Carlsbad is moving forward with new age restrictions for electric bike riders after city leaders on Tuesday approved recommendations prohibiting children under 12 years old from riding them.
Young kids on e-bikes in traffic is a great concern among many communities. In Carlsbad, more than 550 people chimed in on the Traffic Safety and Mobility Committee’s request for public input.
“We have to protect pedestrians from these people,” committee member Peter Penseyres said.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Penseyres spoke as a cyclist. Two of his friends were rear-ended by e-bike riders while they were riding their pedal bikes.
“Both of them were injured,” Penseyres said. “You have vehicle codes that apply to unsafe passing. I recommended you put that in the request.”
The council agreed. Members unanimously adopted that recommendation, as well as prohibiting e-bike use by someone under 12 years old, prohibiting e-bikers from carrying passengers under 16 years old, updating unsafe riding standards, giving police impound authority and prohibiting e-bike use in designated parks.
“Our number one goal is keep everybody safe,” Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn said.
Carlsbad declared a traffic emergency in 2022 after e-bike collisions went from 20 the year before to 45.
“You’re going to have to live with that the rest of your life, whether it is your fault or not. I don’t want to subject our residents to that. I don’t want to subject our youth to that,” Blackburn said.
The mayor says the council doesn’t want a heavy-handed ordinance over-penalizing kids. The recommended penalties are $25 fines or required riding classes. But what about repeat offenders?
Lt. Jason Arnotti, who was instrumental in gathering the data and forming staff recommendations, says the willful disregard of such an ordinance could result in a child endangerment charge against the parents.
“I don’t think a parent would want that on their record, a referral to child protective services or a criminal case filed,” Arnotti said.
For now, nothing is in stone. Staff is directed to cobble together these recommendations in the form of an ordinance that the public can have input on and the council can vote on.
The council turned down the recommendation that would prohibit younger riders from being out after dark. Statistics indicated there were very few collisions, and it is not certain whether the darkness was a factor.