As a growing number of serious injuries and deaths involving electric bicycles and motorcycles raises concerns across Southern California, a Seal Beach community Tuesday demanded accountability from parents when their children ride e-bikes recklessly.
The Seal Beach Rotary Club hosted a meeting during which officials from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office heard from community members, including a 72-year-old Seal Beach woman who was struck by a teen riding an e-motorcycle in March.
Stephanie Potter spent two weeks in the ICU and another four weeks in rehabilitation.
“At the point of impact, my face hit the concrete. That’s why my nose, and my jaw were broken,” Potter recalled. “Emotionally, it was a pretty devastating time for me, but I am recovering everyday.”
Potter’s crash is one of several recent tragedies involving e-motorcycles in Orange County. In April, 81-year-old Ed Ashman died after he was struck by a teen rider in Lake Forest. Then in May, a 13-year-old boy from Santa Ana died after crashing his e-motorcycle into a center median in Garden Grove.
“They’re not doing it to hurt someone. They’re just doing it for fun,” Potter said. “We just had fun differently when we were younger. The parents are the ones providing that, so that’s kind of their responsibility.”
Prosecutors told the Seal Bean community parents are being held accountable. The OC district attorney’s office has filed cases against four parents for crimes related to their children’s illegal e-motorcycles, with 26 more investigations underway.
“If they have been told and the dangers have been explained to them and they disregard that information, and they say go ahead continue to ride this, that’s what we would consider criminal negligence,” Lisa Kim, a senior deputy district attorney, said.
A recent study from UC San Diego said there’s been an “exponential increase in e-bike injuries in California,” saying the number of crashes went from two in 2028 to 1,506 in 2024.