New California Senate Bill 1167

[RunForTheHills]

The manufacturers and dealers have only themselves to blame for that. They blatantly defied existing laws, sold lots of illegal bikes that should never have been in the hands of 14 year-old males, and now we all have to deal with the backlash.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't see a Juiced ebike with a throttle that works to 28mph as the problem. And their deceptive marketing wasn't enough to keep them in business anyway. A Sur-ron or HappyRun with 6000W and a throttle is what the problem kids (not all kids) are riding. These bikes are ordered online. I believe better enforcement on the local level is what is needed. If they know that their expensive and illegal emotos will get confiscated as soon as they ride them on the streets, perhaps they will find safer places to ride them or find another hobby.

 

[PedalUma]

I can hold seemingly contradictory thoughts at the sametime. One mom argued, 'At least they are not on TicToc or playing video games.' 'My son can take himself to baseball practice and likes to be active outside with friends.' Her son has a MacFox, a cheap 500W throttle moped. I can see her point as valid. He does always have a helmet.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I believe better enforcement on the local level is what is needed.

On that we agree. For the last year or so, Carlsbad police have been activately confiscating Surrons and the like ridden on public infrastructure. And I think it's had a positive effect.

But I still see a lot of teen males on less obviously illegal machines doing wheelies and other stupid stuff on busy streets and bikeways, both alone and in packs. So it's not just a few bad apples on Surrons.

YouTube has a whole subculture around this outlaw ebiker image they have of themselves. Can't imagine where they got the idea that traffic laws and simple courtesy to other users just don't apply to them.

Just wish the crackdown on Surrons had started a lot sooner. By the time our cops got serious about it, the PR damage to legal ebiking had already been done.

 

[RunForTheHills]

On that we agree. For the last year or so, Carlsbad police have been activately confiscating Surrons and the like ridden on public infrastructure. And I think it's had a positive effect.

But I still see a lot of teen males on less obviously illegal machines doing wheelies and other stupid stuff on busy streets and bikeways, both alone and in packs. So it's not just a few bad apples on Surrons.

YouTube has a whole subculture around this outlaw ebiker image they have of themselves. Can't imagine where they got the idea that traffic laws and simple courtesy to other users just don't apply to them.

Just wish the crackdown on Surrons had started a lot sooner. By the time our cops got serious about it, the PR damage to legal ebiking had already been done.

I wasn't referring exclusively to Sur-rons. Most of them have the same general look: Non-adjustable motorcycle style seat, large battery, vestigial pedals with a large Q factor, full suspension, etc. With DIY bikes, it is possible to put the same power into a bicycle frame. But 99% of these bikes are not that and bicycle frames and components are not designed to withstand that kind of power.

 

[stompandgo]

But they are cheap to build and sell out.

This hooligan culture has been around for a while. Before the e-bikes, it was gangs of dirt bikes and 4-wheelers terrorizing city streets, harassing anyone that looked at them. No LEO intervention. It was the Wild Wild West. This crap has made it down to school kids who watch this crap on TikTok.

I know, OK Boomer.