licensing. (And yes I appreciate the arguments comparing safety of bikes vs the percentage of fast moving/unsafe twits on analog bike). But bikes that can go as fast as mopeds should be regulated like mopeds
 
It would seem reasonable to me, that anyone driving a vehicle of any sort (bike, ebike, scooter, moped ....) on public roads, should at a minimum pass a driver handbook test so they know signage rules and procedures, have ID registration and some sort of insurance coverage...
 
yeah but pretty much nobody thinks that insofar as bicycles are concerned. In the EU they tried that with all ebikes a few years ago - bearing in mind we are talking about 250w of miniscule power, and that is a governmental body that never met a regulation it didn't embrace - and for once the member states all balked and refused to implement the 'recommendation'. Mostly cited was the chilling effect it would have on ebike adoption, as well as the lack of need given the lack of actual dangerous incidents vs. the usual blind hand-wringing.

The chances of this becoming applicable to bicycles given their long history of no such regulation is zero.
 
This is why it should be ALL vehicles that use the road. You cannot have a free pass for some and a requirement for others or it does create an unwanted disincentive.
It should also be flexible and free. In Europe (at least France) getting a driver's license is very difficult and costly.
People should be able to learn the code on their own, and pass an exam in many free location semi automatically (even maybe online).
The goal is not to create a barrier to entry, but make sure everybody has read the rules and regulation and especially the safety ones.
 
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As one of Assemblymember Boerner's constituents, I fully support this bill. The part of her district in coastal north San Diego County is crawling with unsupervised school kids on ebikes. Relying on parents to teach them to ride safely and responsibly has clearly failed. See my post here for details.
How would it be enforced? Police already have their hands full with bigger crimes, and their popularity is low. Is Boerner expecting that police will stop every kid on a bike and ask for their license? What happens if the kid doesn’t have a license? Who gets the ticket? Will they care. And what if the kids rides off … will the PO chase them down?
 
Enforcement would be no different than it is now. They catch the ones they catch they don't catch 85 to 90% of the rest. Kind of like watching people run through red lights 90% of those are never caught even with traffic cameras
 
interesting, i've got an 11 year old and i would say i'm about a year or two away from being comfortable enough to let him get on the ebike after making sure he can prove to me he understands the different settings and power levels, i would love to get him an ebike that has minimal power output and doesn't rely on clicking the right PAS settings
 
interesting, i've got an 11 year old and i would say i'm about a year or two away from being comfortable enough to let him get on the ebike after making sure he can prove to me he understands the different settings and power levels, i would love to get him an ebike that has minimal power output and doesn't rely on clicking the right PAS settings
Glad I didn't have to face this ebike challenge when my kids were that age. It's not just about operating the ebike, though.

It's also about learning and respecting traffic laws, learning respect and courtesy for others, and learning the judgment needed to ride a fast, heavy ebike safely and responsibly without supervision.

Those things aren't easy to teach, and for whatever reason, they're not being taught effectively to a significant number of young riders here.
 
Education at school level not only overcomes a lack of parental knowledge, but can indirectly improve it. Done correctly, it can produce generational change that flows onto other vehicle usage.

But why miss the formative years ? We start around 6 yo, so by the time the kids have hormones overcoming brain cells the education has been completed.

Idon't think our kids were really up to riding the ebike until about 9 ( having been on normal bikes since 5 , and being VERY active / outdoor kids) . Admittedly that was a full power dual suspension emtb , and most of the time they were enjoying lighter regular bikes. This is my son at 9 on my giant, being supervised by his 13 yo sister - the end of a 30 km ride ( and a great way to avoid car sickness crossing the alps.....we just met them at the top)

IMG_4746.png
 
Glad I didn't have to face this ebike challenge when my kids were that age. It's not just about operating the ebike, though.

It's also about learning and respecting traffic laws, learning respect and courtesy for others, and learning the judgment needed to ride a fast, heavy ebike safely and responsibly without supervision.

Those things aren't easy to teach, and for whatever reason, they're not being taught effectively to a significant number of young riders here.
Great points! Of all the places here in the US I have been in the last few years and always have fun observing scooter/ebike scenes (and participating), San Diego was the craziest and most reckless I've seen people ride on the e-bikes/scooters along the beach. I specifically remember a trip to Pacific Beach and we could barely cross the path without getting run over.
 
Great points! Of all the places here in the US I have been in the last few years and always have fun observing scooter/ebike scenes (and participating), San Diego was the craziest and most reckless I've seen people ride on the e-bikes/scooters along the beach. I specifically remember a trip to Pacific Beach and we could barely cross the path without getting run over.
Exactly the problem here. It would be a mistake to hold ebikers harmless and blame everyone else — a mistake that could easily lead to unnecessarily restrictive regulation down the line.
 
Stop blaming e-bikes for the results of poor bicycle infrastructure

Our bike infrastructure is good to excellent. Doesn’t prevent incompetent/irresponsible
/reckless bike riding, with or without a motor. Ebikes get the blame because they're now the vast majority of the bikes people see in the wild here — especially among the riders most likely to end up pissing people off. The only non-motorized bikes most people see here now belong to the lycra-clad roadies, and they have their yahoos, too.

No argument, cars and especially pedestrians also act irresponsibly. But in my book, everyone's responsible for everyone's safety.
 
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Wack. A license to ride a bike is about the dumbest idea ever. Instead of focusing on what people are riding, maybe enforcement of HOW they're being ridden is more appropriate. You don't need a motor to do stupid.
 
Personally, I think licensing is not the right approach.
Education at schools about traffic safety & laws should be implemented, from childhood all the way to high school.
In many countries around the world, cycling and traffic laws are part of curriculum required for their schools. Cycling should be like a life long skill that everyone should know, like swimming.. or maybe even math.

I feel that in America, most drivers think bicycles & motorcycles don't belong on public roads, which is a mentality that's been imbedded across decades of car culture and cheap oil in America.

As a teenager (in the 80's), I pedaled across the N American Continent from Seattle, WA to Ocean City, MD, on a Huffy 10-speed packed with 35-40 lb. of camping gear. Long before the time of cell phones & GPS. The slower pace gave me the chance to see America at 15-20 mph and how Americans really lived along the way.

Nowadays, I don't think most people in America even bother to try to understand how the rest of the country live. More over when homeless people in the streets are considered to be criminals and the real criminals getting government bailouts, tax breaks & tax write-offs for private jets or yachts.

Meanwhile, I still think parents should also be held accountable when their child is caught breaking traffic laws, causing accidents on high-seed e-bikes. If they can afford high cost, high speed e-bikes to for their children, they can also afford higher (x5 or x10) auto insurance premiums.
 
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