Santa Cruz County sees spate of e-bike crashes as safety concerns mount

As more people hop on the electric bicycle craze, the concerns about safety and potential injuries caused by the speedy bikes have risen as well. The vehicles are becoming a much more common way to get from point A to point B, with national sales taking huge leaps in just a short number of years and Santa Cruz County itself expanding its partnership with bike-share company BCycle.

The California Highway Patrol has recorded 16 e-bike crashes across the county between the start of the year and the end of April, 13 of which involved injuries, CHP officer Israel Murillo told a virtual meeting of about 20 community members and bicycle and pedestrian advocates on Tuesday. He added that the agency recorded two crashes involving minors in a single week on Soquel Drive. Those figures are only those tracked by CHP, he said, and don’t include e-bike accidents reported to other local law enforcement agencies.

“We’ve seen an uptick in crashes throughout the county, especially in the spring and summer,” Murillo said, adding that consequences for not obeying traffic laws on an e-bike can range from a warning to a citation.

He said that while Santa Cruz County residents of all ages need to know how to responsibly operate an e-bike, it’s especially important for youth to know the traffic laws that apply to them on a bike. Those include wearing a helmet, stopping at stop signs, riding in the same direction of travel, and not riding with a passenger on a Class 3 e-bike — the fastest and most powerful widely available e-bike, which tops out at about 28 mph.

Murillo said he has given presentations at local elementary schools in order to relay this information directly to students, and hopes to set up future sessions for parents, too.

“I think one of the big issues is that parents are buying e-bikes for their children not knowing exactly what they’re buying,” he said. “If parents just knew a bit more about them before they buy it, I think that would help a lot.”

Deputy County Health Officer Dr. Cal Gordon said he has discussed the trend of rising injuries because of e-bikes with family doctors and pediatric workers who have seen reckless behavior and traffic laws being broken, and thinks legislators might be falling behind in regulating e-bike safety.

“It appears the technology kind of got out in front of our legislation, and it’s taken them a while to actually catch up with things,” said Gordon.

Along with efforts to educate riders, the safety concerns have led to legislative action. Earlier this year, local officials strongly supported the first draft of a new law introduced by District 1 County Supervisor Manu Koenig that would prohibit e-bikes and electric scooters from traveling on sidewalks, pedestrian paths and hiking and mountain biking trails in unincorporated parts of Santa Cruz County, unless the paths are also dedicated as a bike path or unless e-bikes are specifically allowed.

The law comes with a few caveats: E-bike riders may ride on a sidewalk if no pedestrians are present and no separate bike path runs alongside it. The law also allows county officials to assign certain paths and sidewalks for future e-bike usage.

Murillo declined to comment on regulations he would like to see implemented, instead focusing on how to use social media to raise awareness about e-bike safety: “Spreading the word on the basics — obeying traffic laws, how to use hand signals, watching your lanes — things like that can make a huge difference in everyday life,” he said.

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