» PART V

By Mary O’KEEFE

The use of electric bikes, scooters and mini-motorcycles has grown and has received some attention from Sacramento. There have been some bills passed over the last few years regarding e-bikes and e-scooters; however, as the popularity of the electric mobility vehicles continues to grow and as more issues arise, legislation will have to be enacted.

A few bills include:

Assembly Bill (AB) 544. This requires electric bicycles and non-electric bicycles to be equipped with a red reflector or a solid or flashing red light with a built-in reflector on the rear of the bike visible from 500 feet. These lights must be displayed during the day and night. The bill was signed into law in July of this year.

AB 545. This deals with the speed of an e-bike and that some owners have manipulated the bikes to go faster than originally intended. This law makes that practice illegal. The existing e-bike classifications are: Class 1 – pedal assist only, no throttle, can reach a maximum of 20 mph. Class 2 – pedal assist  with a throttle, maximum speed of 20 mph. Class 3 – pedal assist only, no throttle, maximum speed of 28 mph. This bill was signed into law in July.

AB 965. This law prohibits the sale of Class 3 e-bikes to anyone under the age of 16. This bill was also signed into law this year.

All of the above laws carry a fine of $250 or more if violated.

Senate Bill 455. The bill was introduced but held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill focused on the clarification of what an e-bike was and specifically looked at e-motorcycles [mini bikes] being sold as e-bikes. With the reclassification some of the e-bikes would have to be registered and licensed. This bill is unlikely to return to the legislation; however, similar bills are being explored.

  Mary Okeefe