Carlsbad Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission recommends age limit for e-bike riders

CARLSBAD, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Carlsbad’s traffic safety and mobility commission held a special meeting Tuesday to gather input on whether the city should impose stricter rules on e-bikes.

"I don’t see six-year-old, eight-year-olds out there doing wheelies and trying to stand on their seats," said Commissioner Steve Nicholes.

The main issue at hand was whether to recommend the city impose an age restriction of being 12 years or older in order to ride an e-bike.

"Just addressing children under 12, I think is a great step, but we have to do more," said Dr. Maggie Riley-Hagan.

Carlsbad was the first city in the region to pass local laws to address unsafe use of e-bikes following a notable crash in 2022 that claimed the life of a young mother, Christine Embree.

"I applaud what you’ve done so far, it’s just not enough and people are going to get killed and hurt than they have been so far," said Susan Crum.

Assembly Bill 2234 allows cities and unincorporated areas in San Diego County to establish the minimum age as 12 for riding e-bikes.

While the commission received hundreds of comments, and most supported the idea, some were skeptical about how to enforce the rule or properly identify children under 12.

Of the 127 collisions tracked by the city where an e bike was at fault since 2022, riders under the age of 12 only accounted for 7% or nine incidents.

Riders between 12 to 17 years old made up the majority.

"This is kind of a band-aid for a bullet hole. The kids that you see causing the problems are not in elementary school, their middle school or high school," said Commissioner Josh Coelho.

Although even the commissioners shared some hesitation, they did vote to recommend city council still impose the minimum age requirement as a first step.

They are also recommending council adopt a rule to prohibit passengers for anyone under 16 and look into lobbying the state to create even more protections surrounding e-bikes.

The commission is passing all of these recommendations on to council who will have the final say on whether to implement them.