CARLSBAD — Carlsbad is moving forward with a suite of new policies aimed at improving e-bike safety, including setting a minimum age of 12 to ride electric bicycles with pedal assist or a throttle within the city.
Following a lengthy September discussion by residents and the city’s Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission, the Carlsbad City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to direct staff to draft language codifying several policies, including:
- Outlawing e-bike riding by anyone under 12.
- Exploring how to add Carlsbad to a State Assembly bill allowing Marin County to prohibit Class 2 e-bikes from being operated by anyone under 16.
- Preventing e-bike riders younger than 16 from carrying passengers, even if the vehicle is designed for a second rider.
- Updating the municipal code to list specific unsafe riding practices and ways to hold parents and guardians accountable.
- Banning e-bikes from Poinsettia Park and Pine Avenue Park, with the option for the city manager to prohibit them at additional parks.
- Allowing authorities to impound unsafe or unlicensed e-bikes and outlining procedures for doing so.
Staff had recommended establishing a minimum age for riding e-bikes during hours of darkness, but the council set that aside until data support the need for such a rule.
City staff will now draft ordinance language for the bulleted policies and return to the council for final approval. Tuesday’s actions did not create enforceable e-bike laws but marked a step toward doing so.
Council members discussed concerns about limiting mobility for younger residents, particularly related to nighttime riding.
Carlsbad residents overwhelmingly rely on cars, with nearly 93% of trips made either in carpools or solo drives, according to a 2023 SANDAG analysis. Just over 3% of trips were made by bike or e-bike.
Anyone under 16 cannot legally drive, and Carlsbad’s sprawl can make walking or riding analog bicycles difficult for children trying to meet friends who live miles away.
Councilmember Teresa Acosta noted that a younger resident “needs to be transported from one place to another” and said nighttime bans could have negative social impacts.
“I don’t want to harm parents’ ability to allow their kids to go to after school programs,” Acosta said.
Councilmember Kevin Shin referenced his daughter’s evening basketball practices to highlight potential effects of restricting e-bike usage after dark.
“For her to have that mobility and access taken away from her, I think that would not be a good result,” Shin said.
Councilmember Melanie Burkholder initially sought carve-outs to a sundown ban before joining her colleagues in removing the proposal. Burkholder said kids “need to get to where they need to be.”
Mayor Pro Tem Priya Bhat-Patel said she did not want to punish kids or restrict their mobility with the proposed ordinances.
“E-bikes have so much value in the sense that obviously it provides sustainable mobility options, independence, and then, of course, reduces car trips,” Bhat-Patel said. “But we can’t ignore the mismatch between the capabilities of these machines, which can be scary.”
Age minimum for e-bikes
Mayor Keith Blackburn said he struggled with setting a minimum age for Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes because “12-year-olds are indestructible.”
“They don’t understand the dangers of a collision with a two-ton vehicle,” Blackburn said. “But at the same time, I want them socializing with their friends and going places and doing things, especially right now when it’s the computer age and these kids are just sitting in front of their computers.”
He ultimately supported the age restriction, saying he would “err on the side of safety.”
The age minimum stems from Assembly Bill 2234, authored by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, a Democrat representing much of coastal San Diego County, including Carlsbad. Assemblymember Laurie Davies, a Republican whose district includes Oceanside, co-authored the bill.
The bill created the San Diego Electric Bicycle Safety Pilot Program, which includes strict guidelines, fines and an age minimum.
Jennifer True, senior assistant city attorney, said the age minimum must be set at 12 and cannot be raised or lowered, even if the council preferred otherwise.
Violations would carry a base fine of $25, which could be waived if the rider completed an approved e-bike safety and training course, according to state records.
The pilot program is scheduled to end Jan. 1, 2029.
As of November, five cities in the county — Chula Vista, Coronado, Poway, San Marcos and Santee — have adopted local ordinances banning children under 12 from riding Class 1 or Class 2 e-bikes, according to city records.
Data presented by Police Lt. Jason Arnotti showed e-bike injury collisions rising from two and six in 2019 and 2020 to more than 50 incidents in each of the last three years (59, 55 and 58), with the final figure representing cases tallied through Oct. 31.
Since 2022, riders ages 12 to 17 have accounted for 51% of e-bike collisions, while those younger than 12 accounted for 7%, according to the data.
“Every time I see 12-year-olds riding e-bikes, they’re not doing wheelies, they’re not flipping off drivers, they have been the best,” Blackburn said. “But I also am concerned that they just don’t understand the dangers involved with interacting with all these cars.”
Bhat-Patel said adopting the bill, while imperfect, shows the city is “taking some bite sized approaches” to e-bike safety.
“And that’s not the fault of the author,” Bhat-Patel said of Boerner and Davies. “It’s just where it landed finally and I think as we continue to look forward that would be beneficial.”
Update to the municipal code
Arnotti said the proposed municipal code updates aim to clarify existing ordinances.
“Our current ordinance requires due care, safe speeds, yielding, and other basic responsibilities,” he said. “However, those expectations are expressed broadly, which, as the staff report notes, can limit consistent field level enforcement and reduce clarity for riders and families.”
The list of unsafe riding behaviors includes speeding, stunt riding, riding without a helmet if under 18, and riding against the flow of traffic.
During public comment, Traffic Safety and Mobility Commissioner Peter Penseyres recommended adding unsafe passing to the list, and the council included it.
The item also holds parents and guardians liable for allowing such behavior.
“Kids are not buying these e-bikes,” Blackburn said. “What are they, a couple thousand bucks? They’re being bought by the parents and I like the idea of holding the parents accountable for their kids’ actions.”
E-bikes at parks
While staff suggested banning e-bike riding only at Poinsettia Park and Pine Avenue Park, the council opted to leave it to the city manager to determine whether more parks should be added.
The city estimates that updating signage and adding bike racks at the two parks would cost $15,000.
“If you multiply that over our entire parks inventory of 42 community parks and special use areas, you’re over a couple hundred thousand dollars,” said Kyle Lancaster, Carlsbad’s parks and recreation director.
Among the six parks with the most e-bike incidents, Poinsettia and Pine account for nearly two-thirds of documented cases, according to police data.
“These two parks consistently account for the largest share of park-based incidents linked to e-bikes,” Arnotti said.
Overall, officials said the popularity of e-bikes and related issues will require an evolving set of reforms.
“Our goal is not to limit mobility or recreation, but to ensure that as these devices become more widely used, the safety expectations that protect riders and the public grow alongside them,” Arnotti said. “Each measure helps close specific gaps that contribute to unsafe or disruptive behavior, and some will rely more on education and voluntary compliance than strict enforcement.“
Bhat-Patel said that while she would ultimately like to see a motorcycle-style licensing model for e-bike riders, the proposed policies “help us move in the right direction.”
“This is one piece of the solution that we are discussing now,” Acosta said. “Our specific recommendations here, I think they’re fantastic.”
Shin said acceleration may pose a greater safety concern than top speed — an issue the city may examine later — but echoed his colleagues.
“We have to start somewhere, so this is part of a whole solution,” he said.
