Your beach cruiser just got a bureaucrat
A new idea to limit injuries and hooning on e-bikes in California has been introduced to the state’s assembly: register e-bikes like they are cars.
Apparently, e-bikes are too convenient, and their owners need to spend time at the DMV. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who represents Orinda, a community far, far away from the beaches and bike paths enjoyed by the better-known parts of the state, proposes that all Class 2 and Class 3 get the DMV treatment. Class 2 and Class 3 bikes aren’t the problem; it is the SurRon style bike, which is far more e-motorcycle than e-bike.
“The dramatic rise in e-bike injuries across California demands immediate action,” Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), who authored the bill, said in a statement. “This common-sense legislation will improve accountability and help law enforcement protect our kids and all users of our roads and pathways.”Burglary crew tied to e-bike theft spree in South Bay
Assembly Bill 1942, also known as the E-bike Accountability Act, would:
Require Class 2 and Class 3 electric bicycles to be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles
Require those bicycles to display a license plate
Require riders to possess proof of ownership matching the bike’s serial number
Direct the DMV to establish a registration process for electric bicycles
Unlike cars and motorcycles, e-bikes are not currently required to display license plates, making it difficult to identify riders involved in dangerous behavior or traffic violations.
According to Bauer-Kahan’s office, citing the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, the rapid growth of e-bike use in California has coincided with an 18-fold increase in injuries from 2018 to 2023.
License plates aren’t a solution, nor is tracking bikes by serial. If you stop someone doing something illegal on a bike, the bike’s ownership and whether they paid registration fees don’t make the act more or less illegal.
Billed as “common sense,” this new law is not.
>A new idea to limit injuries and hooning on e-bikes in California
are you a clueless old fossil like me and don't have a clue what 'to hoon' might mean?
!ud hooning -> "The act of being a hoon or driving recklessly, racing, doing burnouts etc."
(or if one is in New Zealand: "a hoon is a puff of a vape or e-cigarette")
They should do as Germany does, and require that any vehicle with a motor like a scooter or e-bike be treated like a Vespa is: have a proof of insurance tag, like a miniature license plate in sticker form that is renewed each year. And keep them governed to maximum speeds.