With another youth in Pacific Beach dying in an accident between a car and bike, most of the Pacific Beach Town Council’s Sept. 16 focused on ways to improve e-bike safety.
Owen Harris, 14, was an eighth grader at Pacific Beach Middle School. Police said he was struck by a car just after 9 p.m. on Sept. 12 when the teen on an e-bike was traveling north on Olney Street and turned onto Balboa Avenue against a red light. Harris died from his injuries while being transported to a hospital. No charges were filed against the driver who stayed at the scene.
PB Town Council President Charlie Nieto led the room in a moment of silence for Harris before those present started talking about youth e-bike safety across Pacific Beach. The topic was not on the meeting’s agenda.
“Shamefully, this is not the first life lost in a traffic incident,” Nieto said. “We as a community all share the responsibility to determine how we move forward and prevent future instances.
“It is abundantly clear that we need change,” Nieto said, adding that the PB Town Council would be working with the PB Planning Group, beautifulPB and other community stakeholders “to ensure a safe neighborhood.”
San Diego Police Department Community Relations Officer Jessica Dishman was among first responders who spoke on the subject during the meeting.
“My deepest condolences to everyone that was affected by Saturday’s tragic accident,” Dishman said. “This hits home for me, as a mother of a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old. I cannot imagine what sorrow everyone feels.
“As a police department, our deepest condolences,” she added. “I know that e-bikes will be an extremely hot topic. We have been doing many things with enforcement and education.”
Dishman said that over the past two years, SDPD has seen complaints and concerns regarding e-bikes grow, something they are actively working on within Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Mission Bay. A major source of their efforts has been on the legality of which bikes are street law compliant.
“We have gone to schools, and we have tried to figure out which bikes are legal and not legal,” Dishman said. “There are so many different things out there regarding what is or isn’t legal.”
Representatives from several government offices also spoke on the topic.
“We have been doing a lot of e-bike safety courses over the past week,” said Malachi Bielecki, a representative for County Supervisor VP Terra Lawson-Remer. “We will be scheduling an e-bike safety course right here in PB, something that several community members have reached out to us about in light of this tragedy,”
Bielecki spoke about the legality of bikes and improving awareness.
“Just last week, the board received approval to seek litigation against companies that are marketing street illegal motorcycles as e-bikes,” Bielecki said. “A big issue is that parents may not know that the bike they gave their child is street illegal, or the helmet they are wearing is not certified for e-bikes. Making sure the parents know is a huge part of it.
“On legal action, it is about companies that are misleading, saying the bikes are one thing when they are really the other,” Bielecki said.
“There is a lack of knowledge and understanding,” said Savannah Stallings, who was representing City Council President Joe LaCava. “Parents think they are doing the right thing, and sellers might not care about what is out there.”
Like law enforcement and other government offices, Stallings said LaCava’s office plans to continue emphasizing education for parents and young e-bike riders.
Several audience members expressed frustration, stating the actions they were hearing were not enough.
“People do things while knowing they are not supposed to do them. How can that stop e-bikes?” asked an audience member.
Another attendee said many in-person education courses had been hosted at Pacific Beach schools prior to the Sept. 12 fatality. Some urged law enforcement and government officials to do more and to even focus on punishment, to which they responded by saying this would happen.