California Bicycle Advocates Call on Elected Leaders to Protect E-Bike Riders

Bicycling Monterey is among signatories to the Statement on E-Bike Safety from California Bicycle Advocates 2024, released Dec 10th, for reasons including: widespread confusion and misinformation about e-bikes, the need for education, the need for safer infrastructure, and the critical contribution of active transportation toward meeting the state’s goals to reduce carbon emissions. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California!

We encourage you to download and share this Statement on E-Bike Safety with your elected officials, and others, or share a link to this post.

We call on California’s
decision-makers to:

• Develop legislation to better address illegal e-motorcycles (electric motorcycles, electric mopeds, and the like) often being inaccurately marketed as e-bikes. This will require better manufacturer, retailer, and consumer education, and regulation mechanisms to restrict or limit these fast, dangerous electric vehicles on streets, paths, and trails.
• Reject legislation that criminalizes or further restricts people riding legal e-bikes (bikes that meet the state’s specifications for Class 1, 2, or 3 e-bikes).
• Increase the budget of the Active Transportation Program (ATP), which funds safer infrastructure for biking and walking. Communities want to build such infrastructure, but the ATP consistently lacks funding to greenlight many of the worthwhile projects that apply.
• Increase state funding for educational and training programs for bike and e-bike riders. Require motor vehicle driver education with each driver’s license renewal, so drivers are better prepared to share the roads with people biking and walking. Emphasize how to abide by the rules of the road in locations where there is newer street safety infrastructure (e.g., bike boxes at intersections).

Gallery below: Some of the increasing numbers of e-bike riders in Monterey County.