With gas prices pushing $6 a gallon in response to the war on Iran, interest in e-bikes as a vehicular alternative is growing throughout the state. In the City of Santa Barbara, where community response to the recent surge in e-bike popularity has been decidedly mixed, Police Chief Kelly Gordon reports there have been 108 e-bike accidents recorded between May 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026. Of those, Gordon said, 11 involved serious injuries and one fatality. Of the 108 accidents, 31 involved juveniles.
State laws regulating e-bikes toughened up this year and before that city police — under public pressure — began to enforce e-bike violations more than they had before.
In the same time window, Chief Gordon reported there had been 311 unsafe-operation citations issued to riders of either e-bikes or traditional bicycles. Gordon said department stats do not differentiate which citations were for e-bikes and which were not.
In the meantime, owners of BCycle — the city’s e-bike share program — has received a $1.8 million grant to dramatically expand the number of subscribers who qualify as low-income. For those qualifying, yearlong passes are going for $27.12; typically, such passes cost $244.
